Chris Harrison

Career

Before becoming a fixture on reality TV, Harrison spent from 1993–99 as a sports reporter at CBS affiliate KWTV in Oklahoma City. He also worked briefly for TVG Network, a horse racing channel, and hosted HGTV's Designers' Challenge. In 2001, he fronted the short-lived GSN game show Mall Masters. A year later, he guest-starred on Sabrina the Teenage Witch as a music show host in the episode "Ping, Ping a Song".

On November 23, 2008, he co-hosted the American Music Awards pre-show live on ABC alongside Dancing with the Stars judge Carrie Ann Inaba and Pussycat Dolls member Nicole Scherzinger. TV Guide Network (now Pop) announced Harrison was signed to anchor its live red carpet awards coverage, beginning with the 2009 Primetime Emmy Awards in September. In 2011, he co-hosted the game show You Deserve It with Brooke Burns and also co-hosted Hollywood 411 on the former TV Guide Network.

In April 2015, Disney-ABC announced that Harrison would replace Terry Crews as host of the syndicated version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire for the 2015–16 season; GSN began airing reruns on December 18, 2017, marking a return to the network for him since the cancellation of Mall Masters. He earned two nominations for Outstanding Game Show Host in 2018 and 2019, but lost to Wayne Brady and Alex Trebek, respectively. On May 19, 2015, he published his first romance novel, The Perfect Letter.

He also serves as the voice of the "Bachelor Whammy" in the 2019 reboot version of Press Your Luck on ABC. Harrison hosted ABC's reality television dating shows The Bachelor, The Bachelorette, Bachelor in Paradise, and its spinoffs.

Exit from The Bachelor franchise

On February 13, 2021, Harrison announced he would 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.

Did You Know?

• Harrison graduated from Lake Highlands High School in 1989 and attended Oklahoma City University on a soccer scholarship, where he was initiated into the Kappa Sigma fraternity.
• He guest-starred on Sabrina the Teenage Witch in 2002 as a music show host in the episode 'Ping, Ping a Song'.
• Harrison was married to his college sweetheart, Gwen Harrison, for 18 years before they announced their divorce in May 2012.