Where Is Chris Harrison? Why Is He Not on The Bachelorette Tonight?

Chris Harrison has been the face of The Bachelor franchise since 2002, but he’s stepped away from a portion of season 16 of The Bachelorette. During his time away, the replacement host for the show is JoJo Fletcher, the lead of season 12 of The Bachelorette.

Harrison, 49, took a quick trip away from the Palm Springs, California film set in August to take his son to college at Texas Christian University. He returned to The Bachelorette set less than a week later, but he was forced to quarantine before resuming his hosting duties. Harrison joked about the quarantine in an Instagram post that showed stage manager and security head Paul Danner blocking the host from returning to work on the show.

What remains to be seen is how long Fletcher will handle the host role and when Harrison’s return to the job will be aired. However, there’s no reason why Harrison wouldn’t be the host of the upcoming “Men Tell All” special which is reportedly set to air Monday, December 14.

JoJo Fletcher Has Thrived in the Hosting Role

ABCTayshia Adams and JoJo Fletcher test out a lie detector machine ahead of a group date on The Bachelorette.

In an appearance on the Bachelor Happy Hour podcast, Fletcher said that she underestimated how difficult the hosting job would be and she texted Harrison to say that it’s way harder than she expected. But that’d be hard to guess by watching Fletcher in action.

So far in her time as host, she’s drawn rave reviews for how effortlessly she’s taken the wheel.

That’s not a huge shock considering her television experience. In addition to her appearances on season 20 of The Bachelor and her time leading season 12 of The Bachelorette, she also hosted a CNBC reality show called Cash Pad and a Paramount Network reality show called Battle of the Fittest Couples. That hosting experience has shined through so far.

If Harrison plans on retiring from his time with the Bachelor franchise any time soon (and there’s no indication that he does), at least ABC can take comfort in knowing it has a great backup plan in Fletcher.

Chris Harrison Has 2 Children From a Previous Marriage

Harrison was married for 18 years before he and his ex-wife Gwen Jones announced a split in 2012. The pair, who reportedly maintain a friendship and amicable relationship, have two teenage children, Joshua and Taylor.

Now Harrison is in a relationship with Entertainment Tonight correspondent Lauren Zima, whom he’s been dating since 2018. Due to his lengthy departures to film The Bachelor, The Bachelorette, and Bachelor in Paradise, there’s a long-distance element to the couples’ relationship, but they’ve made it work for more than two years.

Recently, the couple celebrated Harrison’s return from his two months of shooting The Bachelor in Pennsylvania.

In September, OK! Magazine reported that an engagement could be on the way soon and Harrison is “ready to pop the question,” but for now the proposal still hasn’t happened.

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