Chris Harrison claims that Jake Pavelka's recent split from Vienna Girardi will benefit ABC's new Bachelor Pad reality series.
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"Now that the news is out about Jake and Vienna, I can also announce that Jake will be coming and will be a part of Bachelor Pad," Harrison told Entertainment Tonight in a Wednesday report.
"I can't explain everything. It just happened, obviously with everything that's happened, but Jake will definitely play his part in Bachelor Pad."
Bachelor Pad will premiere Monday, August 9 at 8PM ET/PT and feature 11 former The Bachelor bachelorettes and eight former The Bachelorette bachelors living together in a Malibu mansion and competing for a $250,000 cash prize.
ABC revealed the identities of the 19 participants last week and it will include Pavelka's The Bachelor: On the Wings of Love runner-up Tenley Molzahn as well as bachelorettes Ashley Elmore, Elizabeth Kitt, Gia Allemand, Jessie Sulidis and Michelle Kujawa.
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While ABC had originally announced Bachelor Pad would feature 20 former The Bachelor and The Bachelorette participants, Pavelka will not be competing as a regular contestant, a network source told Reality TV World.
Pavelka presented his final rose and a marriage proposal to Girardi -- and she accepted both during March's The Bachelor: On the Wings of Love finale broadcast, which filmed last fall. The couple subsequently told reporters they "definitely" would wed.
However Pavelka and Girardi issued a statement late Monday night confirming their split.
"I was sorry to hear that Jake and Vienna broke up. I guess it's true, but I haven't talked to either one of them yet," Harrison told Entertainment Tonight.
"I was sorry to hear it and they are two of my favorite people. He is one of our most popular bachelors. I just had dinner with them after Dancing with the Stars and they were doing great. I was out with him and his parents and Vienna, so I was as shocked as anybody. I wish them both the best."
About The Author: Christopher Rocchio