'The Bachelorette' Host Chris Harrison Jokes That the Show's Condom Budget Is Its Biggest Expense
At least, that's what he told actress Kaley Cuoco when they both appeared on Wednesday's episode of Lights Out With David Spade. And while he was joking about the amount that they spend on condoms surpassing their other expenses (this is a show with helicopter rides, after all), it's probably safe to assume that these are things which are included in the budget for The Bachelorette and Bachelor in Paradise.
And you know what? Good for them. If the entire premise of your show is gathering a group of attractive young single people in one place, pairing them up and throwing them into heightened situations together to accelerate an emotional connection, you'd be a fool not to think that more than a few of few of them are going to end up having sex. And it's important that when these things do happen, they happen safely.
Almost half of all pregnancies in the United States are unplanned ; that means more than three million women will have an unwanted pregnancy every year. Additionally, TIME reported last year that Americans were contracting sexually transmitted diseases at "record rates", with more than 2.3 million diagnosed cases of chlamydia, gonorrhoea and syphilis in the United States.
"We are now very concerned about this steep and sustained increase that were seeing," said Dr. Gail Bolan, the director of the CDCs Division of STD Prevention. "Weve seen an ebb and flow of STDs in decades past, but now were at the highest level of our reportable conditions that weve seen in two decades."
Harrison might have only been making a glib joke when he mentioned the use of condoms and STD testing on The Bachelorette, but the truth is, these are things that any sexually active person should be implementing in their own lives in order to proactively manage their sexual health.
Thanks for leading by example, ABC!