Chris Harrison announced he was pulling the plug on his 18-year marriage to wife Gwen May 3, but don't expect The Bachelor host to appear as the next man looking for love on ABC's series.
"Having just announced my divorce to the world…having two kids and trying to start a new life, I'm thinking I wouldn't exactly be a great candidate to be the bachelor right now or probably any time soon," Harrison, 40, told reporters during a Thursday conference call promoting Emily Maynard's season of The Bachelorette.
Although he isn't willing to go in front of the cameras and open up about being a single man, Harrison does credit the men and women who've done so with teaching him a lot about love.
"I've learned so much about just myself, life, love over the years. I'm a lot more patient, a lot more understanding," Harrison said.
"Now having felt heartbreak, I know what these people have gone through and what they're searching for," continues Harrison, who has a son, Joshua, 9, and a daughter, Taylor, 7, with his ex. "Everybody wants love; everybody wants companionship and that's what makes this show so simple but so genius."
Harrison, who has been with The Bachelor since its 2001 premiere — also hosts its spinoff series, The Bachelorette.
After 16 seasons of The Bachelor and seven seasons of The Bachelorette, only four couples are still together: Trista Rehn and Ryan Sutter, Jason Mesnick and Molly Malaney, Ashley Hebert and J.P. Rosenbaum, and Ben Flajnik and Courtney Robertson.
