BWW Asks - Should ABC Have Included Reactions to Eric's Death on THE BACHELORETTE?

On last night's episode of ABC's THE BACHELORETTE, Andi headed back to Los Angeles on cloud nine following the successful hometown visits. Yet upon arrival, she and the four remaining bachelors are met with the most shocking news of the season: the tragic death of contestant Eric Hill from a paragliding accident. Andi struggled to put on a brave face and along with the shaken men, push through the most emotional rose ceremony of the season. (watch a clip here!)

The episode made us wonder, was it necessary for ABC to include footage of Andi and the other contestant's reactions to news of Eric's death? Was it used in order to boost ratings, or was the event legitimately part of the current season of the show?

Last month, Chris Harrison spoke to the press about the sensitive issue. When asked if the show would be showing footage of Andi's reaction to the news, the host replied:

"We're not 100 percent sure. We're going to feel this out and just try and do what we feel is right and respectful.

And we shot several things as it happened, just to have it. Once you move past that, you can't go back and re-shoot those types of things, and you can't re-shoot that moment. And so we shot things and captured it, not knowing what and if we would use anything. And so you know, I'm really not sure.

We haven't gotten to that final cut, and we kind of wanted to gauge everybody's feelings as we move further away from it and get into the show. So we'll see in a few weeks how we end up editing the show together."

But I imagine we will have to deal with it in some way, because it affected Andi, and it affected the guys that are left on the show, and our - and our - and all of us. And so it's something that you can't just brush by and ignore, because it had such an effect on everybody.

I think it would be confusing, you know, why is she sad?, or why the guys are saying what they're saying?, if you - if there's nothing to relate back to, you know, what's bringing on that emotion. So obviously we're going to have to deal with it in some way."

So BWW asks, did The Bachelorette make the right decision by including the footage in last night's episode? Tell us what you think in the comments section below!

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