Bachelor Nation Is Majorly Shading Chris Harrison For This "Surprise" Twist

Matt James' season of The Bachelor is only about halfway done, but there have already been plenty of twists and turns. From the reign of Queen Victoria to the surprise addition of five new women in the middle of the season, it hasn't exactly followed a predictable format. Things got even wilder when a former season's contestant suddenly showed up to vie for Matt's heart. But her arrival didn't seem that unexpected, and many tweets about Heather Martin's Bachelor arrival are calling BS on the "surprise" element of it.

Bachelor Nation has known that Heather, who was previously a contestant on Colton's Bachelor season, would show up at some point since her entrance was teased in the Season 25 preview. She finally arrived during the Feb. 8 episode, which began with "security camera" footage of her driving up to Nemacolin Resort.

Once a security guard announced her arrival, Chris Harrison showed up at the gates and was "shocked" to see her there. "Heather, what are you doing here?" he asked her, wide eyed as they stood on opposite sides of the security gate. Heather insisted that her friend and former Bachelorette Hannah Brown told her Matt was the perfect guy for her after spending time quarantining with him. "Her telling me that meant something ... I couldn't let him get engaged and not meet him — or try my best," she insisted. "I know you're halfway through ... I just want to meet Matt."

The Bachelor Nation host agreed to let Heather come in and chat with Matt, provided she quarantined and took multiple COVID tests to ensure she wasn't bringing in any outside germs onto their closes set. But even though he acted shocked to see her, fans aren't buying it. Not only is Chris a producer on The Bachelor — which means he knows *a lot* more about behind-the-scenes decisions than the average TV host — but also, with all the coronavirus precautions ABC is taking with The Bachelor, it would be an actual shock if Heather was somehow allowed to show up without anyone knowing about it. What, did she just decide to hop in her minivan and drive to Nemacolin all on her own? Doubtful.

But it wasn't all jabs at Chris' acting skills. Chris telling Heather she needed to quarantine before safely joining the competition led to another round of jokes on Twitter.

It would be a massive understatement to say the other women weren't happy when Heather showed up at the end of the episode, but she stuck to her plan. After finally getting the go-head to see Matt, she gushed about how Matt could be her future husband and noted her entire journey on the franchise would be worth it if they got engaged. One thing is for sure: Heather's time on the show is yet another dramatic storyline in the roller coaster that is Matt's Bachelor season.

Season 25 of The Bachelor continues on Monday, Feb. 15, at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.