( CNN ) -- Historically the hometown dates on `` The Bachelorette '' can be fraught with a touch of anxiety , but on Monday night 's episode there was an abundance of grief . The ABC reality series dealt with the death of contestant Eric Hill , who perished in a paragliding accident following his stint on the show . Hill was one of 25 bachelors vying for the heart of Andi Dorfman . Dorfman visited the hometowns of the four remaining contestants , but the show took a dramatic turn when host Chris Harrison had to inform the group of Hill 's passing . `` I know this is a little unorthodox , '' Harrison said . `` You all know Eric Hill . He , a couple of days ago , was in Utah paragliding and was in a serious accident . We knew he was hurt bad , but we just did n't know how bad . We learned this morning that he passed away . Obviously I 'm really sorry to be the one to have to tell you . But as soon as we found out , I definitely wanted every one of you guys to know as fast as we could . '' Dorfman broke down in tears and one of the bachelors , Marcus Grodd , had to leave the room . Dorfman was later shown sobbing and lamenting the fact that Hill was eliminated from the show after the pair had a disagreement . `` I kicked him out , '' she said . `` I ca n't believe that was my last conversation with him . '' Dorfman also rallied to help the others deal with the tragedy . `` It just puts in perspective all of this -- there 's so much more to all of this , '' she told them . `` There 's life , people have lives here . '' In his blog about the show for EW , Harrison defended the decision to include the heartbreak in the episode . `` There were those who did n't think we should shoot it at all and not include this news , '' he wrote . `` I vehemently disagreed . I thought we should not only shoot it , but felt we should include it on this show for you to see as well . I knew this was going to be a brutally sad moment for all of us , but that 's why I felt so strongly we should show it . ''
Andi Dorfman learned of Eric Hill 's death on Friday 's episode . She broke down sobbing . The show 's host defended the show .