The Bachelor's eighteenth season is winding down with hometown and overnight dates coming up and only four women left in the running to win Juan Pablo Galavis' heart. 
 
Juan Pablo has kept around Nikki Ferrell, the beautiful blonde who's criticized by her fellow bachelorettes for being "negative" and "mean;" Clare Crawley, who's captured the Bachelor's attention but has been made fun of for being possessive and exaggerative; Andi Dorfman, the "dark horse" who's experienced many ups and downs; and Renee Oteri, the kind-hearted single mother with an eight-year-old son at home.

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During a Wednesday conference call with reporters, The Bachelor host Chris Harrison teased what's to come next week and talked to Reality TV World about Juan Pablo's motives, his personality and desires, and how he's been as the Bachelor. To read what he had to say, click here. Below is another portion of Chris' interview. Check back with us on Friday for more.

Now, it has been kind of rocky for Juan Pablo.  Sharleen Joynt walked out on her own accord and that was someone whom Juan Pablo seemed to really have a connection with.  So how jarring is that to the Bachelor in general?  And is it strange for girls to walk out? How does it affect the Bachelor when that happens?

Chris Harrison: It is jarring, you know, because [it's] something that you really can't show on TV but we've all been there, and that's why this show is so great and I think it does so well. We can all empathize and we can all understand and relate, you know, essentially he was dumped and he got broken up with.  And that hurts your ego and it hurts your confidence.

I mean, it hurts, you know, all those things and all those insecurities that we all have -- whether we show them and talk about them or not -- all of a sudden comes to the surface. 

And it makes you question everything.  And he is in the middle of all these other great relationships but, of course, you know, he's only human to then think, "Wait, you know, could all these women be leaving?" and "Do they really love me and do I love them and where is this going?"

And so it does rock the foundation of everything he has right now.  Again, I think that's what makes the show so relatable, is we've all kind of fallen for that person that didn't fall for us.

Sharleen left on Monday's episode and there's reportedly another woman that leaves during the fantasy-suite episode. Why do you think women are leaving so late in the process?  Were they just not compatible with Juan Pablo?

Chris Harrison: Well, I mean, I can speak to, you know, Sharleen and how she feels. I think the great thing about the show -- and I say that a lot -- one of the great things about this show, but one of the things that always has stood out to me, is the show's not predicated on the fact that life is perfect, relationships are perfect, and it's one big happy fairytale. Because that's not how it works. 

And it's not just the Bachelor or the Bachelorette that holds the power.  I've paid that lip service before where I say it's a "two way street," or, you know, so on. But it's true that, you know, while Juan Pablo does hold the roses so to speak, that doesn't mean that these women are just, you know, doe-eyed followers that are going to do as he says.

I mean, Sharleen's an amazingly smart, articulate woman and she expects a lot out of a man.  She wasn't getting that, in her opinion, and she wants more -- or at least different -- and she decided to leave.  I love the fact that A) We showed that from night one, that she was not sure about him or this process, and then B) We showed at the end, "Hey, I'm outta here. This isn't for me."

And so I'm kind of glad we show these relationships. And we've done it in the past as well, but this season in particular you've been able to see it more. 

And you will see, next week -- the Tuesday night show and the overnight dates -- that, you know, it happens again where one of these women will question, you know, whether this is right for her and whether Juan Pablo is the guy for her.  Is she getting what she needs out of this relationship?

Do you think that Juan Pablo is pleased with the outcome of the series?  Do you think that he's happy now?

Chris Harrison: You know, I think that he'll be -- I think, at the end of the day, he did a great job for him.  And I think he'll be satisfied with [the end] and where he is in his life.  I do.

Could you tell me more about how Renee fits in with Juan Pablo?

Chris Harrison: You know, one of the things obviously Juan Pablo has is this love of family. And we've shown, I think, a little bit of that this season. But I don't think you quite have felt as much as I saw the way he is around his parents.  I spent a lot of time with them because they were in Los Angeles.  I would go over to the house and Camila was running around and they were living there for quite some time.

And then we saw them again when we were in Miami and then later on in St. Lucia.  We spent a lot of time together.  And so he is -- he's a family guy and I know he says that but I've seen it and felt it.  And so Renee has that as well.  She has this love for, you know, her son Ben.

And so, I think when Juan Pablo looks at Renee, he sees a lot of himself and he sees what he wants out of a woman and wants out of a family.  And so I think he has a lot of respect for her and then, obviously, she's beautiful and as far as all the other attributes and emotions go.  But I think she really just has a lot of those things that he is looking for, eventually, in a wife.

Juan Pablo has found himself in hot water about the Clare issue and with the comments he made about there one day being a gay Bachelor, and I was wondering if it's changed your opinion of whether or not he is the right kind of person to be the Bachelor and how you feel about him being the star of the show.

Chris Harrison: No, it really hasn't changed my opinion.  I mean, when we got into this with Juan Pablo, I knew, you know, it was going to be a different show because of a little bit of what I alluded to in that -- the fact that it was kind of like going back 12 years and grabbing somebody who had never seen the show, you know, it was like back when it was so new. 

It was like back with [Trista Rehn] and all that, when we were really making things up on the fly.  But when you add to the fact that there is that innocence and naivete to him, there's also the cultural difference.  But I really embrace the fact that we were doing something very different and it was going to be a very different show. 

I like that it's different. I like that it feels different.  And I like that it's played out different and it's not going to be the same Bachelor you saw with [Sean Lowe] and the same one you saw with [Jake Pavelka] or whoever.  I like that every season these people bring their own history, their own baggage.

And again, the show, you know, it's not really set upon the fact that this guy is perfect. He isn't and nobody is.  And I'm glad that we show that.  And these people are flawed.  Relationships are flawed. And I just think it makes the show more relatable, more watchable and more enjoyable to watch.  Because it isn't fake and I think you feel that.  And I think our audience and our fans feel that.

With the women leaving, you mentioned before it shook his confidence as it would with anybody.  I was wondering if in your conversations with him, any that weren't shown, if he doubted whether the process was going to work at all for him after Sharleen left.

Chris Harrison: You know, he would -- yes, one thing you notice about Juan Pablo, and I probably do this myself, when somebody starts to get hurt or show emotion, he goes full on protective father.  You know, all of a sudden you kind of, you can almost literally see this wall come up and he's like, "Look into my eyes.  Look at me, look at me," and "It's okay. It is okay." 

He really tries to just make everybody okay.  And that's, again, that's a very dad thing to do because I'm sure he does it with Camila, just like I do with my kids, is you want to fix everything and make everybody okay. So you can see it's also very much a defense mechanism -- how he takes his emotions out of it and takes his own heart out of it. 

Later, he does get upset.  Later, you see him cry after Rose Ceremonies and stuff like that, when he allows himself to realize what just happened.  And I think in some of our talks you saw, after Sharleen left and after some of these Rose Ceremonies, it was like, yes, it did hurt and it did shake his confidence a little bit.

What The Bachelor or The Bachelorette couple are you most surprised made it to the altar or didn't make it to the altar and why?

Chris Harrison: I'm not surprised that any of them made it. I mean, you look at, like, Sean and [Catherine Giudici], [Ashley Hebert] and [J.P. Rosenbaum]. You know, even back to go Trista and [Ryan Sutter]. I guess I'm hoping [Desiree Hartsock] and [Chris Siegfried], after seeing them, are headed that direction.  None of that surprises me. I think I get surprised by the ones that just don't work. 

Even, you look at, like, [Ali Fedotowsky and Roberto Martinez]. Just because I know how -- at the time -- how in love they were because I know them both very well.  And they were a lovely couple and they really genuinely tried to make it work.  And then, you know, life happened and for one reason or another it just didn't happen for them.

I remember back to like Andrew Firestone and Jen Schefft, even, to go old school.  You know, I really saw the two of them just fantastic and I just was sure and would have bet anything that they would've made it. 

But again, you know, once you start dating, once you start living together, once you really go through all this -- you know, like real couples, it doesn't always work.  So I'm probably more surprised by the ones that don't make it than the ones that, you know, that do. Because I just kind of assume -- I'm still, sadly, a hopeless romantic and I believe in this and I believe in these couples. 

And it's only because I'm there and I see it and I know these people and I know how much they do love each other when it's over. I know it's a TV show and it's easy to say from the sidelines if you have a blog or an article or, you know, you're writing and saying, "These people aren't going to make it. There's no way. They'll be broken up," or -- that's easy.

That's the easy bet.  That's an easy bet in life.  You can go to any house and say, "I bet you're going to get divorced," because guess what?  Fifty, sixty percent of the time, you're right.  It's not going to work, because it's hard and these relationships are tough and life is tough. But that's why I think the show, again, is so popular, because it's not an easy thing.

Why do you think singles have trouble finding lasting love on the show? 

Chris Harrison: I don't think it's lasting love on the show.  I thin it's why do singles have trouble finding lasting love period?  Why are these people on the show in the first place?  It's because the dating scene and dating and all this stuff, it's hard and it sucks and it's exhausting.  And I can tell you because I'm there myself and it's brutal.

And so, you know, in every season, I'll talk to some of these men or some of these women. They're gorgeous and they have perfect bodies and they have great jobs and I'm like, "Why are you here?  You know, how can you not be getting dates?"  And they said, you know, "The quantity is not the problem. You can get dates. It's the quality."

When you have, you know, this environment set up by the producers of The Bachelor and we're really good at what we do, you know, especially our casting department, then it is a great, safe, fantastic place to meet somebody. 

And it's worked. So these people have tried everything and so they've come to us.  I think it's more indicative of what's out there and how our dating world is that they are, you know, still coming to us in droves.  Because it's tough out there.

What celebrity would you most like to have as the Bachelor or Bachelorette and why?

Chris Harrison: Well, I'll start with the Bachelor.  I still think, you know, George Clooney would be phenomenal.  Although, I guess, now that Derek Jeter just retired, I mean, having Jeter would be a pretty good Bachelor.  But I'm still holding out for Clooney. Only because I'm selfish and I would like to hang out with Clooney for a couple months and drink scotch and swap stories.

And then as far as a Bachelorette -- who'd be a good Bachelorette?  I always thought Jennifer Aniston, I don't know, [I think] she's in a relationship, but I always thought that she would be a good Bachelorette, for some reason.

What specific reason or reasons would Jennifer Aniston make a good Bachelorette?

Chris Harrison: What is it not about her?  She's gorgeous and I remember she was like having trouble with relationships all the time and finding the right guy.  And I just think we could do good for her.  And I would probably give up my hosting role and then be on the show.

To read what Chris Harrison had to say to Reality TV World specifically, click here. Above is another portion of his interview. Check back with us on Friday for more.


About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

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