‘The Bachelor After the Final Rose’ to be hosted by University of Texas football alum Emmanuel Acho

Emmanuel Acho, who played linebacker for the University of Texas at Austin and is a current co-host on Fox Sports 1, will host “The Bachelor After the Final Rose” following this season’s final rose ceremony.

The host-to-be made the announcement official on social media on Saturday.

Acho is the author of the 2020 New York Times bestselling book “Uncomfortable Conversations With a Black Man,” and played in the National Football League for four years.

“I’ve accepted the rose and am honored to be hosting The Bachelor After the Final Rose this year. It’s been a pivotal season and this episode will hopefully be one of the most storied shows in TV history,” Acho said on social media. “Empathy is needed and change is coming.”

Related: ‘The Bachelor’ host stepping away after racial controversy

In mid-February, Chris Harrison, the long-time host of “The Bachelor,” said he would be stepping down from his role and was “ashamed” of his handling of a swirling racial controversy, according to an Associated Press report.

Harrison faced criticism after an interview on “Extra” when he was asked about “racially insensitive past behavior from current “Bachelor” contestant Rachael Kirkconnell,” according to the Associated Press.

Photos showed Kirkconnell dressed in costumes as a Native American and at an antebellum plantation-themed ball; she later apologized for what she calls her past “racist and offensive” actions.

“Harrison defended Kirkconnell against what he called the ‘woke police’ on social media, according to the Associated Press report.

“While I do not speak for Rachel Kirkconnell, my intentions were simply to ask for grace in offering her an opportunity to speak on her own behalf,” Harrison said in a statement. “What I now realize I have done is cause harm by wrongly speaking in a manner that perpetuates racism and for that, I am so deeply sorry.”

“I love being a bridge for reconciliation,” Acho said on social media. “Our world is disconnected and divided, my goal is to unify.”

The show will air on Monday, March 15.