Reality TV fans have missed Chris Harrison on their screens since he departed from The Bachelor franchise back in 2021. After a reset, Harrison is back with Fox Nation’s The Vow, a new reality series that focuses on intentional dating instead of superficial connections. In recent years, Harrison and his wife/ producing partner, Lauren Zima, were inspired to embark on their latest television endeavor after seeing “articles about young people going to church more than their parents.” To Harrison and Zima, this cultural movement signaled that people are searching for “deeper meaning and a strong foundation” when it comes to their relationships. That’s where The Vow comes in.
Oregon native Jace Cates is the man at the center of it all, and Harrison confirmed that his team “spent the most time, effort, energy, and probably money on casting” because it’s the “foundation” of the show, “especially when you’re launching a franchise.” They were drawn to Cates because “he knows exactly what he’s looking for.” “He’s serious about it: in his faith, his morals, his virtues,” said Harrison. “All these things he has aligned, but he hasn’t found the love of his life yet. That’s where we come in.”
While The Vow is an entirely new show, Harrison brought a few familiar faces from Bachelor Nation along for the journey. Kylee Russell, who was on The Bachelor Season 27 and Bachelor in Paradise Season 9, is back to find love after embracing her faith and getting baptized. “We debated her casting as producers,” said Harrison. “After hearing how sincere she was, we decided that it might be a nice little Easter egg and a nice twist.” Former Bachelor Sean Lowe and his wife, Catherine Lowe, will also make an appearance later this season to counsel Jace and the women. “One thing that Sean and Catherine are very public about is their faith,” said Harrison. “It’s something that he didn’t get to make part of his journey to find love on The Bachelor.”
Harrison visited the Decider studio to talk about his new series, reveal his desire to “raise the bar” when it comes to dating, and tease what’s to come.
DECIDER: After 19 years of hosting The Bachelor, you’re back with The Vow. Why was it important for you to return to reality TV with a show about love that is “chosen, not won”?
CHRIS HARRISON: I don’t know if it was important to come back to reality TV and dating, but it felt right. The concept that my wife and I and our team started working on with The Vow really lit a fire in me. More than ever—in this world, in our society—we need love. I think there’s room in the world for a great dating show to try to tell a genuine, authentic love story. And hopefully that’s what The Vow will do.
In recent years, with companies like Angel Studios and shows like The Vow, there has been a faith-based entertainment boom. Why do you think that is?
I think entertainment is always a microcosm and a mirror image of what’s happening in society. My wife and I started seeing these articles about young people going to church more than their parents. It’s the first time in the history of our country that there has been a resurgence like this. Things that seemingly are supposed to make our world and lives easier are driving us apart. We’re finding less connection. What we’re seeing right now is a search for some deeper meaning and a strong foundation. That’s why The Vow is asking the question more than telling you: can you find love in this modern world? And if so, what does it look like now for this generation?
You mentioned your wife, who is a co-producer with you on The Vow. What was it like working on this project with her, and did it strengthen your own relationship in the process?
My love, Lauren Zima. We just celebrated our third wedding anniversary, which is awesome. I’m blessed in that I’ve gotten to the point where not only can we decide what we’re going to do, but also who we’re going to do it with. She’s my best friend; she’s a brilliant journalist and Emmy winner at Entertainment Tonight. She has this beautiful mind for television and producing TV. After years of talking about working together, we both got really excited about The Vow. We dove in together. It’s a blessing to have a partner that you can fully trust. This has been the most pleasurable, most exciting, maybe rewarding thing I have ever worked on. And that’s saying a lot, because I’ve worked on some beautiful things, but The Vow has really blown me away.
Jace Cates is the man at the center of it all. What was the vetting process like, and was it important for him to have a profession like a loan mortgage officer that was kind of a normal job ?
We all agreed across the board that casting is the most important thing. It’s the foundation of your show, especially when you’re launching a franchise, which we are. We spent the most time, effort, energy, and probably money on casting. Who had it on their bingo card that we’d find the guy in Canby, Oregon? We weren’t concerned necessarily about his profession, but we just wanted somebody who was a diamond in the rough. I like that feeling for the show.
Without the bright light of The Vow, the world wouldn’t know about Jace Cates. He would be somewhere in Canby, Oregon, looking for love. He’s a guy who’s a little bit older, and that was important to us as well. He’s 30 years old; his frontal lobe is formed. He’s experienced; he has loved and lost. He knows exactly what he’s looking for, and he’s serious about it: in his faith, his morals, his virtues. All these things he has aligned, but he hasn’t found the love of his life yet. That’s where we come in.
In the first episode, many of the women thanked you for selecting Jace. How involved were you in the process of finding him?
We were more involved in the process of hiring Lindsay Liles, our casting director, who is an old friend of mine. She was actually a producer on The Bachelor for many years. As the kids say, “She understood the assignment.” She understood exactly what we were looking for: finding women of faith with the moral fiber and the values who are serious about truly wanting to get married.
The Vow is not about producing a crazy show and then, hopefully some people hook up and end up maybe getting married at the end of this. The Vow is about intentionality and authenticity. We took away every obstacle, so these people have the environment and opportunity to find love.
You have a wonderful group of women vying for Jace’s heart. How many applicants were there, and how difficult was this selection process?
I don’t know how many in total, but I can tell you this: guys, we gotta do better. Men, you gotta do better, because the number of women who are clamoring to be on a show like The Vow made me realize the bar is on the floor right now. Hopefully, The Vow will raise the bar out there for what’s expected. If we are blessed enough to have Season 2, I think there will be even more women auditioning to be on the show.
Among the women on the show is Kylee Russell, who is well known to reality TV fans. Did she approach you to continue her journey to find love on The Vow? And were you aware that she was recently baptized before coming on the show?
Yes, and yes. Obviously, we knew who she was. We knew she had come from The Bachelor world. The good news is that we had a little trepidation, a little skepticism. We wanted to make sure that she was there for the right reasons, as they say — as, actually, I always said [laughs]. It turns out she was. She let us know the path she was on with her faith and that she had just been baptized. As she says in Episode 1, she’s “on fire for Jesus.” She wanted another chance to find love on her terms.
We debated her casting as producers: is this a direction we want to go? After hearing how sincere she was and where she is on her journey and that she truly wants to find a husband and a family, we decided that casting her might be a nice little Easter egg and a nice twist to add to The Vow.
The Vow does push back on some traditions of The Bachelor, like the cocktail party and the rose ceremony. Would you say this was solely to distinguish The Vow from The Bachelor? Or were these elements that you became critical of over time?
With The Vow, we’re trying to be the most intentional dating show ever. With that being the goal, you can’t be like, “okay, we’re going to stop at 10 o’clock, and you’re going to kick a couple of people off, even though you’ve not really met them yet.” That structure doesn’t seem authentic. The more mindful we tried to be about the process, the more we found we really needed to take our hands off the wheel as producers and allow a relationship to happen naturally. So, getting rid of those elimination ceremonies, getting rid of anything that felt contrived and produced, was important.
Allowing that unpredictability actually gave us more drama. You don’t know when Jace is going to break up with someone. It could happen at any time, or not. He was in the middle of a conversation, and you kind of saw it going south. It would be clear to us like, “Oh, he’s gonna break up with her right here.” We felt like we were raising the stakes.
Your old pals, Sean Lowe and Catherine Lowe, will make an appearance later this season. Did you have to do much to convince them, and how helpful was their advice to the group?
The best thing about Sean and Catherine is, before you pick up the phone, they say yes. That’s the kind of friends they are. One thing that Sean and Catherine are very public about is their faith, and that is the bedrock and the foundation for their relationship and their marriage and their family and their kids. He was a little bit sad that he didn’t get to talk about his faith and make that a part of his journey to find love on The Bachelor.
I know he’s been in Jace’s shoes. I know that faith is important to Sean, and I thought, “What better hand to have on Jace’s shoulder than Sean’s?” Catherine also got to talk to the women and encourage them. You’re making the most important decision of your life. You should have conversations about faith and children.
Lastly, what can you tease about the rest of the season of The Vow? What can fans expect as the show continues?
The conversations you’re going to see on The Vow are some that you’ve never seen on reality TV before. Everybody’s hearts are on the line, and starting in Episode 2, there will be tears. That’s how serious they’re taking this. Jace and these incredible women really saw this as a genuine, one-of-a-kind opportunity to find love.
