As host of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette, Chris Harrison has overseen the “love journeys” of dozens of stars of the franchise … and has easily gotten along with all but one.
“Really, the only one I think I had a hard time getting along with was Charlie O’Connell back in the day,” Harrison, exclusively told Us Weekly at the California Strong Celebrity Softball Game in Malibu, California, on Sunday, January 12.
Charlie O’Connell, brother of actor Jerry O’Connell, starred in the seventh season of The Bachelor in 2005 and found love with Sarah Brice, but the duo split in 2010.
“He admitted he was going through some issues with himself at the time,” Harrison said of the Sliders star, now 44. “We didn’t dislike each other at all. It just didn’t blend. That’s bound to happen after 18 [years] and dozens of people. You get along with some better than others.”
The TV host has spoken out about Charlie before. “Charlie and I, he was just East Coast, me, Southern kid, it was like oil and water,” he explained on Live With Kelly in 2017. “We just didn’t get along.”
Harrison isn’t afraid to poke fun at the Bachelor and Bachelorette leads — though he told Us on Sunday that he didn’t shade 18th Bachelor Juan Pablo Galavis “as much as he shaded himself.”
“The actual person is all I care about,” he observed. “As long as we’re good that’s fine. … No one ever called and said, ‘Hey, you hurt my feelings.’ That’s not bad. That’s pretty good. I’m also open about keeping an open dialogue with everyone I love and adore and I would never say anything in just unless I knew they could take it.”
Harrison had high praise for the current Bachelor, pilot Peter Weber. “He’s that guy that the show is based on,” the host told Us. “He’s the guy that seemingly has everything. Good looking, good career, sweet, he has this amazing family. He just hasn’t fallen in love yet.”
The Bachelor airs on ABC Mondays at 8 p.m. ET.
With reporting by Tatiana Steelman
