Kelly Ripa Not Backing Down from 'Bachelor' Criticism After Chris Harrison, Mike Fleiss Slam Her

Kelly Ripa Not Backing Down from 'Bachelor' Criticism After Chris Harrison, Mike Fleiss Slam Her "If anything, her success in syndication and promotion of these shows pays their salaries," a

source close to Kelly Ripa's show tells PEOPLE

By Jen Juneau Jen Juneau Jen Juneau is a News and Movies Staff Writer at PEOPLE. She started at the brand in 2016 and has more than 15 years' professional writing experience.People Editorial

GuidelinesPublished on May 16, 2019 10:19AM EDT If reality TV heavyweights Mike Fleiss and Chris Harrison thought criticizing Kelly Ripa was going to get her to back down on her opinions

about The Bachelorette, they seem to have picked the wrong woman.

On Tuesday’s episode of Live with Kelly and Ryan, Ripa, 48, said of the reality dating series, “Guys, you know how I feel about this show. It disgusts me.”

“And I thought that I was disgusted because I couldn’t stand the idea of 25 exceptional women fighting over one ordinary fella, in my opinion,” she continued. “You know how I feel, ladies:

We are too special to be arguing over a guy.”

Both Bachelor host Harrison and creator Fleiss clapped back on Twitter, with Harrison writing, “Look out #BachelorNation ⁦@KellyRipa⁩ is coming after you and your ‘disgusting’ Monday night

habit.”

Fleiss chimed in with, “Easy, @KellyRipa … #TheBachelor franchise pays your salary!”

Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images; Noam Galai/Getty Images; Evan Agostini/Invision/AP/REX/Shutterstock Chris Harrison’s tweet.Twitter/Chrs Harrison