Already have an account?
Get back to the

‘Bachelor’ Alum Jason Mesnick: Ellen DeGeneres Was ‘Harsh’ to Me, Told Me It Was ‘All for TV’

There’s more to his story than just shedding tears on that balcony. Jason Mesnick — famous for sobbing during his run as the season 13 Bachelor, along with dumping Melissa Rycroft for runner-up Molly Malaney during the “After the Final Rose” special — revealed in a newly resurfaced interview that he didn’t appreciate how he was portrayed in the media surrounding his change of heart. In particular, he describes his 2009 visit to Ellen DeGeneres‘ talk show, during which he says the host was “harsh” to him.

Related: PHOTOS: Celebrity Feuds: The Biggest Ever!

In the segment published by the Huffington Post, Mesnick, 40, said he regrets going along with producers of the venerable ABC dating series who encouraged him not to be upfront with Rycroft about the fact that he wanted to give things another chance with Malaney. (Mesnick and Malaney got married in February 2010, and they welcomed daughter Riley in March 2013.)

Jason Mesnick and Ellen DeGeneres
Jason Mesnick and Ellen DeGeneres

He said, “I never stood up to them. I don’t know if I was afraid of the producers. You know, it’s not just one person. There’s a team of like a hundred people all saying the same thing — audio people, producers and directors, and people who are just serving you lunch — and they’re all on this team, and it’s like how can a hundred people be wrong? … When I go back to it, I wish I would have stood my ground and never did anything that was against my morals or hurt anyone.”

Related: PHOTOS: ‘Bachelor’ and ‘Bachelorette’ Babies

Mesnick also said he had some bumpy moments on his subsequent press tour. He said he enjoyed his time on Jimmy Kimmel Live, calling Jimmy Kimmel “such a good guy,” and claimed that the 2017 Oscars host warned him that DeGeneres might have tough questions.

“I don’t know Ellen at all; I’ve been on her show a few times because of The Bachelor,” Mesnick said in the interview. “Ellen was kind of harsh, like Jimmy said she would be, but I remember that between takes on commercials, she said something like, ‘I know how this show works. Don’t worry about it. I’m just kind of doing my thing.’ I thought, ‘Even her, right?’ So she had to lash into me based on TV stuff, but when the camera stops rolling she says, ‘Don’t worry, it’s all for TV.'”

Related: PHOTOS: 'The Bachelor' Season 21: See Which Former Contestants Are Lookalikes With Nick Viall’s New Ladies?

“It was just one of those things where I thought, ‘Why can’t we have an honest conversation where the truth is the same when the cameras are rolling as when they’re not rolling?'” the Bachelorette season 4 standout continued.

A previous version of this story stated that the interview was an excerpt from an upcoming book by Mesnick. The interview will appear in an upcoming book, according to the Huffington Post, but Mesnick is not writing it.

In this article

Got a Tip form close button
Got a tip for US?
We're All Ears for Celebrity Buzz!