Chris Harrison officially announces Wells Adams as the next Bachelor for 2018 on After Paradise. Chris tells Wells to enjoy the ride, and let this experience enhance his life rather than change it.
Wells also talks via phone to comedian Amy Schumer, who appeared on Kaitlyn Bristowe’s season of The Bachelorette. She gushes to him about his puppets, and beautiful smile.
ABC’s decision to choose Adams as the next leading man came as a shock to many who suspected that either Peter Kraus or Eric Bigger – both fan favorites from Rachel Lindsay‘s season of The Bachelorette – would be selected.
“He has just become that perennial guy who wants to find love and is as sincere, if not more sincere, than anybody about finding it,” Harrison exclusively tells PEOPLE of ABC’s decision to choose Adams. “It’s about giving him his chance to find love. Who deserves it more than him?”
“The main reason it’ll work is because his puppets won’t be there,” Harrison, 45, quips of Adams winning the hearts of many women on the recent Bachelor in Paradise series. He adds on a serious note: “There are plenty of women out there that find him adorable and lovable and irresistible. I have no doubt that he will find the woman of his dreams.”
As for the members of Bachelor nation who question Adams’ intentions in appearing on another season franchise, Harrison cites Adams’ sincerity and says that ABC knows what audiences want.
“We have made a very, very good living – and have been extremely successful – out of leading the landscape and trying to please Bachelor Nation and give them what they want, but at the same time knowing well enough to know that we’re actually giving them what they need,” Harrison tells PEOPLE. “At the end of the day, we had some really good, viable candidates, but Wells is sincere.”
Harrison adds of Wells: “So many names get thrown around and at the end of the day, as producers, we have to try and think and decide what’s best for the franchise and who is the most deserving and sincere person. At the end of the day, we all looked around the table and nobody could say it wasn’t Wells. You can’t shoot holes at the fact that he is just the most deserving and sincere person.”