‘Bachelorette’ host dishes on final choice

By Chris Harrison

updated 10:42 a.m. ET July 29, 2009

I knew everything was going to be all right when the bird crapped on my shoulder the day before the proposal. But let's back up a bit.

We flew from Maui to Kona for the final leg of this journey. Jillian had narrowed it down to her final two, Ed and Kiptyn. Despite the emotional breakup with Reid, Jillian was feeling pretty good about the situation. Now I don't want to bore you by going back over all the details of this episode, so I'm going to give you my opinion of what went down and why.

I know it might sound weird but Jillian had love for each of these guys. If life and love was purely about a physical attraction Kiptyn would've easily been the one. That's not to say they didn't have an emotional connection too, but Jillian didn't see growing old with him and that was big for her.

While Ed was dancing around Hawaii in shorts that wouldn't fit my 7-year-old and Kiptyn was flexing his abs, Reid was desperately trying to get a hold of producers. As you heard him say on the “Final Rose” special, he felt there was something still there between he and Jillian, and he was willing to go all the way to prove it. I have to give the guy credit — this was a bold, brave move. As you could clearly see by the look on her face, Jill had absolutely no idea Reid was coming back.

Allowing Reid to come back was a very tough decision for us to make. This final day is always an emotional roller coaster for all of us. After a long haul, Jillian had mentally prepared herself to break up with Kiptyn and choose Ed. Throwing Reid back into the equation was very risky. We had no idea how Jillian would react and what this would do to her final decision. We were all really flying by the seat of our pants on this one. We knew that both Kiptyn and Ed had rings and were prepared to get down on one knee, and as far as TV goes that was more than enough to successfully wrap up this season.

But just like you saw, we also felt there was just something there between Jill and Reid, and had time not been a factor there's no way she would have let him go in Maui. When I saw Jillian's reaction when Reid walked out on that platform, our suspicions were confirmed. She still had serious feelings for this guy. What followed was about an hour of emotion and confusion. Hard to believe after this many seasons we could possibly run into a situation we've never dealt with before, but that's the beauty of this show: we always do.

Reid was a serious temptation
If you ask Jillian about that final day and Reid coming back she'll tell you it was always Ed all the way. I understand her position and if I was engaged to somebody else I would probably paint the same picture. I don't doubt for a second that Jillian loves Ed and I know that was what she wanted the moment she woke up that morning.

But I also know that there was serious temptation when Reid came back and that temptation did lead to a moment of doubt. Luckily Jillian had the poise to walk away and try and collect her thoughts. That's when I asked the producers if I could go talk to her. Jillian and I have become very good friends over the last year and at that moment she needed a friend to talk to, somebody that wasn't going to manipulate or lead her in a certain direction, just somebody that would listen and let her lead herself back where she always wanted to be and that was with Ed.

I received more than a few Twitters asking why I was in the Ed camp — insinuating that I pushed Jillian in that direction. First of all, let me say I wasn't in anybody's camp. I told Jillian once she narrowed it down to the final three she really couldn't go wrong. All three guys were good men and a good fit for her in their own way. That's what made this one of the toughest decisions I've seen a Bachelorette ever have to make.

Obviously my talk with Jillian was much longer and more involved than what we were able to show you on TV. I talked with her for probably ten minutes before she arrived at the decision to let Reid go again. Something you didn't see that made me laugh, and feel old, was when we were done Jillian said I reminded her of her dad. I told her her dad must be a smart man and I would take that as a compliment. Jillian knew in her heart what she wanted to do. She just needed a friend there to help her work through her emotions and figure it out. I was happy to be that friend. If she had sat down and told me that Reid was the man she loved and wanted to be with, that would have been fine by me as well, but that's not what she wanted. If you ask me to be honest about it, I have to admit for a moment there I really thought she was going to take Reid back. I'll be interested to hear your opinion of what Reid pulled.

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