Meghan McCain and Joy Behar Bite the Hand That Feeds Them: The Bachelor Needs a Full-On 'Makeover'

Meghan McCain and Joy Behar may be sending an apology fruit basket to their ABC overlords. The two spent the morning dragging network tentpole The Bachelor, which they insisted needs a "makeover" far beyond axing longtime host Chris Harrison. While Behar said that The Bachelor is a show that thrives on "superficial relationships," McCain doubled down and skewered the franchise for its lack of diversity. "I apologize to our parent company ABC. I mean no disrespect to the work that's done on this network," said the conservative firebrand. "But it's an extremely problematic show."

News of Harrison's Bachelor exit came just after The View wrapped on Tuesday, so it was clear that the co-hosts would tackle the topic first-thing this morning. The co-hosts agreed that his departure is probably for the best ("This breakup needed to happen," said Sara Haines), as Harrison has a lot of "work" to do in the wake of the racism controversy that rocked the franchise. "If the show was created in 2021, through the lens of 2021, they would've had a female host, anyway," added Haines. "When you think about a show that literally revolves around dating, falling in love, marriage, all those things, I don't really think of anyone going, 'Let me go check in with my male friends.'"

McCain agreed that the situation would have been different if Harrison wasn't so "incredibly dismissive" of Rachel Lindsay, the first Black Bachelorette, as she detailed her experience with racism during that fateful interview in February 2021. However, she said that removing Harrison is just the first step in the franchise's path to redemption. "I don't love The Bachelor," she said. "The fact that there's never any Asian people. There are never any Black people. There's not a lot of Hispanic people — if you want to talk about body positivity, I think there was one contestant one time who was over a size zero."

"There's no different bodies, different people. Dating is about experiencing the world — I dated every kind of race, every kind of person because I never knew who was going to be the one. And I think that's more reflective of 2021," continued McCain. "So, I think that show's got a lot of makeovers to do, in a lot of different ways that go way beyond the host."

HOST EXITS ‘BACHELOR’ AFTER RACISM CONTROVERSY: After 19 years of hosting #TheBachelor and spinoffs including #TheBachelorette, Chris Harrison announced his departure from the franchise following his controversial interview with Rachel Lindsay — the co-hosts react. pic.twitter.com/2U2qt5v0on

— The View (@TheView) June 9, 2021

Rather than disagree with McCain, her favorite sparring partner, Behar backed her up. "Let's tell the truth about The Bachelor. It's a show based on superficial relationships," she said. "Why would you ever expect that the host would be a deep thinker?"

"This is a show where they hook up before they know each other for two seconds," continued Behar. "They're supposedly going to get married. I don't think any of them ever get married. But I don't care, one way or the other."

The Bachelorette airs Monday nights at 8:00 PM ET on ABC. Just don't count on Meghan McCain and Joy Behar to tune in.

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Claire Spellberg Lustig is the Senior Editor at Primetimer and a scholar of The View. Follow her on Twitter at @c_spellberg.