Chris Harrison Now Sees His ‘Bachelor’ Firing As a ‘Blessing’

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For nearly two decades, Chris Harrison was synonymous with “The Bachelor,” host of that show as well as “The Bachelorette” and various spinoff series.

However, it all came crashing down when he made some poorly received comments about a contestant’s scandal, which led him to be fired from the reality TV franchise.

Now, Harrison is making a comeback with his own reality dating competition, and reveals that the time he’s spent away from handing out roses has given him a new perspective on his parting of the ways with Bachelor Nation.

A ‘Blessing’ in Disguise

In advance of the premiere of his new series “The Vow,” an upcoming romance competition for the Fox Nation streaming service, he spoke with The Hollywood Reporter about his very public exit from the “Bachelor” franchise.

“I know this sounds weird because it was so tumultuous and it was a crazy time in my life, but I look back at it as a bit of a blessing,” Harrison told the outlet.

“I was in a contract negotiation with them. I was talking to my wife: ‘Is it time to move on? What do I do?’ And I don’t know if this lightning-bolt moment hadn’t happened, if I would have stepped away,” he explained.

“Having that divorce and that breakup was a blessing,” Harrison continued. “It allowed me to step away. However humbling all of that was, it allowed me time to hit the pause button and watch my kids graduate high school, fall in love, get married in my own life — tell my own love story for a minute — and then kind of get the fire burning again and get excited about creating my own show because ‘The Bachelor’ wasn’t my baby.”

Enter ‘The Vow’

In “The Vow,” 10 contestants compete for the affection of Oregon mortgage loan officer Jace Cates.

This time, Harrison isn’t just host, he’s also a producer and co-creator (alongside his wife, former “Entertainment Tonight” correspondent Lauren Zima), and is the driving creative force behind the show.

“I’m so excited to be back helping people find love, and Fox Nation has been an incredible partner in bringing this vision to life,” Harrison said in a statement.

“We were inspired by the faith-driven renaissance happening across America, and as a result, I believe we’ve created the most authentic dating show on television today,” he added.

As Harrison told The Hollywood Reporter, this new project has allowed him to exercise so many more muscles than he ever did with “The Bachelor” and its spinoffs.

“Being able to create this with my wife and with the people I choose to do it with, and be there every step of the way to executive produce, host, sit there and go through the post-production process — it is a painstaking process to get something there, and it’s a great achievement,” he shared. “We’re very proud of it and very excited.”

The six-episode first season of “Chris Harrison’s The Vow” debuts with two back-to-back episodes on Wednesday, November 11, on Fox Nation; the first episode can be seen in its entirety above.