Chris Harrison on how much of 'The Bachelor' is faked and other burning questions

Because we’re all about The Bachelor: On the Wings of Love — namely because we like typing The Bachelor: On the Wings of Love — we asked host (and EW.com blogger) the tough questions about the Most. Dramatic. Show. Ever. Here are some of his answers (the rest are in the new issue of Entertainment Weekly, on stands now):

On how faked the drama is: “I’ll be the first person to tell you we edit the show. We try to throw people off. If you know Trista is going to pick Ryan from Day 1, it would be boring. What we don’t mess with is the sincerity. Like with Ed leaving [during Jillian’s season of The Bachelorette], we could’ve talked him back. We could’ve fixed it. But we have to embrace it. I need to know that when I end up on Ellen’s couch, I can look her in the eye and tell her we didn’t lie, cheat, or steal.”

On the Bachelor breakup heard round the world: “With Jason and Melissa, did she know they were going to break up? No. Did she know something was wrong? Obviously — she’s half of a relationship. She’s not an idiot. But she didn’t know what was about to happen. So that was a very genuine moment. In that situation I understand how it looked to America. Like, beautiful proposal, and then we’re in a studio and it’s all falling apart. But for us it was a six-month period…. I know people think we are so full of s—, but when I was there [at the proposal] it was as real as it could be. I flew home from New Zealand going, ‘That’s going to make a beautiful cover of a magazine.’ You couldn’t get any better — why would you want to eff with that?”

On his least-favorite season: “Lorenzo Borghese. It was a high concept that just didn’t work — an Italian prince, in Rome. Believe me, I loved living in Italy for two months. It just didn’t translate to TV. He’s a great guy, but that doesn’t necessarily make a good Bachelor.”

On the most controversial season…ever!: “When we really blew the lid off things was the first Bachelorette. It’s hard to remember because it feels quaint now. But it was a big deal. I remember articles that said we were setting women back years. But I thought we were empowering her. I saw Trista as the most powerful woman in the country. Talk about turning the tables on guys.”

On his favorite season: “Aaron Buerge was probably one of my favorites — not necessarily him, but the season. ABC was really struggling. ABC was like NBC [now]. They couldn’t launch a show. So The Bachelor came along, and we did well with Alex Michel, but for some reason that summer, it just took fire. So, by the time we came back in the fall with Aaron, my life changed. Everything was just Bachelor, Bachelor, Bachelor. We went from struggling to the biggest show on TV.”

On the stupidest romantic moves he’s ever seen: “The panties in Matt’s pants were funny. Did you really just take off your panties and put them in his pocket? In what world is that hot? And the guy with Jillian who got naked and jumped in the pool. Guys, women do not want to see your junk. You better be bringing it if you’re stripping down in front of 25 other guys. It was cold, and the water was cold — you know that’s not going to be a good night.”

And finally, here he is (on video!) on missing that one Barcelona rose ceremony during the last Bachelorette while on red carpet assignment for TV Guide Network, much to the chagrin of EW.com message boarders:

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Chris Harrison dishes on new ‘Bachelor,’ Jake Pavelka