Chris Harrison Reveals Why ‘Bachelorette’ JoJo Fletcher Was Shown That Magazine Report About Her Ex-Boyfriend Chad

JoJo Fletcher had a tearful moment last week on The Bachelorette, and it wasn’t because of any of her remaining suitors. It wasn’t even the notorious Chad Johnson, whom she’d just booted after a dramatic 2-on-1 date. Turns out, it was a different Chad, her non-Bachelorette ex-boyfriend, who had given a scathing interview to a magazine.

According to Entertainment Weekly‘s recap, JoJo’s men got a copy of the magazine while she was on a one-on-one date. They began to question her motives; after all, in the article, Chad claimed that JoJo was still in love with him. A show producer presented the magazine to JoJo and asked her to respond; she ended up in tears and told the guys her motives for being on The Bachelorette are pure.

Chris Harrison explained — or defended — the choice of Bachelorette producers to confront Fletcher with Chad’s story. In his blog for Yahoo, the show’s host seemed to say it was to protect JoJo, since otherwise, she would have to continue the season with some of the men doubting her sincerity.

“Normally, we wouldn’t pay this any mind, but in this case, the claims were so extreme that they called the entire nature of JoJo’s journey into question. One of the guys read the magazine and news sure spread fast. Of course, the men were incredibly supportive and just assumed that this was a jealous ex trying to get his 15 minutes of fame, but we thought it was important for JoJo to know the rumors that were spreading. Just like she addressed the rumors with Jordan, she decided to address the rumors about herself with the rest of the men.”

The rumors about Jordan Rodgers, JoJo’s one-on-one date, involved alleged issues in a previous relationship. An ex-girlfriend of Rodgers took to social media at the beginning of this season’s Bachelorette to accuse Rodgers of cheating. On the show, Jordan blamed his prior relationship issues on his commitment to his fledgling football career.

For the record, this is not the first time JoJo’s ex Chad has made an appearance on the Bachelor/Bachelorette franchise. As Zap2It reported at the time, Chad, bearing roses, paid JoJo a visit during her hometown date with Ben Higgins on The Bachelor. In the article with which JoJo was confronted on The Bachelorette, Chad claimed that the two dated while she was one of Ben’s potential brides.

Zap2It questioned JoJo’s actions on The Bachelor as it seemed she perhaps wasn’t quite yet over Chad.

“Jojo talks to Chad on the phone minutes before Ben walks through the door and begins getting emotional before her date arrives. It didn’t seem like the smartest move for Jojo to have such an in-depth conversation with the man she claims to have loved endlessly minutes before her new flame arrives.”

But as for Chad spilling to a magazine during The Bachelorette, Harrison insists JoJo is the one who got hurt and that the show is behind her and her quest for everlasting romance.

“I don’t want to speak for JoJo, but we are confident that she’s is in this for the right reasons and we won’t let rumors stop her from continuing her quest to find the love of her life.”

Interestingly, JoJo appears to have only become The Bachelorette after a last-minute switch. Another of Ben Higgins’ finalists, Caila Quinn, was originally tapped for the role but Fletcher became popular with “Bachelor Nation” after Ben told her he loved her — a big deal in Bachelor/Bachelorette land — only to tell Lauren Bushnell the same and to ultimately offer that woman a marriage proposal instead.

Bustle expressed the opinion this week that Quinn should get a shot at the Bachelorette in the future. It would not be unheard of for the show to go out of sequence, but custom would dictate that the next Bachelor will be one of JoJo’s castoffs, and the next Bachelorette one of that man’s booted contestants.

The Bachelorette airs Monday nights at 8 p.m. on ABC.

[Photo by Brad Barket/Getty Images]