Jason Mesnick may have been the first Bachelor to change his mind after the final rose, but he certainly hasn’t been the last. Melissa Rycroft got real on Us Weekly’s “Here for the Right Reasons” podcast about why Arie Luyendyk Jr. and Peter Weber may have made the same mistake in recent years.
“Because they’re men,” the 37-year-old reality TV personality quipped. “They’re guys, I mean, they short-term think with one thing, and then when the long-term comes, they’re like, ‘Oh, wait a minute.’ … I think being the Bachelor, I mean, it’s exciting for these guys … What man does not want women fighting over them and they can get the pick of anybody that they want. So sometimes, maybe they pick the lusty one. And then they’re like, ‘Wait a minute, OK. Yeah, you were hot, [but] I need that connection,’ or there’s just too many options. They don’t know how to make up their mind. I don’t know. … They’re boys! The girls are so much better at it.”
Back in 2009, Jason, 44, made history when he changed his mind six weeks after proposing to Melissa during the season 13 Bachelor finale. He later asked runner-up Molly Malaney for a second chance after dumping Melissa. Jason and Molly, 35, exchanged vows in 2010.
More recently, Arie, 38, broke off his engagement to Becca Kufrin during season 22 of The Bachelor to reunite with runner-up Lauren Burnham in 2018. The twosome wed in 2019. Earlier this year, Peter, 29, came under fire for proposing to Hannah Ann Sluss during the season 24 Bachelor finale — only to end their romance two months later because he still had feelings for runner-up Madison Prewett. While Peter and Madison, 25, opted to go their separate ways post-After the Final Rose, the pilot is currently dating Kelley Flanagan, who finished in fifth place on his season.
“I don’t think they know who I am,” Melissa told Us when asked if Bachelor Nation reaches out to her when Bachelors “pull a Mesnick.”
She continued: “I mean, let’s be honest. They were like 10 [when my season aired], right? I haven’t heard from any of them, but they’re gonna be fine. They’re young, they’re hot. They’re gonna be fine.”
Season 16 of The Bachelorette, which is currently filming, has had the opposite problem. Original lead Clare Crawley was so confident she found The One, she stopped filming less than two weeks in. As a result, ABC called in Tayshia Adams to take over with the remaining contestants.
“Would you expect it from anybody other than Clare? I mean, I don’t think anybody’s doubting [it’s true] because it’s Clare,” she quipped.
While some members of Bachelor Nation are concerned that Clare’s suitors were handpicked for her, so they might not be interested in Tayshia, Melissa isn’t so worried.
“I’ll be honest, when I went through casting they never asked me if I liked Jason, if I was into Jason — I don’t even think it was known it was him at the time, but they didn’t ask if there were any old Bachelors that I like,” she said. “So at least back then they didn’t specifically cast to see if we were interested in him. Maybe they were just casting what he wanted.”
