What Is Jesse Palmer's Bachelor Salary and Net Worth?

In case you hadn’t noticed, Chris Harrison is no longer the host of The Bachelor and its multiple spin-offs. After hosting the franchise for nearly 20 years (!!), Chris exited in June 2021 after his questions in an interview with Extra correspondent and former Bachelorette Rachel Lindsay raised controversy. Since then, #BachelorNation has become acquainted with new host Jesse Palmer, who just so happens to look...literally exactly like former Bachelor Clayton Echard.

Truly not sure who is who, but moving on!!!!

Jesse—who used to be an NFL player, FYI—landed the Bachelor hosting gig after months of speculation about who would take over after Chris Harrison’s exit from the show. Naturally, inquiring minds want to know how much he’s getting paid, not to mention what he’s worth considering Jesse had several very fancy jobs prior to becoming The Bachelor’s new host. And lucky for said inquiring minds, we did some digging and have some answers.

First Up, What Is Jesse Palmer’s Bachelor Salary?

No one has reported on the exact financial details of Jesse’s contract, but we can make some pretty educated guesses thanks to previous information about Chris Harrison’s salary. Which was, um, huge.

Chris allegedly made about $8 million per year hosting The Bachelor, The Bachelorette, and Bachelor in Paradise—or about $2.6 million per show. But a few things to note:

Jesse has hosted several seasons of The Bachelor and its spin-offs, despite previous reports that he was only hosting one season. As Variety (who first reported news of his casting) put it in 2021: “As of now, Palmer is officially signed on for season 26 of The Bachelor, which will air in 2022. However, insiders explain that the idea is for Palmer to continue with the franchise in the future, both on the flagship Bachelor and The Bachelorette, but nothing is set in stone—and the network has not renewed either series beyond their next upcoming seasons.”

The hosting format for Bachelor in Paradise is still “in flux” (fans loved the celeb guest hosts), so Jesse could be looking at hosting just Bachelor and Bachelorette. If this is the case, and if he was making Chris Harrison’s $2.6 million per season, he’d be getting $5.2 million per year. Buuuut...

Jesse probably isn’t making nearly as much as Chris did. While it’s possible this dude earned $2.6 million for Clayton’s Bachelor season, that’d mean ABC is paying him what they paid Chris after 25 entire seasons of raises and contract negotiations. Which seems unlikely.

In my humble opinion, Jesse probably made less than a mill for his first season as host, but let’s take a poll:

The Thing Is: His Net Worth Is Already Huge

Aside from being a former Bachelor star himself (which is a gig that typically pays over $100,000), Celebrity Net Worth reports that Jesse has a total net worth of $8 million in 2023.

How, you ask? First of all, he played for the New York Giants from 2001 to 2004, a job that typically pays hundreds of thousands of dollars per year (and well over a million if you’re fancy). He also played for the 49ers and Montreal Alouettes before pivoting to sports coverage.

Chris Graythen//Getty Images

Jesse’s been working steadily as a commentator since 2005 for networks like Fox, Daily Mail TV, and ESPN—and on top of that, he’s been moonlighting as a host for ABC on shows like The Proposal, The Ultimate Surfer, and most recently, The Golden Bachelor.

Did we mention he’s also the host of the Food Network’s Baking Championship? The show airs seasonally (holiday, spring, summer, you know how it goes), which means he’s been booked 👏 and 👏 busy 👏 for a minute now. Historically, the Food Network pays its A-list chefs a pretty penny, which means they likely have a decent budget for hosting gigs.

Anyway, expect Jesse’s net worth to skyrocket because if he continues to kill it as the host of the Bachelor franchise, he’s looking at (potentially) making millions per year. 🤑🤑🤑

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