Bachelor Nation has a bone to pick with Kelly Ripa — namely, her perceived attitude toward the leads of the franchise.
Former Bachelor contestant Ashley Iaconetti and former Bachelor Ben Higgins voiced their opinions loud and clear when discussing how Ripa and her husband, Mark Consuelos, seemingly judged new Bachelorette Jenn Tran for her decision to go on the show.
Tran, who is the first Asian American Bachelorette, was a guest on Live With Kelly and Mark earlier this week — and the conversation took a turn for the uncomfortable when the hosts repeatedly asked her why she decided to go on the show to find The One, instead of meeting him in a non-publicized way.
"You're drop-dead gorgeous," Ripa told Tran on the Monday, July 8, episode of her eponymous morning show. "You could meet anybody anywhere, at any time. Why, why, why [would you go on The Bachelorette]?"
While Ripa further suggested Tran could have met The One at "medical school" or "the office," Consuelos pointed out she could have even met her future husband at church.
Tran, for her part, held her ground — turning the tables on the couple, who met in the early '90s while costarring on All My Children.
"I have a question," Tran began. "Where did you meet your husband? On TV, no?"
Ripa, for her part, told Tran, "Those are not the same. We were both professional. Are you acting on your show? I didn't marry [Mark's character] Mateo Santos. I married Mark Consuelos."
Iaconetti and Higgins tore into Ripa's line of questioning on the Wednesday, July 10, episode of their podcast, Almost Famous.
"It disappoints me when I see that Kelly Ripa has such an ax to grind with The Bachelor franchise," Iaconetti said, adding that the ABC personality "always seems to be so skeptical of — a little bit of the lead, and their decision to be the lead — and also just the process."
In fact, Iaconetti further posited, Ripa "just seems to really shame the show."
Higgins, for his part, claimed that the reason Ripa's Bachelor Nation interviews are always so "awkward" is because she "definitely doesn't like the show." He added, jokingly: "I don't know if they denied her the 'Bachelorette' role at some point." (For what it's worth, Ripa and Consuelos — who share three children together — have been married since 1996; The Bachelor wasn't created until 2002.)
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