Still in motion! Chris Harrison believes that The Bachelorette contestant Matt James is still set to compete on Clare Crawley’s upcoming season after their social media drama.
“As far as I know, [he’ll still be a contestant]. I mean, I have not heard anything different,” the TV host, 48, told Entertainment Tonight on Monday, May 4. “I mean, I don’t know if he wants to do this after quarantine, who knows? But as far as I know, yes.”
Crawley, 39, made headlines on April 25 after she appeared to throw shade at James, 28, on Twitter after production on her season was paused due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“If you are doing interviews and creating Cameo accounts before you are even on my season… you are in it for the wrong reasons… #dontwasteyourtime,” she tweeted, referencing the website that allows celebrities to interact with fans who buy their videos.
The former football player, who is best friends with Bachelorette alum Tyler Cameron, seemingly responded the next day on his Instagram Stories, saying, “For those of you who may have missed the message earlier this week, myself and Alex Bachman, my former teammate and current New York Giants wide receiver, pledged all of our Cameo earnings to the Robin Hood Foundation to fight this fight.”
Crawley later clarified that her tweet “was about MULTIPLE men and a general thought I was having while we sit here in a real life crisis where someone’s (everyone’s) time + sincerity hold so much weight and value.”
Harrison had the hairstylist’s back while talking to ET on Monday, insisting that she is “not against charity” or against James “doing something during this quarantine that’s positive.” He added, “She’s not mad at Matt, and it’s all good. And she’s not mad at anybody doing things for charity.”
While ABC still plans to move forward with Crawley’s season, there have been many questions about what will happen once filming begins, including whether the original cast of suitors will change. In March, the Bachelor alum told her Instagram followers that it was not “too late to submit” applications even though the 32 men had already been announced. “What’s the worst that could happen?” she asked at the time.
