Dr Phil News
Former Bachelor host Chris Harrison joins Dr. Phil's Fort Worth network
Chris Harrison
Another TV personality is joining the Dr. Phil McGraw team: Chris Harrison, former host of The Bachelor, returns to the airwaves with a new dating show, plus a morning program he'll co-host with his wife Lauren Zima.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Harrison has signed a deal with McGraw's Merit Street Media, the new network based in Fort Worth that is supposed to launch on April 2.
Harrison served as host of The Bachelor for nearly two decades but departed in 2021 after fallout from an interview he did with former Bachelorette star Rachel Lindsay when he did not denounce allegations of past racism against season 25 contestant Rachael Kirkconnell.
McGraw is conducting his own campaign of courting controversy (and publicity), weighing in on clicky issues like the border and Biden's age. His recent comments about immigrants who were "clearly in shape, "with six-packs and military boots," earned ridicule in a segment by The Daily Show's Jon Stewart.
McGraw told Entertainment Tonight that the new dating show would have "dating elements in it, but this is so different and so novel," saying that it was "flipping the script in a way that I think people are gonna become addicted to it in a week. It is unbelievable."
Harrison, who's a Dallas native, began hosting The Bachelor in 2002, and was also host for The Bachelorette, and Bachelor in Paradise.
The morning show is expected to focus on Harrison and Lima's relationship, fun, and entertainment, following a tradition set by couple co-hosts such as Kelly Ripa & Mark Consuelos, Mika Brzezinski & Joe Scarborough, and Kristen Bell & Dax Shepard.
Harrison will also contribute to Dr. Phil McGraw’s Dr. Phil Primetime.
New programming for the network already lined up inlucdes two live news shows - Morning on Merit Street, hosted by Dominique Sachse and Fanchon Stinger, and The News on Merit Street, airing weeknights from 6-7 pm, with anchor Kris Gutierrez, and co-hosts Lyndsey Keith and Loni Coombs; plus a true crime bill headlined by Nancy Grace.
