Chris Harrison Says He Keeps All Of The Engagement Rings After ‘The Bachelor’ Breakups


Chris Harrison has been in the Bachelor business a long time. With more than 30 combined seasons of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette under his belt, the longtime host of the ABC reality franchise has seen it all — and he even knows more about what happens to the returned engagement rings from the show’s dozens of breakups than ABC’s resident jeweler Neil Lane. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Chris Harrison joked that he has all of the returned rings at his house.

“The rings I actually have at home. They’re on a necklace and I’ll wear it around sometimes. I’ll wear it out [and] I have, like, 20 different engagement rings.”

After he was told that “Jeweler to the Stars” Neil Lane said he doesn’t get the rings back after a Bachelor breakup, Chris Harrison squashed that story quickly. According to Chris Harrison, the famous Los Angeles jewelry store does get the diamond back if the breakup occurs within a certain time frame.

“Neil probably does get the rings back, he just doesn’t know it. There’s some rule… I don’t know exactly what the contract is, but after a certain number of years you get to keep it anyway. But if it’s months… it’s like a 10 or 15 or 20 thousand dollar ring. So it comes back.”

When a Bachelor doesn’t end his season with a proposal (think Juan Pablo Galavis), then the fate of the jewelry is a different story. A source told People that producers for the show hold on to the ring in case the star decides to propose shortly after his season ends. If too much time passes, however, the reality Romeo doesn’t have access to the ring.

Radar Online previously reported that the Bachelor couples must stay together for two consecutive years in order to keep the ring. If their relationship ends before the two-year mark, the ring must be given back to producers.

In a televised sit-down with Chris Harrison, former Bachelor “winner” Vienna Girardi revealed that she handed her ring back to producers multiple times during her tumultuous post-show life with Jake Pavelka. In the end, the couple split for good, and the ring went back to Lane — or maybe onto that necklace at Chris Harrison’s house.

While Chris Harrison has witnessed many Neil Lane sparklers change hands, one ring Chris wasn’t privy to was the one given to Molly Malaney by Jason Mesnick. After Mesnick famously changed his mind about who he was in love with and dumped fiance Melissa Rycroft during a live TV special with Harrison, the former Bachelor Season 13 star decided to purchase his own diamond from the iconic jeweler so that Molly would have one like all of the other successful couples from the show. Mesnick ordered a custom 2.5 carat Neil Lane sparkler that he gave to his bride on their fifth wedding anniversary.

In an interview with People, Lane said he was happy that the women from the show all wear his jewelry on their fingers. In the same interview, Molly Malaney Mesnick said she never thought she’d be part of the Neil Lane club.

“Never in a million years did I think I would be surprised with a new Neil Lane ring…Our relationship started all because of the Bachelor franchise and Neil has been such a meaningful person within the franchise, so I am so honored to have a piece of that relationship.”

With Ben Higgins about to pop the question (or not) on his season of The Bachelor, Chris Harrison has been mum on what type of rings he selected for his final two ladies. But you’d better believe that Santa Claus Lane showed up with a suitcase full of sparklers for him to choose from.

Check out the video below to see Chris Harrison talking about Lauren B.’s “Cracker Jack” jewelry.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfKmr8F-Vd0

[Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images for dcp]

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