Chris Harrison Reveals Who Should Have Been the Next ‘Bachelor’ Host

Chris Harrison

Getty Chris Harrison.

It’s been nearly two years since Chris Harrison stepped down as host of  ”The Bachelor” franchise and was replaced by former “Bachelor” star Jesse Palmer.

On the debut episode of his podcast, “The Most Dramatic Podcast Ever,” Harrison, 51, revealed that he thinks Bachelor Nation alum Wells Adams deserved the job.


Chris Harrison Explained Why Wells Adams Deserved His Job

Wells Adams

ABCBachelor in Paradise’ Wells Adams.

On the first episode of “The Most Dramatic Podcast Ever,” released on January 9, 2023, Harrison revealed that he heard from Adams early on after he announced his exit from the franchise. Adams is a fan favorite who first competed on JoJo Fletcher’s season of “The Bachelorette,” and went on to land a recurring gig as the bartender on ‘Bachelor in Paradise.”

“Wells has always been a very good man and a good friend of mine,” Harrison said of the 38-year-old Bachelor Nation alum. “Wells was in a very difficult situation because obviously he was still kind of connected to the show and he was doing stuff on Paradise, but he was one of the first to reach out to me and just say, ‘Look, I’m staying out of this. I love you and respect you.’”

Harrison added that he thought Adams would get the “Bachelor” hosting job – and deserved to.

“I appreciated him because if anybody had sights on the job, it easily was Wells, and deservedly so, by the way,” Harrison said. “I thought, to be completely candid, that Wells was going to get the job. I thought it was kind of the easiest call … he’s in the family, everybody loves him, it just seemed like a layup.  I even told him, I said, ‘Hey, man, I won’t speak out publicly because I don’t think that will help you at all. In fact, it would do a lot more harm than good. But I really hope you get the job. I think you’d be great at it.’”

Adams has admitted he wanted the job. After Palmer was announced as the new host, he told Us Weekly he was “a little bit” bummed that the former ABC leading man ended up scoring the role over him. “I wanted that job, come on,” Adams said. “It’s the best job in the world. You fly around, you say three words, [give] last rose [and] get outta here.”

ABC executive Robert Mills later told Variety that he hoped to find other roles for Adams. “Whether it’s within ‘The Bachelor’ or just in the broader ABC, Disney, Hulu family, we are Wells’ number one fan,” he said in early 2022.


Chris Harrison Called Out Another ‘Bachelor’ Star Who Wanted His Job

Nick Viall.

Getty ImagesNick Viall got slammed by a fellow Bachelor Nation star.

Harrison said there were some stars who made it obvious they wanted his job. “I know people coveted my job,” he said on the podcast. “I know people wanted my job. They’d be crazy not to. It’s a great gig. Or so it appeared from the outside looking in.”

Harrison revealed that early on, a bachelorette once said in front of him that she should host the show. “And I was sitting there and I said, ‘you know I’m right here,’” he said. ‘She’s like “no no no, I would just host ‘The Bachelorette.’  Yeah no, that’s my job. That’s what I do too. I do both those shows. That’s how I pay my mortgage. That’s my job. And it was funny because she didn’t even see it as a job or the fact that she was asking for my job and asking me to be unemployed in front of me.”

“Every year I laughingly would always say, I am creating 25 to 30 people who want to host my show,” he added. “I just knew from day one every year it gets worse and worse for me because I’m creating more and more influencers and more and more people who just want my job.”

The former host also revealed that once the job opening was actually there, “the people that you would expect” were calling in to out their names in the hat. “And the funny thing is, the people that were calling in, I knew had no chance to get the job,” he said.

Harrison added that he knew former “Bachelor” star Nick Viall wanted his job.

“Nick wasn’t really strongly against me or said anything, but I think Nick was one of those, among many, who probably saw the blood in the water,“ he said. “[He] saw the opportunity of a job that would be really phenomenal …and no doubt he wanted that job.”

Harrison added that he holds no hard feelings against Viall.

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