diff --git a/evalharness/cli.py b/evalharness/cli.py
index ef60337..606f654 100644
--- a/evalharness/cli.py
+++ b/evalharness/cli.py
@@ -199,13 +199,12 @@ def _print_run_plan(console, args, model_spec):
 
 
 def _print_phase(console, index, total, name, message):
-    # single-benchmark runs: the [1/1] tag is noise, drop it
+    # single-benchmark runs: the [1/1] tag is noise, drop it.
+    # narration lines stay UNCOLORED everywhere (matches reporter.log and
+    # the runner's plain prints): color is reserved for ✓/✗/errors only
     prefix = f'[{index}/{total}] ' if total > 1 else ''
     text = f'{prefix}{name}: {message}'
-    if console is not None:
-        console.print(f'[cyan]{text}[/cyan]')
-    else:
-        print(text, flush=True)
+    print(text, flush=True)
 
 
 def _print_benchmark_result(console, index, total, name, status, elapsed):
diff --git a/evalharness/progress/rich_terminal.py b/evalharness/progress/rich_terminal.py
index fcb40a1..d84144e 100644
--- a/evalharness/progress/rich_terminal.py
+++ b/evalharness/progress/rich_terminal.py
@@ -157,10 +157,12 @@ class RichTerminalProgress:
         interleaved/repainted output; Progress.print routes through the live
         region correctly.
         """
+        # highlight=False: rich auto-colorizes numbers, which made narration
+        # lines look inconsistent (some numbers cyan, some plain)
         if self.task_id is not None:
-            self.progress.print(message)
+            self.progress.print(message, highlight=False)
         else:
-            self.console.print(message)
+            self.console.print(message, highlight=False)
 
     def pause(self):
         """Temporarily stop the live display (e.g. while hub downloads print