Chris Harrisonis defendingThe Bachelor‘s decision to chooseColton Underwoodas its next leading man.
“If we had picked Jason, if we had picked Blake, it doesn’t matter — you’re going to catch some heat. And Colton caught heat and so did we,” Harrison, 47, toldPEOPLE Now.
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In early September, the football star, who competed for love onBecca Kufrin‘s season ofThe Bachelorettebefore heading toBachelor in Paradisethis summer, was announced as the newest face of the franchise.
Harrison clarified that the decision to not choose Jason Tartick or Blake Horstmann wasn’t “an indictment” of either of them.
The longtimeBachelorandBachelorettehost also admitted that Underwood, 26, “has a lot of layers” and he’s “excited to find out if this will even work. Is he ready? Does he really want to propose? Is he at that stage in his life? We’re going to find out.”
“I hope it doesn’t. I hope he gets down on one knee, but you don’t know. The show’s not predicated on the fact that it always works. And so it’s going to be interesting that he has to figure this out and on top of that, I don’t know if you guys heard, he’s a virgin. … So there’s that to unpack as well — the social impact of that and how he’s hidden it. He was kind of ashamed of it for a while,” Harrison said.
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He also understands thatBachelorNation had mixed feelingsabout Underwood being picked, but he hopes that fans give him a chance to prove himself.
“I know people are mad, and they’re right to be mad because Jason or Blake or whoever are great people. They are and they do deserve love, and so I’m glad that people are upset,” Harrison said. “They just have to remember why they’re upset and that Colton’s a good guy, too. He’s gonna be a great Bachelor.”
Speaking with PEOPLEafter the reveal, Underwood said he’s going to stay true to himself when it comes to navigating relationships on the show, something viewers appreciated when heopened up about his virginityonThe Bachelorette.
“I’m going to live my life and do what I’ve always done,” Underwood said. “[Being a virgin] needs to be normalized; it’s just who I am and what I believe in. I hold a lot of value in it and I hold it to a high standard. I’m just waiting for the right heart.”
“This is the perfect time in my life to do this,” he said. “I’m so unbelievably happy with myself and now I can focus on finding my wife. I’m so excited to find that. My heart is 100 percent healed and I’m going to give this my all. And hopefully I’ll come out of it engaged!”
source: people.com
