Chris Harrison marries fiance Lauren Zima: details
Former Bachelor education host Chris Harrison married fiance Lauren Zima after three years of dating.
Harrison, 52, and Zima, 35, said “I do” during a wedding ceremony in Napa Valley, California, on October 14, and celebrated with a huge reception in Austin, Texas, on Saturday, November 4. People reports.
The Bachelor Nation alum confirmed he and the Entertainment tonight personality got engaged in October 2021 via Instagram. “I love you @laurenzima,” Harrison wrote next to a photo of herself ask the question. “The next chapter starts now!”
A second photo highlighted the pair of clinking champagne glasses as the Illinois native showed off her new diamond. “We tell each other this all the time, and we said it again in an unforgettably beautiful moment this weekend: I never knew love could be like this,” Zima wrote via Instagram at the time. “You are the most incredible partner. Thank you for loving me, standing up for me and asking me to marry you. On to the next great chapter, and beyond.”
Harrison later spoke exclusively Us that he was “incredibly happy” he popped the question, shared details of their “amazingly romantic weekend” getaway, and revealed that he proposed to the entertainment reporter “in a very special place that means a lot to both of us in Napa Valley in Merkwijngaard.”
The pair first started dating in 2018, making their relationship red carpet official at the pre-Screen Actors Guild Party in January 2019. Zima revealed during a July 2019 episode of “The Viall Files” with Nick Vial that she had made the first move against the Texas native.
“Oh, I DMed him,” she admitted. “He just gave me a different vibe. … It was quite overt. He said something about picking up his kids or something. He grew up single somehow, I guess. And then I said something like, “I’m single now,” and he said, “Oh.” But I said it in a more eloquent way. Don’t know. Somehow it was communicated…I opened the door and he walked in.”
After landing in Harrison’s DMs, the couple went out for drinks and Zima started seeing the reality TV personality through a new lens. ‘Not in a negative way… but I never looked at him or thought about it [if] I found him attractive,” she explained to Viall.
Rumors of a possible engagement between the lovebirds began circulating in April when Harrison took to Instagram to post a photo of his now fiancée in a white dress.
“‘I would stop the world and melt with you’ @laurenzima, there is no one I would rather celebrate love with and I will be your plus one anytime,” he captioned the photo.
Harrison quickly shut down the speculation after fans became confused about the statement on social media, writing, “Wow you guys are going to a wedding together…do a chicken dance and you’re married!” I love this bridesmaid though❤️.”
Harrison – who was fired from the Bachelor education franchise after defending the season 25 contestant Rachael Kirkconnells racially insensitive comments – was previously married to his college sweetheart, Gwen Harrison. After 18 years of marriage, the now exes, who share son Joshua, 19, and daughter Taylor, 16, called it quits in 2012.