Get to Know your Bachelor Host

Host Bio

Chris Harrison was there as we watched some of the most shocking moments of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette. He gets us into the mindset of each bachelor or bachelorette as he prepares them before every rose ceremony. He asks questions we want to know during the Men/Women Tell All and the After the Final Rose specials. And, quite frankly, we can't imagine The Bachelor or The Bachelorette without him.

Chris Harrison began his television career by covering local sports in Oklahoma City. The Dallas native went to Oklahoma City University on a soccer scholarship and then made the natural transition to sportscasting with a local station. During his six years there, Chris worked his way up the ranks from part-time sportscaster to weekend sportscaster. He also had the opportunity to cover hard news stories, including the 1995 tragedy at the Federal Building, an event which profoundly affected his perspective on life and career.

A visit to L.A. in 1999 for a horseracing network audition led to a permanent move. Later that year, Chris landed the job as host of HGTV's Designer's Challenge. Now in its sixth year, it has consistently been one of the network's highest rated shows. In 2001, he became host of ABC's hit romance/reality series The Bachelor and The Bachelorette.

Harrison continues to advance in the entertainment industry through a variety of professional endeavors. Most recently he and Dancing with the Stars' Carrie Ann Inaba co-hosted the TV Guide Network's 2009 Emmy Awards' live red carpet coverage, and they will continue in those roles for all of the network's upcoming red carpet awards coverage for the next two years. He also co-hosted ABC's 2008 American Music Awards Red Carpet Live! with Ms. Inaba. He also hosted Road to the 60th Primetime Emmy Awards, ABC.com's daily coverage leading up to the 2008 Primetime Emmy Awards. He co-hosted E!'s 2006 coverage of the Academy Awards and the Golden Globes, and in 2008 made the move to TV Guide Network to not only cover all the major awards shows, but to also host the network's new one-hour weeknight entertainment news show Hollywood 411. In 2004, he hosted the Miss America Pageant for ABC.

The versatile host has done his fair share of acting as well, having garnered roles in the popular television series Alias, The Practice, Six Feet Under and Sabrina the Teenage Witch. His feature film appearances include: Bounce, Showtime and, most recently, portraying himself in the comedy Date Movie.

In his spare time, Harrison still plays soccer and has become addicted to golf. He has developed a great appreciation for the weather and lifestyle of Southern California, and spends as much time as possible outdoors with his college sweetheart and wife of 16 years, Gwen, eight-year-old son Joshua and six-year-old daughter Taylor.