Bachelor Nation was shocked when the first trailer for season 23 aired and showed the new Bachelor suitor, Colton Underwood, not only crying multiple times, but also getting angry and jumping over a fence. The 26-year-old can be heard saying, “I’m f—king done” in the video, while host Chris Harrison calls for him in the distance.
So, what exactly happened there? Well, Harrison, 47, provided a bit of insight to the jump heard ‘round the world, talking to Us Weekly exclusively at the iHeartRadio Jingle Ball on Friday, November 30.
“There’s a lot to be said about the fence-hopping scene,” he told Us. “I was approximately ten yards behind him when it happened. I may or may not have been the reason that he hopped the fence. To the actual athletic accomplishment of the fence jump … you have to understand, the fence was about 6-foot-5, 6-foot-6. He did not touch the fence or touch the top of the fence after his feet left the ground. Go try that! Spoiler alert, I did try it later.”
While Harrison couldn’t add more about the trailer’s most-buzzed about moment, he did admit that he was “surprised” during this season by how “brutally open, honest and vulnerable” the former NFL star was.
“For a 47-year-old man, that would have been tough, but for a 26-year-old guy, he’s talking about being a virgin and why and all of his issues and things … he was just brutally honest about it and I have to give him a lot of credit, because that’s not an easy thing to do knowing that millions of people are going to be dissecting it and talking about it,” Harrison noted, adding that he’s excited for fans to get past the virgin joke. (However, The Bachelor is still leaning into it – on December 3, they released a new promo which featured Underwood on the 40-Year-Old Virgin poster.)
“It was compelling to me to dive into why, because things weren’t adding up and I don’t think things added up for a lot of people. So for him to open up and to talk about why and to let all of us in this season – which he does – is fascinating,” Harrison teased.
The Bachelor premieres on ABC Monday, January 7, at 8 p.m. ET.
With reporting by Emily Marcus
