Christopher Bryan Harrison (born July 26, 1971) is an American television and game show host, best known for his role as the host of the ABC reality television dating show '' The Bachelor'' from 2002–2021. He also hosted its spin-offs '' The Bachelorette'' from 2003–2021, '' Bachelor Pad'' from 2010–2012, '' Bachelor in Paradise'' from 2014-21, the first season of '' Bachelor in Paradise: After Paradise'' in 2015, '' Bachelor Live'' in 2016, and ''The Bachelor Winter Games'' in 2018. He also served as the host of the syndicated version of ''

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire ''Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?'' (WWTBAM) is an international television game show franchise of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (British game show), British origin, created by David Briggs, Mike Whitehill and Steven Knight. In its format, cu ...

'' from 2015–2019.

Early life and education

Harrison was born in Dallas. He graduated from

Lake Highlands High School Lake Highlands High School (LHHS) is a secondary school serving grades 9–12 in the Lake Highlands area of northeastern Dallas, Texas, United States, primarily serving the Lake Highlands community. The school is part of the Richardson Independe ...

in 1989. He attended Oklahoma City University on a soccer scholarship. He was initiated into the

Kappa Sigma Kappa Sigma (), commonly known as Kappa Sig or KSig, is an American collegiate social fraternity founded at the University of Virginia in 1869. Kappa Sigma is one of the five largest international Fraternities and sororities in North America, fr ...

fraternity while in college.

Career

From 1993–99, Harrison worked as a sports reporter at CBS affiliate KWTV in

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...

. He also worked briefly for TVG Network, a horse racing channel, and was the host of '' Designers' Challenge'' on

HGTV HGTV (an initialism for Home & Garden Television) is an American basic cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The network primarily broadcasts reality programming related to home improvement and real estate. HGTV Dream Home is an ...

. In 2001, Harrison hosted the short-lived game show '' Mall Masters'' for GSN. In 2002, Harrison guest-starred on ''

Sabrina the Teenage Witch ''Sabrina the Teenage Witch'' is a comic book series published by Archie Comics about the adventures of a fictional American teenager named Sabrina Spellman. Sabrina was created by writer George Gladir and artist Dan DeCarlo, and first appeared ...

'', as a music show host, in the episode "Ping, Ping a Song". On November 23, 2008, Harrison hosted the

American Music Awards The American Music Awards (AMAs) is an annual American music awards show produced by Dick Clark Productions since 1974. Nominees are selected on commercial performance such as sales and airplay. Winners are determined by a poll of the public and ...

pre-show live on ABC. His co-hosts were ''

Dancing with the Stars ''Strictly Come Dancing (widely known as Dancing with the Stars)'' is an international television franchise based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing,'' itself a successor to the show ''Come Dancing'' (1950–1998) ...

'' judge Carrie Ann Inaba, and Pussycat Dolls member

Nicole Scherzinger Nicole Prascovia Elikolani Scherzinger ( ; ; born June 29, 1978) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, actress, and television personality. She was a member of the girl group and dance ensemble the Pussycat Dolls between 2003 and 2010. With ...

. The

TV Guide Network The American cable television, cable and satellite television network Pop (American TV channel), Pop was originally launched in 1981 as a barker channel service providing a display of localized electronic program guide, channel and program listin ...

, now known as "Pop", announced that Harrison was signed to anchor its live red carpet awards coverage, beginning with the 2009

Primetime Emmy Awards The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Owned and operated by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the P ...

in September. In 2011, Harrison and Brooke Burns co-hosted the game show '' You Deserve It''. He has also co-hosted ''

Hollywood 411 ''Hollywood 411'' is an entertainment news and gossip television show that originally premiered on August 12, 2005, but later started on January 14, 2008, on the TV Guide Network and is hosted by Chris Harrison. The show was previously hosted by ...

'' on the former TV Guide Network. He has hosted '' Designers' Challenge'' on

and '' Mall Masters'' on the

Game Show Network Game Show Network (GSN) is an American basic cable channel owned by the television network division of Sony Pictures Television. The channel's programming is primarily dedicated to game shows, including reruns of acquired game shows, along wit ...

. In April 2015, Disney-ABC announced that Harrison would replace

Terry Crews Terry Alan Crews (born July 30, 1968) is an American actor, television host, and former professional American football, football player. He played Julius Rock in the UPN/The CW Television Network, CW sitcom ''Everybody Hates Chris'', which air ...

as host of the syndicated version of '' Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?'' for the 2015–16 season. GSN began airing reruns of this show on December 18, 2017, marking a return to the network for him since the cancellation of ''Mall Masters''. Harrison earned two nominations for Outstanding Game Show Host in 2018 and 2019, but lost to

Wayne Brady Wayne Alphonso Brady (born June 2, 1972) is an American comedian, actor, and singer. He is a regular cast member on the American version of the improvisational comedy television series '' Whose Line Is It Anyway?'' He was the host of the daytim ...

and

Alex Trebek George Alexander Trebek (; July 22, 1940 – November 8, 2020) was a Canadian and American game show host and television personality. He was best known for hosting the syndicated general knowledge quiz game show ''Jeopardy!'' for 37 seasons ...

, respectively. On May 19, 2015, Harrison branched out from TV and published his first romance novel, ''The Perfect Letter''. Harrison hosted ABC's reality television dating shows '' The Bachelor'', '' The Bachelorette'', '' Bachelor in Paradise'', and its spinoffs. He also serves as the voice of the "Bachelor Whammy" in the 2019 reboot version of ''

Press Your Luck ''Press Your Luck'' is an American television game show created by Bill Carruthers and Jan McCormack. Contestants answer trivia questions to earn "spins" on a randomly cycling game board. The board's spaces display cash, prizes, extra spins, sp ...

'' on ABC.

Exit from ''The Bachelor'' franchise

On February 13, 2021, Harrison announced that he would be temporarily stepping aside from the franchise after facing criticism for defending a contestant on ''The Bachelor'' accused of racism. In March 2021, alternative hosts were announced for season 17 of ''The Bachelorette.'' In June 2021, it was announced that after 19 years, Harrison had permanently departed the franchise.

Personal life

Harrison was married to his college sweetheart, Gwen Harrison. They have two children, Joshua and Taylor. In May 2012, after 18 years of marriage, Harrison and his wife announced they were ending their marriage. As of 2018, Harrison was confirmed to be dating Lauren Zima, a reporter and journalist for ''

Entertainment Tonight ''Entertainment Tonight'' (or simply ''ET'') is an American Broadcast syndication, first-run syndicated news broadcasting news magazine, newsmagazine program that is distributed by CBS Media Ventures throughout the United States and owned by Par ...

''. The couple got married in November 2023.

References

External links

ABC Profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Harrison, Chris 1971 births 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American novelists Chris Harrison's exit from The Bachelor American game show hosts American horse racing announcers American television talk show hosts Beauty pageant hosts Living people Novelists from Texas Entertainers from Dallas Lake Highlands High School alumni