Chris Harrison, who was booted from The Bachelor in 2021 after hosting the long-running dating competition show since 2002, is back.
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The 55-year-old TV personality is returning with Chris Harrison's The Vow for Fox Nation. The teaser trailer's description for the new dating show promises to "focus on meaningful relationships, commitment, and building a life together."
To top it off, the beau the ladies are competing over leads them in a round of prayer as soon as he meets his potential forever person, according to The New York Post. He also attends bible study onscreen, and the show's confessional booths have an odd touch for a dating show: crosses hung all over the walls.
The religious themes may feel a bit edgy in a climate where most dating competition shows seem to be pushing for more adult fare. However, Harrison doesn't seem too concerned with front-loading the new show with a heaping dose of religion.
"No, and maybe that's naive on my part as a producer and as a host," Harrison told The Post in an interview published on Nov. 14. "But what we were excited about was this cultural movement."
Harrison claims an uptick in church attendance among young people could translate into a fresh generation of viewers who may bypass something like The Bachelor.
"More young people [are] going to church than their parents for the first time in our country, searching for something, this connection," he continued. "All we're doing as producers is listening."
"Like it or not, we're going to embrace that."
For the record, Harrison admitted in the interview that The Bachelor franchise was largely neutral about presenting religious themes.
Chris Harrison Looks Back on Leaving 'The Bachelor'
Harrison left the long-running show, which he hosted since its debut in 2002, after he was swept up in scandal after taking up for Season 25 winner Rachael Kirkconnell, who was mired in controversy after pictures of her attending an antebellum-themed college party surfaced online in 2021.
Despite the franchise carrying on without him, Harrison sees a silver lining years after the split, including finding his way to The Vow.
"Not to say it wasn't tumultuous and gut-wrenching and tough for me and my family, but at the same time, sometimes you need ... that thing that will cause that catastrophic breakup so you can go your own way," Harrison told The Post.
Meanwhile, Harrison lavished praise on The Vow's leading man, Jace Cates, a 30-year-old loan officer from Canby, Oregon.
"Finding him was a little bit of manna from heaven. He really is gold. He is that good," an enthused Harrison told the outlet.
The potential suitors pulling the heartstrings of Cates include the sort of ladies who really get the pulses racing, like "a virgin, churchgoers, and women who want to be stay-at-home moms and traditional wives."
"You're gonna hear and see conversations on The Vow you're not used to hearing and seeing on reality TV," Harrison promised.
"If you're going to make the most important decision of your life — who you're gonna spend the rest of your life with — maybe you should dig a little deeper. Seems obvious, but nobody does that. We're going to."
The Vow's first episode dropped on Nov. 11 on Fox Nation.
