Chris Harrison Says ‘The Bachelor’ Is Like Rehab — At Least Emotionally
Nick Viall is not the first star of the Bachelor franchise to get multiple shots at love. The entire premise of Bachelor in Paradise, after all, is that jilted men and women gather in an exotic location to find a partner among former show contestants. But Viall is the first to have come so close so many times — runner-up twice on The Bachelorette and a contender on Paradise — only to be gifted the chance to give out roses of his own.
With so much experience with the franchise, Viall may have the inside scoop into how it all works, and prone to fall into old habits. It’s a tendency show host Chris Harrison told Ellen DeGeneres led to a sit-down with Viall to encourage him to become fully engaged with the process, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Despite his popularity among Bachelor fans, he couldn’t do it halfway.
“You will see as the show goes on — as I tell my kids, sometimes you have to have that come-to-Jesus meeting, and I had one of those with Nick.”
“Look, I need you to show up. You can’t just skate through this.”
Ellen and Chris’ conversation compared The Bachelor to rehab. Harrison said the emotional work is very similar.
“Nobody comes out of this on the other side unchanged. You get stripped down, really, emotionally. I know this sounds silly because it’s entertainment and we all laugh and we watch this show.”
DeGeneres noted that those cocktail parties — and apparent midday champagne sessions while the women wait for dates — don’t exactly make the show seem like a therapy session.
“It seems like the opposite of rehab because they’re drunk all the time.”
DeGeneres singled out Corinne for her excessive drinking. But according to Harrison’s blog on Yahoo, that behavior and her tendency to take her top off won’t get her sent home anytime soon. Harrison noted she got the first group date rose, signaling that Viall held some affection for her, and gave her kudos for her honesty.
“She is unapologetic about what she is here for, and she is going after it. I must applaud her level of honesty, though. It’s very easy to play both sides and pretend you’re not just going for what you want regardless of anyone else. Corinne tells you what she’s going to do — and she does it.”
Buddy TV reported that Monday night’s episode will continue with the Corinne drama and explore the fallout from Liz’s ouster. Some women question whether Nick is in this for the right reasons or whether he’s just on the show to have some fun. Meanwhile, Corinne makes an aside reference to her nanny, letting the other women know she has a person who takes care of her at home.
“She makes sure that my bed is made every morning, makes my cucumber and my, like, vegetable slices for lunch. She makes my lemon salad — she knows exactly how much oil, lemon and garlic salt I like.”
One Bachelor fan who predicted Corinne’s significant place in this season is Jennifer Aniston, who told Jimmy Kimmel when the cast was announced that she would be one of the final four — based on the 24-year-old’s good hair. As the Inquisitr reported previously, Aniston also predicted Elizabeth, Rachel and Danielle would make it to the end.
The Bachelor airs Monday nights on ABC.
[Featured Image by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images]
