The Bachelor host Chris Harrison and girlfriend Lauren Zima have clarified they didn't get married following speculation they had a secret and spontaneous wedding.
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"'I'd stop the world and melt with you' @laurenzima there's no one I'd rather celebrate love with and I'll be your plus one anytime," Chris, 49, captioned his post.
The picture left many of Chris' followers wondering if the couple had just tied the knot in Dallas, TX.
"Congrats!?!" The Bachelor Season 21 star Nick Viall commented.
And Season 1 The Bachelorette star Trista Rehn wrote, "If you got married, I'm here for it and huge congratulations!!!"
But Chris and Lauren later confirmed The Bachelor host's posting was not a wedding announcement.
Lauren, 33, clarified, "Love you so much and appreciate all the 'congrats'! This *bridesmaids* dress is really living above its potential."
Lauren added a laughing-crying emoticon to her comment as well as a heart emoji and multiple praying-hands emojis.
Chris replied to Lauren's comment, "Wow you attend one wedding together... do one chicken dance and your hitched! Congrats Christine and Kevin on a beautiful wedding and the start of a wonderful life together. I do love this bridesmaid though."
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' COUPLES NOW: WHO DID 'THE BACHELOR' STARS AND THEIR BACHELORETTE PICKS ACTUALLY END UP MARRYING? (PHOTOS)
Chris and the Entertainment Tonight reporter began dating in late 2018.
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"I DM'd him," Lauren told Nick during a July 2019 episode of The Viall Files podcast, according to Us Weekly. "I will say, I DM'd after a bit of a vibe."
After interacting in an "incredibly professional" atmosphere for years, Lauren reportedly revealed that Chris had given her "a different vibe" that was "fairly overt" at a craft services table.
"He mentioned something about picking his kids up or something. He somehow brought up being single, I think," Lauren recalled.
"And then I said something like, 'I'm single now,' and he was like, 'Oh.' But I said it in a more eloquent way. God, I don't know. Somehow it was communicated... I opened the door and he walked through."
Lauren said Chris asked her out for drinks after she initiated conversation with a direct message on Instagram.
The couple made their red carpet debut in January 2019 at Entertainment Weekly's pre-SAG Awards party.
Chris and Lauren's relationship clearly survived the longtime The Bachelor host's racism controversy.
Chris came under fire during Matt James' The Bachelor season after he defended Season 25 contestant Rachael Kirkconnell's racially-ignorant and racially-insensitive actions in the last several years during a controversial interview he had in February with Extra's Rachel Lindsay, who starred as the first Black Bachelorette.
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After issuing multiple apologies, Chris "stepped aside" from his hosting duties to educate himself on racism in society on a "profound" level.
Former The Bachelorette stars Tayshia Adams and Kaitlyn Bristowe therefore filled in for Chris on The Bachelorette's seventeenth season starring Katie Thurston, which wrapped production this past weekend.
"What Chris said was wrong and disappointing," Lauren wrote on her Instagram Story on February 13.
"Defending racism can never happen. Accountability comes first, what's next is learning and growth."
Before getting romantically involved with Lauren, Chris was married to Gwen Harrison with whom he welcomed two sons, Joshua and Taylor.
Chris and Gwen reportedly divorced in 2012 after 18 years of marriage.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)
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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
