EXCLUSIVEIs Chris Harrison Getting The Boot From 'The Bachelor'? ABC Show Is 'Stale,' Needs 'Freshening Up,' Says Insider
Jan. 30 2021, Updated 12:01 a.m. ET
The final rose? After hosting The Bachelor for 18 years, Chris Harrison could be on the way out, OK! has learned.
A source claims that ABC execs are quietly considering replacing the reality TV fixture, 49, with a younger face, not just for The Bachelor but also for The Bachelorette and the franchise's other spin-offs.
Last July, the network shocked viewers when it announced that it had tapped Tyra Banks, 47, to take over from longtime Dancing With the Stars host Tom Bergeron, 65.
"Now people are saying that Chris will be next Tom," dishes the source. "After all this time, The Bachelor is stale and needs freshening up. But Chris has no idea what's going on behind the scenes. He'd be totally blindsided!"
However, ABC's plans to let go of the host might work in his favor. As OK! previously reported, Harrison is building a home in Austin, Texas, so that he can live with his girlfriend, Lauren Zima.
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Harrison gave up his hosting duties during Clare Crawley and Tayshia Adams’ season of The Bachelorette in order to drop his oldest son, Joshua, off at college.
“Just like that he’s gone,” he wrote in August 2020. “Thought dropping the big man off at college today was going to crush me but all I could feel is pride and excitement. Especially now, so grateful that they have this opportunity. Now go take on the world and have the time of your life, my boy.”
While Harrison was gone, JoJo Fletcher filled in the for the TV personality.
Whatever happens, Harrison has made it clear that he loves his job. “I couldn’t be more grateful,” he previously said. “It’s absolutely changed my life.”
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“It’s given me the ability to do what I love to do,” he explained. “I’ve always been in television, I’ve always hosted television — even back to my sportscasting days. I’m a firm believer if you do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life. And that’s, you know, that’s hopefully going to be the case."
