The Bachelor Season 20 premieres on ABC at 8 PM ET tonight! A few weeks ago while in LA for the Star Wars Event, I got the chance to attend the most dramatic blogger brunch ever! Mimosas were had, croissants were enjoyed and we learned some pretty juicy deets. That’s right, The Bachelor Host Chris Harrison Tells All during our exclusive interview! When things kick off with Chris Harrison saying “I don’t care what you ask. At this point, I feel secure in my job and I’ll pretty much tell you anything” you know it’s going to be fun!
(I was provided with this experience by Disney/ABC/Marvel/Lucasfilm.)
(ABC/Rick Rowell) (ABC/Craig Sjodin)
The Bachelor Season 20: Host Chris Harrison Tells All
#1 It’s Raining Ben on The Bachelor Season 20
The Bachelor Season 20 has 28 Bachelorettes looking to capture the heart of 26 year old Ben Higgins. This charming small town guy from Warsaw, Indiana wants to finally find true love, but don’t they all? So how did Ben Higgins become The Bachelor this season?
With Ben, it was just such a no brainer and it’s nice when you have something that’s such an easy choice. You guys, I mean you as the Bachelor Nation if you watch, the show made that choice for us and we were all kind of 100% in. He’s just such a genuine sweet humble good guy but as you see, he also has, um, something that as a Producer, is nice because there is that fragility and there’s that vulnerable side to him where he does have some issues to deal with and some things to get over. And I know, it’s hard to believe a guy that looks like that, has issues. I think we hit a home run with this guy. It’s a great season, he’s a good guy, the women are fantastic. When you have a guy that is a catch like Ben, obviously the level of interest and the level of competition brings us along with the count and so, from Night One it was on. When the women came in and saw what they were after, it was on. – Chris Harrison
(ABC/Felicia Graham)
#2 Picking the Ladies
We know Ben Higgins was a no-brainer when it came to being the next Bachelor. What about the ladies? Casting 28 women to vie for Ben’s heart on The Bachelor Season 20 involves a lot more than just an audition, great back story, and pretty smile.
The first part really depends on the Casting. You know, we cast Lacey Pemberton, who’s our Casting Director and now just works for us full time, 12 months of the year, it’s always Casting. She is incredible at what she does. This is the story before the story that you’ll never know about. What we’re looking for is not crazy, not drama, not you know, not the thing that you would think of. We’re looking for a good story, we really are. Kelsey is a good example. She’s the one that was left in the Badlands that had the husband. We kept her because she was an incredible story. She really had this fascinating story. She’s a Doctor, incredibly intelligent, she’s beautiful. She lost her husband and she’s kind of dealt with that pain and said that she’s ready to come back. That is a compelling story and that is phenomenal to watch and expose and show. That’s all we really thought we were getting. That’s more than enough. What we ended up getting….. [LAUGHTER] Again, that’s the Show. That’s the genius. You don’t know what you’re going to get and that’s why you bring in this woman from New York and San Francisco, and Iowa, and Alabama, and we don’t dress them. And we don’t do their hair and make-up because we want you to dress how you look, and you to dress how you look. We dress The Bachelor and Bachelorette but we don’t dress the people that are on the show. The first night, we will help them, hair and make-up and some powder, whatever, but only the first night because it’s such a crazy long night. But other than that, you’re completely 100% left to your own devices because how do you get ready? All the girls have to get ready and this isn’t a camera. This is again, the dynamic of what it takes to find love, you know, how do you get ready? Are you bitchy? By the time we get to the party, are you happy? Can you get along with others? Do you have dresses? How do you dress? Again, it’s all these things go into the overall, and so we cast the show really looking for good stories. The fame whores, the people that are there for their 15 minutes or whatever, that’s inevitable. It’s just this Generation. I don’t think that there’s anybody that wakes up and doesn’t want that now. But the great thing is our show’s never been predicated on the fact that there’s 28 people there all 100% sincere. Dating is not perfect and if our show was, it would be insincere and it wouldn’t work. It has its issues just like the dating process, it’s not perfect. – Chris Harrison
THE BACHELOR – (ABC/Craig Sjodin)
BACK ROW: AMANDA K, JACQUELINE, LAUREN R., TIARA, OLIVIA, LAUREN H., LAUREN B.;
MIDDLE ROW: SAMANTHA, LACE, LEAH, ISABEL, BECCA, AMBER, JESSICA, RACHEL, JENNIFER;
FRONT ROW: MEGAN, CAILA, JOELLE, JUBILEE, LAURA, LAUREN BARR, BEN HIGGINS, SHUSHIK, AMANDA S., EMILY, HALEY, JAMI, BREANNE
#3 Twins on The Bachelor Season 20
I’m not sure whether to say awkward or awesome. On one hand that’s your twin sister you are up against and on the other hand you hopefully have one person out of 28 you can trust…. The Bachelor Season 20 just got a whole lot more interesting is all I can say. and thank goodness my twins are boy/girl so this won’t be an experience they will have on The Bachelor Season 40. 😉
So it’s a good season with some familiar faces, and twins, which as a couple of guys here, you would think the idea of twins is appealing. You think “Oh Twins, that’s….” and then when you think about it for more than 4 seconds you’re like oh that’s horrible. There are so many problems with that. They’re related and family and this is weird. They’re sisters. It’s a very interesting season. – Chris Harrison
(ABC/Craig Sjodin)
HALEY, EMILY
#4 Town Carnival Date
There are some pretty sweet dates on The Bachelor Season 20, a mini-horse, and what I think may a wine-induced game of Headbanz but I’m not positive yet…either way, tons of fun is in-store. Back in the day, oh, 20 season ago, social media wasn’t as big as it is now. So, when you have a date like a Town Carnival while you are filming for the season, things may get out.
We had a date in Warsaw, Indiana where we opened up the entire town and did a carnival. There were 2000 people there, all of them of course with pictures and cameras. So I’m sure, I haven’t been on because I don’t really care, but I’m sure there’s pictures all over the place of dates we had all season. That’s just how you have to embrace it and go with it and realize it’s out there so use it, use it to our advantage. Now you know I wish, there are spoilers sometimes that get out, and I wish that wouldn’t happen but again, that’s, you know. – Chris Harrison
ABC Television Network. (ABC/Rick Rowell)
BEN HIGGINS
#5 The Last 10 Minutes Never Change
If you’ve watched The Bachelor over the course of the last 20 season you have probably noticed changes. What you may not have noticed is though, is that the last 10 minutes never change. Aside from the people involved, it’s just two people hoping to find love.
I was doing an interview yesterday and someone asked, what’s changed? And we were having this discussion too with Social Media and what you guys do, that didn’t exist. But if you think about the last 10 minutes of our show, that has never changed. And I think in the History of Mankind, that 10 minutes of our lives has and never will change. And that 10 minutes is, there’s no dating websites, there’s no Social Media, there’s no moms and dads. It’s these two people. There’s this man and this woman, scared to death, hoping that they found true love. And as cheesy as that may sound, it is that one thing that no matter where you go in the world, kind of connects us all. It’s companionship, it’s that hope, that dream of finding somebody. – Chris Harrison
THE BACHELOR (ABC/Rick Rowell)
Speaking of the last 10 minutes and those roses…..I got one!! 😀
#6 No Faking When You Hit Rock Bottom
It’s no secret that fame seekers love attention and reality shows are one place they try to find it. We’ve seen them and we’ve yelled at our TV because their lies and trickery drive us bonkers. Those Sneaky McSneakers are on The Bachelor too, but they get found out while us viewers at home watch their lies unravel.
You’ve heard the idea of Ben having trouble that he can be loved, and finding love, and it’s an arcing theme you’ll see throughout the season that he kind of deals with. Inevitably, there’s that bottom out. This always happens. There’s a point in the season when everybody just gets gutted. Not to be related to Alcoholism or some kind of Addiction. You know there is that bottom that you reach. Everybody has a different bottom when you go through something like that and inevitably, every Bachelor and Bachelorette gets kind of strung out. That’s one of the great things about how we produce this show and this process that people probably outside the show don’t understand is it does, it really does strip you down naked and then you kind of start new, and you start to build. You can’t fake your way through this. Whether you’re one of the 25 or 28 this season or if the guy or girl himself, you can’t fake your way through it, you just can’t. The first, maybe the second night, but you will be found out. If you come in and say, “you know what? I’ve never done this but I’m gonna be the wild person. I’m usually a really quiet sweet girl, but I’m gonna go in there and I’m gonna blow the doors off the place.” , you can’t, you know, you can’t fake it for that long. Eventually, you show up, your real self, and that is kind of the duty of this show. We yell at our TV screens and “oh my God, why, get rid of that person. Don’t you see what’s going on?” Well first of all, they don’t. They don’t get to see everything we do. But eventually they do get found out, whether it’s, you know, Bentley or whoever it is. You get shown for who you are. – Chris Harrison
#7 Drama on The Bachelor Season 20
You can’t have an entertaining The Bachelor Season 20 without a little bit drama, amiright? 😉 I have a feeling that drama is one of the main reasons some of you tune in. 😉 This seasons drama is brought on my The Bachelor himself. Oh Ben…..
This season is interesting because the drama is, more Ben induced and caused by who he is and how he kind of holds himself, carries himself throughout the show, which is extraordinarily well. He’s very open. The best way to go through with this is to really just wear your heart on your sleeve and give yourself up to the process. That is so much easier said than done because you walk into it. It would be like me walking into all of you guys and go OK, here’s my life. Take me at my most vulnerable moments and you know, and that’s scary as hell to do. But it works best in the show, only really works if it you do it that way. And Sean Lowe is a good example. Sean sees, and I’ll bring him up a lot because they remind me a lot of each other, is that we got a glimpse of Sean on mid-season. Everyone kind of really liked this guy. But then when you saw him on The Bachelor, you really fell in love with him. He got a sense of humor and how self deprecating he was and what just a good guy Sean was. And I think Ben’s the same type of guy, how sincere and humble and faith based, and he really just gave himself up to us, and said “Go, like I trust you guys. You’re good at what you do. Take care of it.” And it was, it’s scary when you have someone’s life in your hands. But we kind of took it and ran. And so because of that, and because he really just gave himself and threw himself into the fire, the drama will follow like that happens. You really, you know, we don’t have to produce that. And I know people think Oh, you cast it crazy and you kept this girl like you don’t have to. If I lock these doors right now, I promise you, half this room are crazy. [LAUGHTER] And so here’s the thing…. we take away your phones, we take away your blogs, we take away your Mom and Dad, all the things that you rely on every day, and it’s something that I really believe in, in my life, is that, you know, if you concentrate on one thing, no matter what that one thing is in your life, when you wake up and you say I’m gonna do this one thing, and concentrate on that and until that is accomplished today, I’m not doing anything else, you will become great at whatever you’re trying to do, whether it’s Religion, working out, business, relationships, whatever it is. So if all you do is wake up and think about Ben, and think about dating Ben, and think about your own life and where you are in your own life, it doesn’t mean it’s going to work. I don’t guarantee that it’s going to work but I guarantee at the end of this process, you’ll know if it does or it doesn’t and you’ll also learn if you’re ready to actually commit to something. And that’s an interesting thing. You end up with like Jesse Palmer, Bob Getty, some of these others that they get into it for very sincere reasons and they feel that they’re ready but once they go through it and you get stripped down, often times like “Oh Crap like maybe I’m not ready for this in my life.” Ben did a good job of really giving up and the women kind of had to follow. The women had to really give it up too and that was a very vulnerable space. So it’s a dramatic season but I think in a very different way than what we’re gonna be used to. – Chris Harrison
ABC Television Network. (ABC/Rick Rowell)
LAUREN BARR, LAUREN H., SAMANTHA, RACHEL, LAURA
#8 Social Media and Body Shaming
Enjoying drama is one thing, but actively engaging in body shaming on Social Media is a whole different ball game. I hate body shaming in any form, but especially when people take to social media to do it. Just because a person puts themselves out there, doesn’t mean they are allowing for others to speak negatively about how they look. We as women should be supporting other women and lifting them up and encouraging them, not putting them down.
Isn’t that what’s great about the show? I mean, this show really does push social questions and standards. When we first did “The Bachelorette” it was “Trista’s gonna be a slut.” She’s gonna do what Aaron Berg and these guys did but when a girl does it? Nah. You know what’s funny, when I’m in a room predominantly filled with women, and women predominantly watch our show, you would think women would acknowledge that and often times, you will hear that all go, “Women, Yay Women”, but the reality is that’s not what happens. That’s not how it happens on Social Media. There’s slut shaming, there’s body shaming. There have been things that have been said about the people on our show by women about women that’s horrifying to me. Women don’t wish other women well often times and that is a very sad state of affairs in our Society, but it’s very true. “The Bachelor” pushes these social issues and I love that as a Dad. My daughter’s 11, 12 this month, and we were watching the Kaitlyn Season and I was able to have a conversation with my daughter about just that. It was very interesting to hear her take. – Chris Harrison
#9 Most Beloved Bachelorette
Speaking of Kaitlyn, who Chris Harrison said “may be now our most beloved Bachelorette” she endured a lot during her season on The Bachelorette that spurred a lot of shaming. Honestly, her actions aren’t much different from the men on the show, so…..
When Kaitlyn and I were going through this together and she’s, I love Kaitlyn, she’s a good friend and I think she’s a sweet woman. Again, like I talk to my daughter, agree with her choices? That’s up to you. It’s her body, her life, her morals, her faith, her whatever, that she chose to do. And she owned it and that’s all we really ever needed, whether you agree with what she did. I really respect and honor how she handled it because I knew she was gonna get buried. And I even told her, I said “you’re going to get buried for the way you’re acting and I don’t think you’re acting inappropriately per se but you know, public opinion is very strong and it’s very easy for all of us to stand on our soapbox and ‘Damn you’.” I’ve seen who yells the loudest are people that are the unhappiest. It was really interesting to watch that happen, but as much as we love to tear people down, people love a comeback story. People love redemption and she may be now our most beloved Bachelorette because she stood through it all and faced it all, took it all, owned it, and then threw it back at everybody and said “look, I love this guy, we’re engaged. Suck it.” And I love that. I love when that happens. I think to me, she stands more for what women should be. Again, her decisions aside, that’s between you and your God and your Faith in your own body and all that, whether you agree or not, I love the type of woman she is. I think she really owned it and so again, our show has been on for 15 years and we’ve done it in many different areas. And I love that we will continue to do that where it’s such a great conversation piece. We all wake up the next day and you’re like, “you believe she said that on her first date. Do you believe he did that or the way he treats women.” – Chris Harrison
#10 Private vs Public Dates
You may remember in the beginning when dates were private. There were trips and town carnivals and big to-dos on location. Everything about The Bachelor seemed to remain under tight lips. It still for the most part seems to stay that way, but we see a lot more public dates between The Bachelors and the ladies.
There were no blogs. I know, there was a world before you guys. My Space hadn’t been created, there was nothing. We controlled the message. Mitch would call and say, “Hey you’re doing an interview with People Magazine and ET” and they would sit in a room and they would control everything that we said, did, and what got out. There was no such thing as Spoilers and our show was very private. We had very private dates. We never did public dates back then because we kept everything so secret and maybe something possibly might leak out but it was so hard for information to really get out like it does today. Then the social media starts growing, then came Facebook and then, you go onto Twitter and Instagram and Blogs and all that. It’s amazing how our show has had to embrace that. I think one of the reasons our show remains relevant is we have to stay with the generation that’s at hand.
– Chris Harrison
ABC Television Network. (ABC/Rick Rowell)
AMANDA K., BEN HIGGINS
#11 Date Boxes
You are probably wondering what are Date Boxes and why you haven’t seen them on The Bachelor. Well, they never made got used on the show but Chris Harrison filled us in on what we will never see. 😀
We have this thing called Date Boxes. The first time we shot the show, I went on the Beach in Santa Monica and I met them. They would come and there was like this weird bench in the middle of the beach and they opened up a Date Box and it was this big reveal. None of that ever aired. You never saw that because it was such a waste of time. We shot so much stuff because we didn’t know what we would use and so we just shot for days. Now we’ve honed it in so we know exactly what we’re going to use and what we won’t use. People think “Oh, you have cameras going 24/7 at the house. How did you not catch this?” Well we don’t because we know we’re not going to use that and so, sometimes we’ll miss things because something crazy will happen. – Chris Harrison
#12 The Guy Inside Your Heart
I guess you could say I dated a little in junior high and about a year in high school. Then I met my husband and he is the only one I have dated since. He was a good guy with strong morals, awesome personality, kind soul, romantic heart, and well, I guess you could say the guy inside my heart.
The Bachelor is dating on Steroids. But we all have that capacity and you know, Trista was a good example of that first lesson of that. You have Charlie who everybody says on paper, is the guy, right? I mean he has the looks, the money, just that ‘it’ factor. You’re crazy to not end up with a guy like Charlie. But then there’s Ryan and he’s the right guy because he’s the guy inside your heart, inside your head. He’s the guy you can’t stop thinking about at night and when you wake up in the morning. So that was the first time when you saw this real dilemma of what do I do and I think a lot of times, it’s interesting. The women will make that right choice. Guys often don’t. They’re not smart animals. You can quote that, that’s true, if you haven’t already figured that out. They’re not animals. When she chose Ryan, I think everyone in America was like, Thank God. -Chris Harrison
#13 With this Ring, I Thee Wed
After hours of episodes of watching men and women receive (or not receive) roses we get to the propasal. Who will be chosen? Will anyone be chosen? Will they propose? Luckily for everyone else, it was all figured out with Trista and Ryan.
You know, we got to the final episode, like OK great but wait, how do we do this? Like does she propose? Does he propose? And so we actually sat down with Trista and because we knew she was choosing Ryan that final day, we did it actually at the house. This is him. Trista gives him the worst, we’re great friends. I love that they’re like family to me. She still gives me crap every time she sees like “so, let’s go through my anxiety of dates, Seattle. We did my proposal over a Pool in Encino.” And I was like yes, sorry about that. But it was funny. Those were exotic nights. They were one nights. We always came back for Rose Ceremonies. We never went anywhere where we didn’t fly back the next day. I think Bob Day is the first time where we actually stayed over somewhere in Belize and Jackson Hole or something like that. But it was really funny where back then, it wasn’t a big travel show. So yeah, Trista got the butt end of that stick for sure. But she ended up with a guy, but it’s funny. You know, even then, we didn’t even know how to do the proposal and she’s the one that said like “look, you know, at the end of the day, I’m a lady. I still want to be treated like a lady and you know, as long as I have the power, I want him to take over at some point.” And so we kind of had to figure this out with Charlie and Ryan without giving away who it was and it was like who do we give the ring to cause now, if it’s the Bachelor, he has a ring in his pocket and he’ll surprise her but with The Bachelorette, how do you do that when they don’t know about the guy. So they both walk up with rings basically.- Chris Harrison
ABC Television Network. (ABC/Rick Rowell)
AMANDA K., BEN HIGGINS
#14 Putting a Woman in Charge
I know we’re talking about The Bachelor Season 20, but I have to talk about Trista and the craze that is The Bachelorette just a wee bit more. Trista and Ryan, Ryan and Trista. They are a beautiful couple and it’s fantastic to see who things worked out for them, and are still going strong.
Aaron Burdy I think, is our highest rated show ever, with like 33 million. I think, don’t quote me, I know you will but I’d go back and look. It was 15 years ago, I think we had outdrew the Oscars that year. And I remember Sports Illustrated, they said a sign of the Apocalypse, and it was like, Reality Show Bachelor out rates World Series games 4, 5, and 6. Whatever it was, it was like ridiculous. And you know, the #1 Show on TV. Then Trista came along and that was a huge controversial idea. How dare we put a woman in charge and have The Bachelorette? It was really crazy back then. And then again now, it seems so benign and commonplace but back then, it was a wild idea. And Trista is just a perfect storm, great guys, wonderful woman, and I think that legitimized our franchise. That was our kind of tipping point of “Oh My Gosh, this is for real.” Ryan and Trista are so incredible. That was the Fairy Tale, and that kind of set the stage for everything that happened after. It really did. I think if we hadn’t had that success early on because you know, Aaron and Pauline, um, I can’t believe I remember their names. They did get engaged but they broke up not too long after. And obviously Alex, Michele, and Amanda broke up and so you know, when you have Ryan and Trista, and they were just so real and they stood the test of time still. – Chris Harrison
#15 Hanging Out With the Guys
I’ve always wondered what goes on behind the scenes at the houses on The Bachelor. You? Do they get bored like I do at home or is the mansion like a never ending place of fun behind each door? While I still don’t know all of that, I do know what Chris Harrison used to do back in the day.
I ran into Charlie in Las Vegas a few months ago. It was bizarre. This guy came up to me like “do you remember me?” I was like, “yeah I remember you.” But it was funny because back then, I spent a lot, not that I’m not friends with these people now but obviously, we were closer in age back then. And so, and I spent a lot more time with him. Back then, I hung out at the house because we had no rules. I would go play poker with the guys and stop by and have a beer, and we’d shoot some pool and hang out. Now that doesn’t happen. It’s very professional, but back then we were just kind of, you know, throwing it against the wall and seeing if it stuck. – Chris Harrison
Chris Harrison is the host of the ABC Television Network’s “The Bachelor” and “The Bachelorette” series. (ABC/Craig Sjodin)
#16 Jesse Palmer’s Epic Disaster
No one in Bachelor Nation will ever forget Jesse Palmer and his one way ticket to oh no he didn’t. Yeah, Jesse Palmer’s Epic Disaster is one for the books, the books titled “Things You Shouldn’t Do”.
That was an epic disaster. I will never forget that night. I don’t know if that could ever happen in such a different time for us as Producers, the way we produce the show is so different. Honestly, I think Jessie, I mean he made no bones about that. He came on the show to do what he’s doing now. He wanted to be a Broadcaster. And it was funny, when he told me that, I said, that’s never gonna work like that. No one has ever launched a career off a Reality Show. [LAUGHTER] At the time it was, I think Elizabeth Hasselback and she just started maybe too, but she was like the only person out of any of these shows that had really made it. Then you know, Jessie, I mean I don’t think he ever had any intention of ending up with anybody. I don’t know if he still was linked with anybody., but he gave instead of a ring, he gave her like a First Class Ticket or something. He said come see me. I remember it was about 5 years in maybe, something like that. It was not good. – Chris Harrison
#17 Greatest Moments Ever
It’s only fitting that we move from an epic disaster into Chris Harrison’s Greatest Moments Ever while hosting The Bachelor.
I don’t know if you’ve noticed in the last 3 years, our show has become a lot more organic. Then there was Juan Pablo where we become exposed. Oh, we had to show who he was. You know, maybe back in the day, we have faked it a little bit, glossed it over and still made him the pseudo and done the best we could. One of my favorite examples ever was, Ryan Putz, down in Guadalupe, Mexico, that slept with our girl, and then jumped out the Balcony and broke his leg. You know, who knows what we would have done with that. I mean it was just too good of a story to have to tell because it’s the greatest story ever but again, now we just show you guys because it’s going to get out. You know, our National Security secrets get out. You don’t think, 28 Twitter crazed kids on The Bachelor aren’t gonna talk? Of course, they’re gonna talk. They can’t eat breakfast without talking. I mean, they get up, go to the bathroom and have to show people. These people do exist to talk. They take pictures of everything they do. So you know, you have to embrace that. That is our show and that’s the generation, so to fight that would be insane. – Chris Harrison
#18 No Playbook for Hosting Reality TV
Chris Harrison has hosted The Bachelor for the past 15 years. That’s a lot of bachelors, bachelorettes, and Rose Ceremonies he’s attended. He had no idea what he was getting into when he started, considering it wasn’t like hosting something like Family Feud. Wait, bad example since we do have twins on The Bachelor Season 20 and all. 😀 How does one put on reality TV host shoes after wearing Sportscaster sneakers?
We started 15 years ago. The reason I know this so well is my son was born. He was 6 weeks old when I got the job and I met Mike Fleiss, the Creator of the show. It was this crazy concept and Reality TV was very new, very edgy. Survivor had just come on the air, and then we were next. And I remember running into Jeff Probst at an event and Jeff Probst (Survivor) and I said, “what is it?” I was a Sportscaster and I knew how to host but this was very different. There was no template, there was no Playbook for ‘This is How You Host a Reality Show.” Jeff actually just said, “you’re gonna have to figure it out. I had to figure it out on “Survivor.” Your thing is gonna be so different. You’re just gonna have to find your space.” and early on, I was a bit of just a talking head and I almost did have a script per se. I didn’t really think too much out of the box. I was just trying to keep my job honestly at the time. I was scared to death, my first Network Show, and we picked up with 6 One Hour Episodes. That was it. That was the original concept. No Bachelorette. That was never intended to happen. This is just kind of a one time deal that we thought we would do. – Chris Harrison
ABC Television Network. (ABC/Rick Rowell)
JOELLE, BEN HIGGINS
#19 Life Changing
Hosting a show like The Bachelor would take a toll on me. I would get attached to people, feel bad for those that didn’t get roses, and want to be friends with everyone. I can honestly say it would affect me, and Chris Harrison opened up about how hosting The Bachelor has been life changing for him.
For me, it’s more personal. For me, it goes with my life and when I notice my life changing. Season 2 was Aaron Burton. We started in the Fall of 2002 with this guy Alex Michel and while that was kind of big, it wasn’t huge. Then something happened over the Summer 2002, and when we headed to the Fall Season with Aaron Burdy, it was just, the world just exploded. You could not turn on the Television, pick up the New York Times, Time Magazine, not Tabloids like Time Magazine, the New York Times, Sports Illustrated. No matter what you picked up, they were talking about “The Bachelor.” And by the time we came back to Aaron Burdy, I think we had some 33 million viewers watching “The Bachelor.” And you just thought this is different. My life has just changed. I’m a part of something that’s much bigger than I’ve ever been a part of, and I just, we were all just kind of holding on for the ride. Back then, you know, what you see now which is so uniform that my daughter could produce the show. She knows what it looks like. You all have seen the show so many times but back then, we didn’t know what a Rose Ceremony was. “This is a Rose Ceremony? No, everyone move over here, sit on a couch. No, everyone stand over.” . Literally figuring it out. – Chris Harrison
#20 Life Lessons from Chris Harrison
I was quite surprised with how much inspirational verbiage came from Chris Harrison during our interview. He’s quite wise when it comes to relationships and parenting and a couple of things he said really stuck with me.
- Life is not so black and white, you know. I think we’ve all lived a life we enjoy. There’s right, there’s wrong. There’s good, there’s bad. And then you get older and you’re like Nah, there’s a bit of gray area there. Chris Harrison
- And uh, there are times when you want to like say go back to Ashley in Denver.
- I have 2 kids. You’re like, “this stove’s hot, don’t touch it.” And they do. That’s the way it is for humans and relationships. If I’m like, “that guy you’re dating is a complete Jack Ass.” you’re immediately gonna because that’s judgment on you so you’re gonna get defensive. You’re gonna start defending him. You’re gonna run into him even more and now I’ve kind of ruined any chance I had of getting in between you guys. – Chris Harrison
- Honestly, I talk to my daughter and my son so vastly different than I used to. Because again, you don’t, believe it or not, parents, we don’t know what level and you don’t see their, you know, everything. – Chris Harrison
- When I talk to these Bachelors and Bachelorettes, I try to empathize with them a little more. I can usually get my point across a lot better and impose my will so to speak. – Chris Harrison
#21 Don’t Fall For Juan Pablos
How can we talk about The Bachelor without talking about Juan Pablo? Think of what you are about read as more of warning for any Juan Pablos you may encounter in your future.
You know look honestly, we all laughed when I said Juan Pablo. He didn’t treat women well, but guess who falls for that guy? Wendy. He had the accent, he had the look. “Oh my God, Juan Pablo, Oh….” [LAUGHTER] We all want Juan Pablo. And then like 6 weeks into it, you’re like really? I wouldn’t wish him on my worst enemy. Don’t fall for the accent. Don’t fall for the big smile. Don’t go with just the pretty package. – Chris Harrison
#22 Why The Bachelor is Relatable
Whether you are single or engaged or married or not even looking, you have to agree there is something about The Bachelor we can all relate too. We’ve all been in the dating position, had hearts broken, other people have liked our crush and we’ve hoped we found true love.
That goes to show just how hard it is out there and just how brutal it is, you know. I think that’s the wonderful thing about The Bachelor, I think that’s why we can all empathize. It’s why you can relate to what’s going on, and it’s why the franchise I think, has spanned 15 years and now 20 seasons of just The Bachelor. Not to mention The Bachelorette because, it’s a very simple concept really to think of the show. It’s not, um, not to go Seinfeld on you but it’s not based on anything. There’s no catch, you know. If you think of most shows, and all of the Shows that have ripped us off over the years, um, there has to be a twist or a catch. He’s not really a millionaire, he’s not really a man at all, or he’s a woman. You know, there has to be something at the end that differentiates you from The Bachelor. – Chris Harrison
(ABC/Rick Rowell)
#23 It’s Not a Documentary
When it comes to Reality TV, there are question everyone asks. How much is real and how much is scripted? How much of the drama is created? We found out those answers for The Bachelor from Chris Harrison!
Well not only is it not necessary, but also you have to careful. We can’t because you guys will find out. There are Reality Shows that are completely scripted and contrived and they’re entertaining to me, but like look at “Dynasty.” That’s a fun show, but those people aren’t that funny. They’re not interesting left to thier own devices so they put them in situations. They tell them what to say, tell them what to do, and it’s funny. That’s great. But left to their devices, I think we’ve seen what they, you know. So we’ll leave them to their own devices. “The Bachelor”, if we are ever too heavy handed, uh, you’re gonna find out and we’ll be exposed and the show will come to a quick end. So we really can’t do that. Our main goal is to end up with a couple, a happy couple and so if you mess with Ben too much and you know, say keep girls or make certain things happen, it might be to the detriment of the ultimate goal. But, do we produce the show? Of course, it’s not a Documentary. We don’t just follow those people around. We know there are certain issues that will push the envelope and we’ll push those situations. That is because we have this finite amount of time to make this happen. So, we do accelerate everything. It’s like you put this dating process over a Bunsen Burner, and it boils. And it boils quickly. I know it’s hard to believe, like who could do this in this amount of time, but to us it seems like a long amount of time. I’m telling you, if this is all you do and you’re doing it 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, you know, think if you date somebody, and it seems like with everybody you date. It’s like you go out on a Friday. OK, well we’ll do that again. You go out that next week maybe, or get just like maybe it’s 2 weeks. So you know, in about a month, you may have 2 dates or 3 or something if you have a real life. That’s not much. On “The Bachelor” you can have 2 or 3 in a day, and you talk to people and you spend hours and hours. So, it is so accelerated, it’s hard to imagine. You don’t go home and turn on the TV and forget. We don’t pick up your phone and talk to your friends and start thinking about somebody else. It really is accelerated and that is, you know, I always tell people the genius is this fishbowl environment that we create and where the show takes place. That is the genius. What happens within that fishbowl is natural reality that you’re seeing. But we know you and you don’t really get along. It’s not hard to believe you’re gonna end up on a date together. That’s for several reasons though. People think a lot of times it’s just for production. Yes, it is the Television aspect of it, but there’s this other aspect of Ben needs to see true colors. He needs to see, how do you handle a situation where you’re not happy or you’re pissed off or say we’re jumping off a bridge. If you put somebody in an extraordinary situation, you can’t fake your way through that. If you’re about to fall off a Bridge and you’re scared to death, literally scared to death, all of a sudden, you’re not faking it, you’re not thinking about how I look on TV. All you think about is am I wetting myself? And so Ben, there’s, you know, kind of twofold. How is Ben taking care of me? Is he taking care of me? Does he make me feel safe? Does he protect me, or is he just worried about himself right now or is he worried about the cameras? So all these things that you think are very superficial and surface, there’s a reason for it and it goes much deeper than that falling off a bridge or whatever. It’s interesting to me, the psychology behind it and watching us force these issues, and what the conclusion is and then how it comes to a definite end. – Chris Harrison
ABC Television Network. (ABC/Rick Rowell)
LAURA, MEGAN, HALEY, EMILY, JOELLE, CAILA, LAUREN BARR, RACHEL, AMANDA S., TIARA, JAMI, BREANNE, LAUREN B., BEN HIGGINS
#24 Host to Bachelor?
With Chris Harrison being divorced, I’d say single but I didn’t ask that ladies, sorry, I had to find out if Chris Harrison would ever consider being The Bachelor himself. Shortly after I asked he did give me a rose, but don’t expect to be vieing for his love anytime soon. I’m pretty sure he has his eyes set on a mini-horse anyways…..
Considerate it, sure. [LAUGHTER] Well I mean as a Producer on the show, I get how great that would be. It would be great Television. I think my Hot Tub days have probably passed on Television. So I think what I would do is I’d bring in my Sean Low as like as my Ab double. It would be like I would do this and then, cut to Sean. [LAUGHTER]. And then, you know, click over like Ben’s dimples or something like that. There would be very few shots of me, full body. Having made this Sausage for 15 years and knowing how it’s all done, no. You really do have to walk into this with a certain sense of naiveté in a sense. That’s why it worked for Ben. That’s why it works for Sean and Kaitlyn. While they think they know because they’ve been on a season, they have no clue. They really have no clue. When you’re just a part of the cast and you’re not the person, you don’t have any idea really what goes on because you’re just seeing small glimpses. To be The Bachelor, you know, I know these people. I’ve helped raise some of them. They started with us when they were 18 years old. Now they’re 30 year olds and running my life. So to give my life to them, well that would just be so awkward and so bizarre, and I’m so worried and cognizant in producing the show that I’d be having a conversation with you and I’m thinking “OK, do we have the content we need? Am I getting me, is the lighting good? Are we gonna want me to go to this spot” and I think it would be a tragic. It wouldn’t work because I wouldn’t be thinking about what I need to be thinking about and that is, finding love and just going through the process. So long story, short, no until ABC comes and says, look, here’s 50 million dollars. [LAUGHTER] – Chris Harrison
Chris Harrison is the host of the ABC Television Network’s “The Bachelor” and “The Bachelorette” series. (ABC/Craig Sjodin)
#25 Your Child on The Bachelor
Okay, so the price tag is $50 Million to get Chris Harrison as the next Bachelor. But, what about his son or daughter. Would he let them be the next Bachelor or Bachelorette? What if one of your kids wanted to do it?
If one of my kids wanted to do it, honestly, someone asked me that the other day, I’d be 100% fine with it. My son would never do it, but I can see my daughter….I can see my daughter taking my job. {LAUGHTER] In 10 years, when I’m coming out in a walker and my daughter’s like I got this. My hope is that I have instilled in my children the things that mean the most to them. Their family, their Faith, how to carry themselves, and what they’re responsible for. If they choose to go do it on The Bachelor or whatever, as long as they still know that they have to come home and see their family and answer to it, that’s fine with me.
#26 Celebs and The Bachelor
Celebs and The Bachelor seem to go hand in hand lately. We’ve seen celeb appearances by a few people and The Bachelor Season 20 brings more, including Ice Cube and Kevin Hart!
- Ice Cube was on the set. Things I’ve never thought in a million years but it’s funny, again, that shows the relevance, the social relevance of the show but it’s really funny. So it’s a Sunday afternoon, right? Kevin Hart and Ice Cube are outside of the Mansion and I’m about to walk in and I tell the women, “hey, you know, we have a date today, da da da. But I need some help putting it together. So called a couple of friends” and in walks Ice Cube and Kevin Hart and they were so on. – Chris Harrison
- I was amazed at how like, it’s Ice Cube. You’re a little intimidated. But he was so gracious, so on the mark but so was Kevin Hart, but Ice Cube was could not have been nicer. Did his thing, and actually went above and beyond, you know because we really catered to him, you only have to do this, you only have to do this, like Dude, we’re fine like we’re good. And they actually did more than what we ever asked. A lot of them do that.
- Amy Schumer was a good example. Her and Kaitlyn became like Besties. They just couldn’t wait to tear them apart. I mean, you’ve got to stop. We have to shoot the show now. Schumer was incredible.
- You know, talk about something that’s changed in 15 years, nobody would admit to watching “The Bachelor.” You know, we were the Street Girl, and wanted to watch us at night. No one wanted to be with us in the daylight. But now, it’s OK and it’s cool and like Jennifer Aniston and Justin Theroux talk about how they watch the show religiously and Jimmy Kimmel and Howard Stern. People are now outing themselves about how much they love the show.
- I’m good friends with Tony Romo. I just had this friend of mine this morning, his Agent, because we played the Redskins last night, she represents some of the Redskins, she says “by the way, part of the Redskins, die hard Bachelor Nation”. So these guys, and it’s not just the women, it’s these tough guys or Actors or Football Players that are big fans of the Show which is pretty cool. – Chris Harrison
Chris Harrison Tells All was no joke. He covered tons of The Bachelor past and present with us during the most dramatic blogger brunch ever and I’m so glad I was there for all the juicy details. And, that I got to share them with you all before you tune into The Bachelor Season 20 Premiere tonight!
Not to promote my book “The Perfect Letter”, but that’s what I did end up basing my novel on. The capacity to love more than one person. That is really what I think the show exposes. We all have the capacity to love more than one person at a time and it sounds crazy. And obviously, The Bachelor is on Steroids. He’s about to date 28 women. – Chris Harrison
THE BACHELOR – Ben Higgins
(ABC/Craig Sjodin)
Catch The Bachelor Season 20 Premiere on ABC at 8 PM ET on January 4th!
Ben Higgins prepares for the night of his life as the 28 beautiful bachelorettes, all clamoring to meet him, begin to arrive. Jami reveals that she’s friends with Kaitlyn Bristowe. Ben is left speechless when first a stunning Emily and then her identical twin sister, Haley, arrive and ask for a group hug. Lace has a few moves of her own and boldly and memorably kisses Ben. The fun continues as cowgirl Maegan arrives with a sidekick – a mini horse – and they both get invited inside. There is JoJo with her unicorn mask, and Lauren R. is so nervous, she forgets to tell Ben her name .Mandi shows off her slick moves with patients when the demonstrative dentist grabs Ben for a private exam. But everyone is stunned as two late arrivals – Becca, runner-up on Chris Soules’ season and Amber, also an alumna from Chris’ season and “Bachelor in Paradise” – make a game changing entrance. A persistent Lace seizes the opportunity to attempt to give Ben the season’s first real kiss with unexpected results. Ben makes his first difficult decision as he offers the much-sought-after first impression rose to an intimidatingly beautiful bachelorette. The long, stressful evening ends on a high note for 21 lucky women, who will continue on the path to capture Ben’s heart – except for one daring woman, who takes Ben aside to scold him for something he neglected to do.
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