0 Chris Harrison blogs 'The Bachelorette' episode 3

Chris Harrison's Bachelorette blog can be found weekly at EW.com!

Chris Harrison's thoughts about Bentley Williams: 
"Let me be very clear about my thoughts on Bentley and him leaving. I have no problem with him coming on the show. I have no problem with him coming on the show even if he was hoping our bachelorette was going to be Emily. You never know what can happen when you meet somebody. I also don’t have a problem with him deciding it was time to leave, that’s completely up to him. I also didn’t have a problem with him using his daughter as an excuse to leave and let Ashley down easy; that’s not the way I would have handled the situation, but so be it. My issue is he appears to have come on the show with bad intentions, and when he decided to leave, he messed with Ashley’s head by leading her on and letting her believe that there’s still a chance for them to be together. He knew Ashley had fallen for him, and instead of just leaving and letting her go he took one last inappropriate shot by ending it with that ridiculous “dot-dot-dot” garbage. Many have wondered why he was ever allowed on the show and how he was allowed to stay as long as he did. The simple answer is it was always up to Ashley. She made the decision to allow him on the show that first night. After Ashley received the texts warning her about Bentley, we offered her the option of not even having to meet the guy, but she decided to give him a shot. Every step of the way — despite warnings from producers, myself and others — Ashley stuck to her guns and believed in this guy. In Ashley’s defense she wasn’t privy to all the things Bentley said behind her back. Ashley made a deal with herself that this time around she would open herself up to be vulnerable and give herself every opportunity to find love. She just never figured there would be a guy like this who would take advantage of that in such a negative way. I’ve talked to her this week and I know she feels foolish for being taken advantage of, but she shouldn’t. Yes she made the decision to keep him around, but I understand why. You have to open yourself up to really make this work and that’s exactly what she did."  Read Chris Harrison's full Bachelorette blog here!