Kelly Ripa and 'Bachelorette' Hannah Brown face off amid Ripa's divisive 'Bachelor' comments

Kelly Ripa interviewed "Bachelorette" Hannah Brown on Thursday as her comments from two days earlier that the reality show "disgusts" her continued to make waves online.

On Thursday's episode of "Live With Kelly and Ryan," Ripa started her interview with Brown by offering her an out during their sit-down.

"I'm not sure if they told you backstage, I'm not behind this at all," Ripa explained. "You seem like a lovely girl. You blink twice, I will get you out of here."

"I'm good," Brown laughed. "I'm glad to be here."

SEE ALSO: Kelly Ripa explains why she's disgusted by 'The Bachelor'

Ripa then doubled-down on her opinion that having "women fighting over a guy" is not something that she stands by and asked Brown to explain her ability to accept the show's seemingly outdated premise.

"I don't believe in it," Ripa said. "I think it's, you know, weird and sets us back. But now, you are in the power position. So, take me through that. How does that work?"

"Like you, I didn't really follow the show, wasn't a big fan," the current "Bachelorette" star confessed. "But, being a part of the show, it's not women fighting against each other. Really, some of my best friends came from the show and were really supportive. When you have a group of 30 people together, there's going to be people who don't like each other. That's simple facts."

"But, ultimately, it was one of the most empowering things that I ever have done because I had to push myself and grow as an individual," Brown went on. "And I did. And I think that's why I decided that I wanted to be the Bachelorette and wanted that so bad."

Ripa's face-to-face interview with Brown came two days after she said that "The Bachelor" "disgusts" her, adding that she "couldn't stand by the idea of 25 exceptional women fighting over one ordinary fella."

"We are too special to be arguing over a guy," she added.

After her comments went viral, host Chris Harrison tweeted, "Look out #BachelorNation @KellyRipa is coming after you and your "disgusting" Monday night habit."

Mike Fleiss, the creator of the long-running franchise, also chimed in, tweeting, "Easy @KellyRipa ... #TheBachelor pays your salary!"

Of course, "The Bachelor" and "The Bachelorette" air on the same channel as Ripa's daytime talk show, "Live," and Fleiss argued that ABC uses the money is makes from his lucrative shows to pay for her reported $20 million salary.

Sources explained to Page Six, however, that the shows are all run by different subsidiaries of ABC, so Fleiss' claim is certainly false.

"How dumb can you get? Kelly’s salary is paid by ABC Syndication and 'The Bachelor' brand is produced by ABC Entertainment, they’re two separate entities, they have nothing to do with each other," the insider explained. And why make this so personal -- Kelly’s said way worse about 'The Bachelor' in the past -- the joke is that this is the least offensive thing she’s ever done. This just seems desperate."

Another ABC star, Ellen Pompeo, who stars on "Grey's Anatomy," took umbrage with Fleiss' claim and defended Ripa on Twitter on Thursday morning.

"Okay @fleissmeister ... that's some handle bro! Your show does NOT pay @KellyRipa salary. Also we don't attack successful women on our network and men cannot take credit for their success. Don't get me started on your show cuz I'm a savage.... #bachelorsoooowhite."

The hashtag at the end of Pompeo's tweet alluded to "The Bachelor" and "The Bachelorette"'s struggle to diversify their casts. In the shows' 38 combined seasons, there has only been one non-white lead: Rachel Lindsay, who is black, was "The Bachelorette" back in 2017.