Chris Soules talks about 'The Bachelor' and his dating experience (Part 3)

Chris Soules will begin his search for love when The Bachelor's nineteenth season premieres Monday, January 5 at 8PM ET/PT.


After The Bachelor's first-ever live event hosted by Chris Harrison and guest host Jimmy Kimmel airs, the nineteenth season will begin with "Prince Farming," a 33-year-old farmer and businessman from Arlington, IA, arriving at the Malibu mansion and being introduced to only 15 bachelorettes.

Chris will discover soon afterwards that 15 more ladies are on their way, and he'll ultimately need to narrow them down to 22 women at the season's first Rose Ceremony.

Chris has a lot to say about the season ahead, and during a recent conference call with reporters, he shared his thoughts and some teasers. Below is the concluding portion of his interview. Click here and here to read the first two parts.

Reality TV World: In a recent Chris Harrison interview, he said one bachelorette has something in her past that she kept from you for a while. How important was it to you that the girls were open and honest with you right from the get-go about who they are and their past? And was that a fear of yours throughout the process that the girls might have secrets that could potentially damage your relationship? 


Chris Soules: You know, I think that there's a right time and place for anything. From that regard, like when we're talking about past history and things like that, you know, I get that maybe it's something -- sometimes there's a time and place to share certain things that have happened in your past.

And so, I think that yes, obviously it's important for me to know all those things and have people be honest with me. But I think that also if the relationship -- it's important to know that the relationship is actually going somewhere prior to maybe sharing certain things.

You don't want to chase someone off initially, or scare someone right upfront potentially. I mean, I think that I can see both sides, like maybe being really upfront and forward, but also being mindful whether or not the relationship is even worth if it's really going somewhere.

Then at that point, you share maybe more important things about your past.  So, I'm very understanding in that regard, but it was not really a fear of mine. I felt like my biggest focus going through the process was finding that chemistry.

And then once you have that chemistry and you know that the relationship really has potential to move forward and you can see yourself with this person, then those more important things that more difficult discussions happen.  And so that was, I guess that was my biggest focus for the most of the entire process. 


So you confessed your love to Andi Dorfman last season. How are you able to get over her and open your heart to these new women? 

Chris Soules: It's a good question. I think, you know, going into that and having gone through that, in a sense falling in love with Andi, I did know that there was a chance that it still wouldn't work out. You know, there's two other great guys that Andi was still dating, and I knew that her heart may have been with them more than it was with me. 

I just knew that going into it, I knew what I felt, and so, I had both those things in the back of my mind. And I knew that I could have my heart broken and I was okay with that, and obviously, she didn't share the same feelings with me as I did with her, so it didn't work out. 

And I think it helped. I had sort of mentally prepared myself going into that all I could. Having prepared myself, that made the let down a little bit easier and made it easier to get over her, because I knew that she had made the decision to be with someone else, and that's pretty black and white when it comes to relationship. 

It wasn't like she just didn't like me, it was just like, she had stronger feelings for someone else and saw her future with someone else. So, you know, it kind of made things clear for me and therefore getting over our relationship maybe a little bit easier -- as odd as it may sound, but I was able to move on fairly quickly and was happy for her and knew that she had done the right thing for probably both of us. 


So yes, it was hard, but you know, I've been through it before and I'm an adult and I'm a man and I just look forward to the future. And you have to be positive and go on with life and hope for the best and know that it should work out sooner or later.

This season is a little different because there will be 30 women fighting for your heart. Did that make the experience easier or harder? 

Chris Soules: It definitely did make it easier. There was, not only was it 30 women, it's 30 great women. I mean, these women were incredible -- all beautiful and successful in their own right, and smart. You know, there weren't like any easy no's, so it really made it difficult, but it was a really good problem to have. 

There was part of me that wondered -- you can ask anybody whose casting it -- how many women would actually even want to come on the show and [date] the guy that lives more like in Iowa and is a farmer. And, you know, I felt like they may have a little bit of a difficulty even getting women there. 

So, I was pretty grateful and felt really humbled when I heard that many women come and show up to be on the show. So, like I said, it did make it difficult. My head was spinning after that first night; There's no doubt about it. 


What one word would you use to describe it with all of the 30 women? Because the press release mentioned something about some heavy drama going on? Can you say a little bit without giving anything away? 

Chris Soules: Gosh. Well to describe the evening in one word, for me it would be just, I mean, it was "overwhelming." I was the luckiest man in the world, but I was definitely overwhelmed with just the quality of women that were there for me. 

And as to drama that occurred that evening, I was usually spending time with individual ladies, so I did not really experience any drama. I felt like everything went flawlessly for me.

My head was spinning and I was focused because of all the great women, one right after the other, and getting to know them. You know, obviously they're beautiful coming out of the limo, and then getting to meet them and finding how smart they were at the same time was pretty incredible.

So, no, I didn't really experience any drama, but that doesn't mean there weren't some other things going on in the house, and nobody shared any drama with me. So, I'm going to learn some things alongside you guys as the season goes on and plays out.


Did you have a favorite moment or date that you could tell us about, maybe a place that you went to or something you did? 

Chris Soules: Oh gosh, there were a lot of great moments, a lot of great dates that we did -- a lot of simple but really fun things, and I think that just kind of -- I'm trying to think.

We did go some place exotic, but that was later on. That was beautiful and a place that I'm not sure if I can share specifics on, like exactly where it was, but it's definitely a great trip.

Later in the show, we're able to rent a place and I'll probably never get to go again. It's a long way away and I don't know that -- it's kind of a dream place to go to but a place that, you know, I definitely always wanted to go to but never really thought I'd get that opportunity. 

But we did have surprise visitors that helped out planning some date. I think Week [3], and that is going to be fun to watch. That's probably the best, most entertaining week for me, and I'm excited to see that myself.

[Jimmy Kimmel as a guest host] was probably -- there's going to be some fun dates Week 3, some fun shenanigans that Jimmy pulled on us that I think everybody will enjoy watching, including myself.


We've had Bachelors and Bachelorettes in the past who had some rules about who they would kiss, when they would kiss, and what not. How many women did you end up kissing this season? 

Chris Soules: I didn't keep track of that. I guess my strategy through that process, or regarding that, was to be in the moment and wear my heart on my sleeve.

[So] that was the way that I was going to -- I felt what was best for me was to actually find my soul mate and find the person that I was meant to be by being completely in every moment with each girl and be 100 percent in that relationship while I was with them. 

So, you know, and if there's a moment that a kiss felt right, I was going to go with that, because I felt like that's the way that I needed to really be vested in each individual relationship. 

Click here and here to read the first two parts of Chris' interview.






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski