Christopher Bryan Harrison (born July 26, 1971) is an American

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

and

game show host A game show host is an individual who manages a game show, introduces contestants, and asks quiz questions to test the knowledge of said contestants. They may also have other duties pertinent to production. History In 1938, Freddie Grisewood w ...

, best known for his role as the host of the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

dating show '' The Bachelor'' from 2002 to 2021. He also hosted its spin-offs ''

The Bachelorette A bachelorette is an unmarried woman. Bachelorette may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Bachelorette'', a reality television dating show part of ''The Bachelor'' franchise with numerous versions: ** ''The Bachelorette'' (American TV ser ...

'' from 2003 to 2021, '' Bachelor Pad'' from 2010 to 2012, '' Bachelor in Paradise'' 2014 to 2021, the first season of '' Bachelor in Paradise: After Paradise'' in 2015, '' Bachelor Live'' in 2016, and ''The Bachelor Winter Games'' in 2018. He also served as the host of the syndicated version of ''

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire ''Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?'' (often informally called ''Millionaire'') is an international television game show franchise of British origin, created by David Briggs, Mike Whitehill and Steven Knight. In its format, currently owned and ...

'' from 2015 to 2019.

Early life and education

Harrison was born in Dallas. He graduated from

Lake Highlands High School Lake Highlands High School (LHHS) is a secondary school serving grades 9-12 in the Lake Highlands area of northeastern Dallas, Texas, United States, primarily serving the Lake Highlands community. The school is part of the Richardson Independent Sc ...

in 1989. He attended

Oklahoma City University Oklahoma City University (OCU) is a private university historically affiliated with the United Methodist Church and located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The university offers undergraduate bachelor's degrees, graduate master's degrees and doctor ...

on a soccer scholarship. He was initiated into the

Kappa Sigma Kappa Sigma (), commonly known as Kappa Sig, is an American collegiate social fraternity founded at the University of Virginia in 1869. Kappa Sigma is one of the five largest international fraternities with currently 318 active chapters and colo ...

fraternity while in college.

Career

From 1993–99, Harrison worked as a sports reporter at CBS affiliate

KWTV KWTV-DT (channel 9) is a television station in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, affiliated with CBS. It is the Flagship (broadcasting), flagship broadcast property of locally based Griffin Media, and is co-owned with MyNe ...

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, a ...

. He also worked briefly for

TVG Network FanDuel TV is an American sports-oriented digital cable and satellite television network owned by FanDuel Group, the U.S. subsidiary of Irish bookmaker Flutter Entertainment. Formerly known as TVG and specializing in coverage of live horse rac ...

, a horse racing channel, and was the host of '' Designers' Challenge'' on

HGTV HGTV (an initialism for Home & Garden Television) is an American pay television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The network primarily broadcasts reality programming related to home improvement and real estate. As of February 2015, appr ...

. In 2001, Harrison hosted the short-lived game show '' Mall Masters'' for GSN. In 2002, Harrison guest-starred on ''

Sabrina the Teenage Witch ''Sabrina the Teenage Witch'' is a comic book series published by Archie Comics about the adventures of a fictional American teenager named Sabrina Spellman. Sabrina was created by writer George Gladir and artist Dan DeCarlo, and first appear ...

'', as a music show host, in the episode "Ping, Ping a Song". On November 23, 2008, Harrison hosted the

American Music Awards The American Music Awards (AMAs) is an annual American music awards show, generally held in the fall, created by Dick Clark in 1973 for ABC when the network's contract to air the Grammy Awards expired, and currently produced by Dick Clark Produc ...

pre-show live on ABC. His co-hosts were ''

Dancing with the Stars ''Dancing with the Stars'' is the name of various international television series based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing'', which is distributed by BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC. Currently the forma ...

'' judge

Carrie Ann Inaba Carrie Ann Inaba (born January 5, 1968) is an American television personality, dancer, choreographer, actress, and singer. She is best known for her work on ABC TV's ''Dancing with the Stars'' for which she has served as a judge since 2005. She c ...

, and

Pussycat Dolls Pussycat or Pussy Cat may refer to: * Cat, a domestic feline Music Bands * Pussycat (band), a Dutch country and pop group * The Pussycats, a 1960s Norwegian rock band * The Pussycats, a group signed to Kama Sutra Records Albums * ''Pussy Cats'', ...

member

Nicole Scherzinger Nicole Scherzinger (; born Nicole Prascovia Elikolani Valiente, June 29, 1978) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, actress, and television personality. She is best known as the lead singer of the Pussycat Dolls, one of the best-selling g ...

. The

TV Guide Network The American cable television, cable and satellite television network Pop (American TV channel), Pop was originally launched in 1981 as a barker channel service providing a display of localized electronic program guide, channel and program listings ...

, now known as "Pop," announced that Harrison was signed to anchor its live red carpet awards coverage, beginning with the 2009

Primetime Emmy Awards The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...

in September. In 2011, Harrison and

Brooke Burns Brooke Elizabeth Burns (born March 16, 1978) is an American fashion model, game show host, actress, and television personality. Burns began her television career in 1995, portraying the supporting character Peg in the Spanish- American teen s ...

co-hosted the game show '' You Deserve It''. He has also co-hosted ''

Hollywood 411 ''Hollywood 411'' is an entertainment news and gossip television show that originally premiered on August 12, 2005, but later started on January 14, 2008, on the TV Guide Network and is hosted by Chris Harrison. The show was previously hosted by ...

'' on the former TV Guide Network. He has hosted '' Designers' Challenge'' on

and '' Mall Masters'' on the

Game Show Network Game Show Network (GSN) is an American basic cable channel owned by Sony Pictures Television. The channel's programming is primarily dedicated to game shows, including reruns of acquired game shows, along with new, first-run original and revive ...

. In April 2015, Disney-ABC announced that Harrison would replace

Terry Crews Terry Alan Crews (born July 30, 1968) is an American actor, television host, and former American footballer. He played Julius Rock in the UPN/ CW sitcom ''Everybody Hates Chris'', which aired from 2005 to 2009, and portrayed Terry Jeffords in ...

as host of the syndicated version of ''

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? ''Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?'' (often informally called ''Millionaire'') is an international television game show franchise of British origin, created by David Briggs, Mike Whitehill and Steven Knight. In its format, currently owned and ...

'' for the 2015–16 season. GSN began airing reruns of this show on December 18, 2017, marking a return to the network for him since the cancellation of ''Mall Masters''. Harrison earned two nominations for Outstanding Game Show Host in 2018 and 2019, but lost to

Wayne Brady Wayne Alphonso Brady (born June 2, 1972) is an American television personality, comedian, actor, and singer. He is a regular on the American version of the improvisational comedy television series ''Whose Line Is It Anyway?'' He was the host of ...

and

Alex Trebek George Alexander Trebek (; July 22, 1940 – November 8, 2020) was a Canadian-American game show host and television personality. He is best known for hosting the syndicated general knowledge quiz game show ''Jeopardy!'' for 37 season ...

, respectively. On May 19, 2015, Harrison branched out from TV and published his first romance novel, ''The Perfect Letter''. Harrison hosted ABC’s reality television dating shows '' The Bachelor,'' ''

,'' '' Bachelor in Paradise'', and its spinoffs. On February 13, 2021, Harrison announced that he will be temporarily stepping aside from the franchise after facing criticism for defending a contestant on ''The Bachelor'' accused of racism. In March 2021, alternative hosts were announced for season 17 of ''The Bachelorette.'' In June 2021, it was announced that after 19 years, Harrison had permanently departed the franchise.

Personal life

Harrison was married to his college sweetheart, Gwen Harrison. They have two children, Joshua and Taylor. In May 2012, after 18 years of marriage, Harrison and his wife announced they were ending their marriage. As of 2018, Harrison was confirmed to be dating

Lauren Zima Lauren Zima (born November 30, 1987) is an American television personality, entertainment reporter, actress, and producer. She is a senior producer and host at '' Entertainment Tonight''. Early life Zima was raised in Elgin, Illinois, graduat ...

, a reporter and journalist for ''

Entertainment Tonight ''Entertainment Tonight'' (or simply ''ET'') is an American Broadcast syndication, first-run syndicated news broadcasting news magazine, newsmagazine program that is distributed by CBS Media Ventures throughout the United States and owned by Para ...

''. They announced their engagement in October 2021.

References

External links

ABC Profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Harrison, Chris 1971 births 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American novelists American game show hosts American horse racing announcers American television talk show hosts Beauty pageant hosts Living people Novelists from Texas People from Dallas The Bachelor (franchise) Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?