Former Bachelor Ben Higgins and Bachelor host Chris Harrison both took the time to publicly apologize to former contestant Olivia Caridi during a virtual interview. Caridi was not a fan favorite and struggled a lot with online bullying following the show. Looking back now, Higgins says he thinks he should have done more to ensure she had a good experience, according to US Weekly.
Higgins is having to relive his Bachelor experience because ABC decided to re-air his season in its entirety. Caridi is also having to recall painful memories from a difficult time in her life. During the virtual interview, she revealed that when the show first aired in 2016, she could not watch it because it was too difficult.
“I watched the first episode then I [tried] to watch the second and I just couldn’t do it because I was just mortified and hurt. I realized, this is gonna be a really hard couple months,” she said.
Now that several years have passed, Caridi is able to look back on the season with a different mindset. However, she will never forget how she was made to feel during that time. She explained to Harrison that it was especially painful when people made fun of her physical characteristics.
“I hate to hear this. I truly am sorry that you had to go through this and that you did go through this,” he said.
Higgins offered a similar sentiment, apologizing for her bad experience and explaining that looking back now, he has some regrets. He wished he had defended Caridi from the bullies.
“As I look back on that time, I think my lack of wisdom and maturity and standing up for you publicly, while I knew this was hard for you, I think the way that I navigated the confrontations and issues of the show, could have been better to help you,” he said.
Nevertheless, Caridi does not regret going on the show and says she has become a much stronger person because of it. She noted that she is more resilient than ever and does not look back on the way she was portrayed with any shame.
Caridi is not the only person that has moved on following the season. Higgins’ former fiancee, Lauren Bushnell, recently revealed that she will not be watching at all, according to The Inquisitr. However, she did emphasize that she is grateful for her experience on the show as well as all the people she met during the process.
