ABC/Lorenzo Bevilaqa
Former Bachelorette JoJo Fletcher Briefly Replacing Chris Harrison as Show Host Amid Quarantine
New gig, who this? Bachelorette host Chris Harrison will be briefly replaced by season 12 star JoJo Fletcher while he moves his son, Joshua, into college, a source told Us Weekly.
“The moment he got back, Chris was told he could not set foot back on the set until he went through another 14-day quarantine,” the insider tells Us. “The show’s contestants and crew all had to quarantine on the property for 14 days prior to the camera’s rolling. But it didn’t dawn on Chris he’d have to do it all over again if he simply left to take his kid to college.”
The disturbance in the season was a bit agitating to the longtime host. “Chris was not happy they were going to make him quarantine in Palm Springs for two weeks without working,” a second source told Us Weekly. “He insisted he simply dropped his son off in his dorm room and left, social distancing the entire time.”
But don’t worry, folks, Chris will make it “back in time for the last few shows” of the season.
“Just like that he’s gone,” the ABC host wrote via Instagram on August 12. “Thought dropping the big man off at college [Texas Christian University] today was going to crush me, but all I could feel is pride and excitement. Especially now, so grateful that they have this opportunity. Now go take on the world and have the time of your life my boy.”
This season has already been filled with major twists. Life & Style exclusively broke the news on July 30 that Clare Crawley threatened to quit because she had already fallen in love with contestant Dale Moss just 12 days into filming. Talk among production says they are now engaged. With that shake-up, Tayshia Adams stepped in as the new Bachelorette.
JoJo, 29, has been a fan favorite since appearing as a contestant on Ben Higgins season, where she finished as the runner-up. She went on to become the Bachelorette on season 12 and got engaged to Jordan Rodgers during the finale. They are still together today.
Needless to say, she definitely believes it’s possible to find love on the reality dating show. The Texas native and former football player were originally supposed to get married in June but were forced to postpone their California wedding amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“6.13.20 … Happy ‘What would have been Wedding Day’ to us!” the Cash Pad host wrote on Instagram. “As you guys know, we have spent the last 11 months planning the wedding of our dreams but given the circumstances of 2020, we had to make the difficult decision to postpone our special day. Even though I don’t get to marry you todayyyyy, [Jordan], I know it will be all more worth the wait.”
The couple is taking everything in stride, but that didn’t make the decision any easier. “Our wedding planner actually called me and was like, ‘Hey, where’s your head at with everything?’” the reality babe explained during an Instagram Live with Chris and his girlfriend, Lauren Zima, back in March. “And I was like, ‘Well, we’re good. Like, we’re just going to wait till the last minute to see if we need to reschedule.’ And she said to us that, ‘Totally hear you, but the problem with that is that your venue now is starting to book up through up until 2021.’”
All in all, they’re looking forward to having the wedding of their dreams. “Now I’m starting to feel that sort of, like, anxiety about it,” she continued. “But we had a good conversation today about how to deal with it, and it’s kind of like where we’re at — and you can speak to this too, [Jordan] — we would never sacrifice that day to just rush and get it done. So if it can’t happen the way we want it to happen, we’ll do it when we can.”
We can’t wait to see this major twist!
