Jesse Palmer, while the leading man on Season 5 of his own season of The Bachelor, has graduated from rose-giver to The Bachelor host. This time around, he isn’t choosing his own final rose recipient, but he’s helping current Bachelor, Clayton Echard, choose his.
Chris Harrison, the past host of The Bachelor, The Bachelorette, and Bachelor in Paradise, was forced to resign in June 2021 after hosting on this franchise for nearly twenty years. This occurred after an interaction with Rachel Lindsay, in which he stood up for Rachael Kirkconnell and controversially defended her past actions.
Jesse Palmer, the first-time host of The Bachelor, has fans adoring him; whereas, Chris Harrison has been bitter since being forced to resign.
Jesse Palmer is succeeding as the new Bachelor host, while Chris Harrison is still seething about the past
According to an OK! source, Chris is still unhappy about how everything went down and how he was forced to step down as the host. The source revealed, too, that Chris “still feels like he built The Bachelor from the bottom up and didn’t want to leave.”
This person went on to talk about Jesse, saying that “he’s been knocking it out of the park,” so Chris is “green with envy.”
“Chris has no problem with Jesse personally, but it kills him because everyone is falling over Jesse like he never existed,” the sourced added. “In his view, Jesse is getting all the glory based on his hard work!”
Actually, Chris and Jesse didn’t even talk, or confer with each other at all, when Jesse was announced to take over Chris’ hosting job for this season of The Bachelor.
According to an interview with Us Weekly, Jesse stated, “I didn’t talk to him, but part of that was me wanting to just really sort of do this and figure this out kind of my way, on my own.”
He went on to say he felt more pressure on how to lead Clayton through the process and find his wife than he did on taking over the lead from Chris.
Why was Chris asked to step down as the long-term Bachelor franchise host?
Chris was asked to leave the franchise after he backed Matt James’ winning woman, Rachael Kirkconnell, who had received backlash and hate messages after photos from her attending a “plantation party” came out.
Moreover, he was raked over the coals by Rachel Lindsay, who was the first Black Bachelorette after he said that people needed to give Rachael some grace for a decision she made earlier in life.
In a previous interview with OK! Chris claimed that “he felt blindsided and betrayed” and thought that because he’d been with the franchise so long, they would consider that before asking him to step down.
What happened to the shows after Chris was forced out?
Instead, that was not the case, as Kaitlyn Bristowe and Tayshia Adams replaced him for The Bachelorette, and comedian David Spade took over Bachelor in Paradise.
Chris even made the comment to the source that he felt disappointed and unsettled that some of Bachelor Nation alums jumped at the chance to take over his job.
While Bachelor Nation fans may not see Chris Harrison in this franchise down the line, it is rumored that he may just use the $10 million package he received when stepping down to plan his own “rival show” in the future.
Would fans watch another Chris Harrison franchise similar to The Bachelor if he did start up his own show down the line? Or are fans over him as a host of reality TV?
The Bachelor airs Mondays 8/7c on ABC.
I’m still bitter as well. Quit watching. Most people who watch just love the “game” not surprising that it’s doing well. Had they kept Chris it would still be a success.
I would love to see Chris have his own show. it was ridiculous that they let him go for such a nothing reason. Rachel Lindsey should be fired for causing such a stink over a party.