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Bachelor Host Jesse Palmer Says Zach Shallcross Is "Very, Very Happy" With How His Journey Ends

In an exclusive interview with E! News, The Bachelor host Jesse Palmer let it slip that current Bachelor Zach Shallcross' journey might end in bliss. Find out what else he revealed.

By Daniel Trainor Feb 06, 2023 3:00 PMTags

There might be a happy ending in Zach Shallcross' future.

While the current Bachelor's journey is just starting to play out for viewers at home, host Jesse Palmer teased exclusively to E! News that Zach is "very, very happy" with how things eventually play out.

Jesse said Zach—who was introduced to Bachelor Nation as a contestant during Gabby Windey and Rachel Recchia's season of The Bachelorette—entered the experience "genuinely looking for a wife," and never wavered.

"I've been saying this is the most emotional season I've hosted and that's what encapsulates it," Jesse noted. "There is drama, but it's not created. It's all the real feelings that transpire throughout this journey."

Much of the juiciest stuff this season, Jesse revealed, comes from Zach's good nature and his desire not to let anybody down—which it a bit of a problem when there are 30 women vying for his attention, love and, ideally, marriage proposal. 

"The drama that comes in the season is based on people falling in love with Zach, and people getting their hearts broken," he said. "And Zach being an emotional guy who doesn't want to hurt anyone's feelings, and wearing those emotions on his sleeve."

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When it comes to this stuff, Jesse more than knows what he's talking about. After all, the former football star was the fifth Bachelor in ABC history way back in 2004. While things did not work out between Jesse and Jessica Bowlin—who he picked, but did not propose to—he married wife Emely Fardo in June 2020.

"Having been in that position and having understood how difficult it is to do that and to want to come in and be perfect," Jesse said of the experience, "to be James Bond, say all the right things, make all the women fall in love with you, make all of the millions of people at home fall in love with you. It's just impossible."

Craig Sjodin/ABC via Getty Images

Still, Jesse acknowledged that cast members these days are forced to deal with a tsunami of discourse, discussion and online chatter that he wasn't.

"The challenges today are different from when I was on the show," he said. "There was no social media. I think it was a whole lot easier. I think today it's very different. People are always hearing opinions and outside noise coming from everywhere."

Jesse also noted that, once cameras stop rolling, a whole new world of possibilities opens up, making it difficult for relationships to stand the test of time.

"A lot of people on the show now get opportunities to do other things in their careers after the show," Jesse said. "It's a massive platform."

Good luck, Zach!

The Bachelor airs Mondays at 8 p.m. on ABC.

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