Chris Harrison was born on July 26, 1971, in Dallas, Texas, and grew up in the Dallas area, graduating from Lake Highlands High School in 1989. He then attended Oklahoma City University on a soccer scholarship, where he studied communications and covered sports for local media. After college, he worked as a sports reporter at CBS affiliate KWTV in Oklahoma City from 1993 to 1999.

Harrison relocated to Los Angeles in 1999 after landing a role with TVG, a horse-racing network. He went on to host HGTV’s Designers’ Challenge and the GSN game show Mall Masters. In 2002, he became the face of ABC’s The Bachelor, a role he held continuously for 19 seasons across multiple franchise shows.

In February 2021, Harrison stepped back from The Bachelor after controversy involving racially insensitive comments he made in defense of a contestant. He officially exited in June 2021 and received a reported $9 million settlement. Besides the Bachelor role, Harrison hosted the syndicated version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? from 2015 to 2019. In 2026, he signed a deal with Fox Nation, which greenlit his untitled dating series, expected to premiere in 2027.