Does this mean the new season of The Bachelorette will be teeming with insults and profanity? Speaking with Parade.com earlier this week about Andi Dorfman‘s upcoming search for love on ABC, longtime Bachelor/Bachelorette host Chris Harrison compared the Atlanta-based assistant district attorney to Selina Meyer, Julia Louis-Dreyfus‘ funny, acerbic character on HBO’s political satire Veep.
“She reminds me of the vice president from Veep,” Harrison, 42, told Parade with a laugh, “but she has this way about her that I think Julia Louis-Dreyfus does, where you just want to be friends with her and you just want to be around her. She’s adorable and she’s pretty, but not so pretty that she’s intimidating; it’s kind of that great mix. She’s just a really friendly person to be around. And incredibly smart, she handles her business very well.”
Harrison noted, too, that Dorfman is “a breath of fresh air,” particularly after all the drama with season 18 Bachelor Juan Pablo Galavis, whom Dorfman left in Saint Lucia after what she described as a disastrous Fantasy Suite date.
“I think people saw this tough, strong side of her on Juan Pablo’s season, and that was wonderful, she handled herself incredibly well,” Harrison told Parade. “But from what I’ve seen—and what I love—is that she’s vulnerable, she’s sincere, she’s self-deprecating, she’s got a great sense of humor.”
Harrison has become great friends with many former Bachelor and Bachelorette contestants, but one couple, in particular, stands out as his favorite. “I’d probably have to go back to the first Bachelorette—Trista [Rehn] and Ryan [Sutter]—because it was so new and so innocent, and if you remember back then, it was so controversial,” he recalled.
“We had this woman that handled it well, found this great guy, and they got married and the ratings were through the roof,” he continued. “Those first two seasons really changed my life and changed television. I really look back to that as my favorite.”
The ABC star didn’t specify a least favorite, but it’s clear he has some complicated feelings about Galavis and his winner, Nikki Ferrell. “I was really surprised at how many people were so mad at The Bachelor and so mad at me for really beating up Juan Pablo and treating him unfairly,” Harrison told Parade. “And then there were those that were mad at me for really defending Juan Pablo.”
“He’s very controlling, and you really have to lose control,” he added of why Galavis had so much trouble on the show. “This sounds cheesy, but to find love that’s kind of how you have to be, you have to be really vulnerable. That’s what Andi’s doing a good job of right now, and it’s what Juan Pablo didn’t do a good job of.”
