I never seen a explaination of why he is not there now but I believe that he was extremely ill. The last few times he was on the show he did some really weird things like dying his hair and then shaving his head, I have thought that he was going to undergo chemotherapy and shaved his head in advance. They have not replaced him, they are just covering for him until he gets back.
Chris is not gay or bisexual as a couple of posters claim. Married with children. Just because he did not meet your standards of manhood is no reason to disrespect him.
Bleep