The Bachelor host Chris Harrison admits Juan Pablo Galavis didn't live up to expectations as the reality dating show's eighteenth-season star, but also acknowledges he doesn't think he could have.
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"There was a groundswell of support for a guy that was barely on [The Bachelorette] and so he was a pretty obvious choice [to be the Bachelor]. I don't think you can live up to [that hype]. It was like The Beatles walking out onstage. It was ridiculous," Harrison told E! News in a recent interview.
"We've had some popular choices -- whether it was [Sean Lowe] -- but I don't know, there was just this fever for Juan Pablo. It really was this bizarre groundswell of support and love, so I don't know if you could ever do anything but fall a little bit short of that."
Harrison explained Galavis, a Venezuela native who currently resides in Miami, FL, has been unpopular at times because of controversial choices he's due to some cultural differences.
"He has no filter!... He just doesn't understand why everybody gets so upset about things," Harrison said.
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"But he's just been himself and he's the guy that I met on The Bachelorette and he's the guy that now is the Bachelor. He really hasn't changed much. He's been the same guy. He hasn't tried to act any different throughout the entire time."
Harrison explained that Galavis gets quite the shocker when he visits the hometowns of his four remaining bachelorettes -- Andi Dorfman, Clare Crawley, Renee Oteri, and Nikki Ferrell.
"It's interesting because Juan Pablo had this marked on his calendar since Night 1. We would have a lot of... deliberations and talks, and he referred to the hometowns as getting to that marker for some reason. It was this benchmark, and I think he felt like he'd really have it figured out by then," Harrison began.
"And I think it threw him for a loop that it wasn't such smooth sailing -- gliding into these homes, like, 'Hey, I'm sharing some [kisses] with your daughter and we're going to get married!' But it's like, 'Wait! Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. You're dating three other women and that's not so cool.' I think it just took him kind of awhile to dial it back and realize, 'Wait, I need to impress upon these people that I am caring and legitimately sincere,' and all that."
The Bachelor host also touched upon Sharleen Joynt's decision to quit and how the show's producers handled her exit. In earlier seasons of The Bachelor, viewers wouldn't receive such an in-depth look into the confused bachelorette's feelings and emotions. However, in recent seasons, producers attempt to leave little to the imagination.
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"From a production standpoint, it's actually great. In seasons past, we glossed over a lot of stuff because I think you could. I think what is relevant now in relationships and in shows, doing reality TV and creating a good, honest show is different from what it was 10 to 12 years ago when we started this. If someone got naked and went and jumped in the pool, that was a crazy episode! Now, that's a party trick, and if that happened, we may not even show that anymore," Harrison told E! News.
"[In the past], if we had a girl that wasn't sure, the Bachelor might have known she wasn't sure and at the Rose Ceremony, she didn't get a rose and she goes home. I guess it's a way of glossing over it and not really showing it because that's just not what the show was... Our viewers are savvy and they've been with us for a long time. They demand more. I'm glad that we show relationships -- warts and all."
The way The Bachelor franchise has evolved over the years has created a "100 percent" more honest show now, according to the host.
"I think it's more real-life, which I love. It's gritty... and I think it makes for much better television because the show's never been predicated on the fact that it's perfect, people are perfect. Juan Pablo is not, I'm not, you're not. Relationships are hard, they suck at times, they're great at times, we've all been there, we've all been brokenhearted. And so, it's just easy to empathize... I'm glad we showed [what happened with Sharleen]."
As for what's to come this season, Harrison noted it's going to be a bumpy ride for Galavis, a 32-year-old single dad and former pro soccer player. And, according to E! News, the bumps will even include a second woman deciding to leave Galavis and quit The Bachelor before his search for love ends.
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"From here on out, the goodbyes are brutal," Harrison revealed.
"He cares deeply for all of these women... there's a lot more crying. He's an emotional man. He wears his heart on his sleeve -- good, bad, ugly. The rest of these goodbyes are brutal, whether it's a woman making the decision or he's making the decisions, it's tough. This is not the Sean Lowe, just cruise right into the harbor, smooth-sailing happy-ending kind of show."
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski