On-air personality and bestselling author Emmanuel Acho hosts "The Bachelor: After the Final Rose."Craig Sjodin/Getty Images
- Emmanuel Acho will step in to host "After the Final Rose" on Monday, March 15.
- Acho, a former NFL player, is hosting as Chris Harrison takes time away from the franchise.
- Harrison's departure from the show will last at least through the next season of "The Bachelorette."
Bachelor Nation has been embroiled in controversy since last summer, when the Bachelor Diversity Campaign's cries for the first Black Bachelor reached fever pitch. ABC cast Matt James, the first Black Bachelor, in 2020 and his season began airing in January 2021.
During the season, allegations of racism emerged against one of his frontrunners, Rachael Kirkconnell. Longtime "Bachelor" host Chris Harrison took it upon himself to defend Kirkconnell during an "Extra" interview with Rachel Lindsay, the first Black Bachelorette.
The fallout was instant - and while Harrison and Kirkconnell have both apologized for their actions, Harrison announced he was stepping away from the franchise for an undetermined amount of time, which is where Emmanuel Acho comes in.
Acho was announced as the replacement host for "After the Final Rose." Since he's new to Bachelor Nation, here are eight things you need to know about him before tonight's finale.
Emmanuel Acho is a 30-year-old former football player. He was drafted in 2012 and played for the Cleveland Browns and the Philadelphia Eagles.
Linebacker Emmanuel Acho of the Cleveland Browns during the second day of mini-camp at Cleveland Browns training facility on May 12, 2012.
Jason Miller/Getty Images
Acho, a linebacker, was drafted in the sixth round of the 2012 NFL Draft, after attending the University of Texas. He graduated in 2011.
He remained with the Browns for a season and was then traded to the Eagles, where he remained until he was released in 2015. Acho then retired from football.
He is a first-generation American born to Nigerian parents.
Members of the Nigerian national soccer team pose with members of the Philadelphia Eagles, including Acho, in 2014.
NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP via Getty Images
Acho's parents are from Nigeria, but they emigrated before he and his siblings were born in Dallas, Texas.
His whole family has been involved with missionary work as part of Living Hope Christian Ministries. His father, Sonny, is also a doctor and is involved with Living Hope's Operation Hope, which provides medical services in Nigeria.
He took an Eagles fan to prom after she got 10,000 retweets on her "promposal."
Acho and his "prom date."
ABC
To get a sense of what type of guy Acho is — when he was in grad school in Texas, a 16-year-old Eagles fan asked him if he'd take her to prom if she got 2,000 retweets. He countered with 10,000 ... and when she provided proof, he gallantly flew to Pennsylvania to take her to her junior prom in 2015.
After leaving football, he got into sports broadcasting. He previously worked for ESPN and is now an analyst for Fox Sports 1.
Emmanuel Acho visits the SiriusXM set at Super Bowl 51 Radio Row at the George R. Brown Convention Center on February 2, 2017.
Cindy Ord/Getty Images for SiriusXM
After leaving football behind, Acho began working for ESPN. He then joined Fox Sports 1 in 2020 to co-host "Speak for Yourself" with Marcellus Wiley.
"To join the FOX Sports family and have the opportunity to co-host one of the most notable sports talk shows in sports entertainment is an absolute dream come true," said Acho at the time.
Last summer, he began hosting a weekly YouTube series called "Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man."
Emmanuel Acho on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!"
Randy Holmes/Getty Images
Around the time he joined Fox, Acho also began hosting his series, "Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man."
It is "a safe place to have the uncomfortable conversations about race that many people have never been able to have," according to the YouTube description. "I want to remove the barriers for why we've never had these conversations. I want to provide a free space for curious white people to answer the questions they've always had but have been too nervous to ask."
So far, his guests have included NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, Chelsea Handler, Matthew McConaughey, and Chip and Joanna Gaines, among others.
The series was turned into a book of the same name in November 2020.
Acho on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert."
CBS via Getty Images
The book was published in November and became a New York Times bestseller. "This book from the former NFL player and current Fox Sports analyst provides a new voice in the dialogue about racism," wrote the Washington Post.
It's now been turned into a children's book, "Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Boy," that will be available in May.
He dated "Insecure" star Yvonne Orji, but they broke up in 2019.
Yvonne Orji and Emmanuel Acho.
Frederic J. BROWN / AFP/Getty Images
He has Rachel Lindsay and Bryan Abasolo's support in Bachelor Nation.
Rachel Lindsay and her husband, Bryan Abasolo.
Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
Lindsay, when asked who she wanted to take over for Harrison on "After the Final Rose" during an appearance on the "Bachelor Party" podcast, said she and her husband would support Acho, as he'd be able to have conversations that Harrison, as a white man, simply doesn't have the tools for.
Acho will host "The Bachelor: After the Final Rose" at 10 p.m. on March 15, immediately after the finale.
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