Chris Harrison is getting hitched to Dr. Phil‘s new media venture. The former host of The Bachelor is coming back to TV to host a morning show and a dating series, and will contribute to Dr. Phil Primetime.
ET spoke to Harrison about his new venture, which he said he thought “long and hard about” after his stint with The Bachelor franchise ended over insensitive comments.
“Call it divine intervention, karma, kismet, whatever it is, the fact that Dr. Phil created this network in my own backyard here in Dallas, it means the world to me to, not only be returning to television, but to be doing it here in a hometown crowd,” Harrison said.
Harrison has been contributing to Dr. Phil Primetime, where he did “some very penetrating field work having to do with some of these romance scams, these catfish type things.”
“He’s so good on camera,” Dr. Phil told ET’s Kevin Frazier. “When he walked out for the first time, the audience went insane.”
The relationship show is going to be something unique, Dr. Phil promises.
“It has dating elements in it, but this is so different and so novel,” he said. “It is flipping the script in a way that I think people are gonna become addicted to it in a week. It is unbelievable.”
Harrison didn’t necessarily have to do a dating show in his return.
“People got to know and love me for two decades hosting The Bachelor, so, yes, we are going to be creating a reality dating show,” Harrison said. “For years and years I said, ‘This is the most dramatic show ever.’ We want to create a show where those words actually ring true, so this dating show will be the most dramatic ever — that you can be sure of.”
A big part of his new deal finds Harrison teaming up with his wife, former ET correspondent Lauren Zima, to host a morning show.
“Our relationship is a big part of the morning show,” Zima said. “The morning show we’re pulling together is gonna be a place for us to play, to have fun. What matters the most to both of us has always been our audience, so we want to be able to connect with them. What’s more relatable than talking about our relationship and what’s going on in our own lives?”
