Jesse Palmer and Emely Fardo. Robin Marchant/Getty Images for Wheels Up
Bachelor Nation is getting a little bigger — Jesse Palmer and wife Emely Fardo are expecting their first baby.
“We’ve been keeping a secret … our family is growing and our hearts are so full!” Palmer, 44, wrote via Instagram on Friday, August 18. “This is a dream come true for us and we’re so thrilled to be welcoming our baby girl in January 2024 ??.”
Palmer and Fardo, 34, began dating in 2017 and got engaged two years later. The couple had plans to wed in Provence, France, in 2020 but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they opted to quietly wed later that year in Connecticut. In July 2022, Fardo revealed that she and Palmer were able to have their dream ceremony in France.
“And so this happened … I got to marry the love of my life AGAIN but this time in front of our immediate family,” she penned via Instagram at the time. “It was a dream come true and the most beautiful and emocional [sic] day of my life! I’ll never forget it.”
Palmer, who took over the hosting duties of the Bachelor franchise after Chris Harrison’s 2021 exit, got his start on reality TV as the season 5 lead for the ABC dating series in 2004. While he didn’t find love on the show, he found The One with Fardo.
Before taking over for Harrison, 52, Palmer revealed that he didn’t reach out to the former host before stepping into the new role.
Emely Fardo and Jesse Palmer. Courtesy of Emely Fardo Palmer/Instagram
“I didn’t talk to him, but part of that was me wanting to just really sort of do this and figure this out kind of my way, on my own,” Palmer exclusively told Us Weekly in January 2022.
Palmer’s first gig as The Bachelor host was on Clayton Echard’s season in 2022 — which he found trying to help the lead find love was the “biggest pressure.”
“That’s the host’s big job at the end of all,” he explained to Us at the time. “‘Am I giving him the right advice when he asks for it? Am I giving him enough?’ One thing I really wanted to be careful of, I just didn’t wanna be overbearing. I didn’t want to be like the old Bachelor who always would kind of pop his head in at the wrong time and go, you know, ‘Clayton on my season, I would’ve said this, you screwed that up, young whippersnapper! You need to go ahead and do it this way.’ I didn’t wanna be that guy.”
Earlier this year, Harrison opened up about his exit from the series two years later and shared he thought Wells Adams should have been his predecessor. Palmer had no hard feelings for Harrison’s opinion and expressed his well wishes for him.
“[I have] no reaction, really. I mean, he’s obviously entitled to his own opinion as everybody is,” Palmer exclusively told Us in February. “I’m just really happy for Chris and wish him the best in his next venture.”
