It's safe to say that fans will remember this season of The Bachelor for a long time to come.  On Monday night's finale, Jason Mesnick decided to end things with Molly Malaney in favor of Melissa Rycroft.  In a sweet and romantic moment, Jason declared his love for Melissa and proposed.  There was no fairy tale ending, though.  Not even six weeks later, Jason was ready to end things, saying that their relationship had changed when the show wrapped filming.  As he sat down with host Chris Harrison on the first "After The Final Rose" special, he revealed that was still in love with Molly.  Jason ended things with Melissa on national television, then asked Molly for a second chance, which she happily gave him.  The couple was scheduled to speak to the press today but Jason and Molly cancelled last minute due to scheduling conflicts.  Instead, creator and executive producer Mike Fleiss fielded questions and addressed the rumors surrounding the finale of The Bachelor.

Q. RealityTV World: It's been said that Melissa wasn't blindsided when Jason broke up with her.  Can you set the record straight?
A. Mike: I think it was clear to both of them that there was problems with the relationship at that point.  From what I understand, they were all but broken up by the show.  I don't know that she knew that she was going to give him back the ring but she wasn't completely blindsided by the situation.

Q. RealityTV World: Jason said this week that he broke up with Melissa on camera because it was part of his contract.  Can you clarify what he meant by that?
A. Mike: I think he filled an obligation tot he show but there's no contractual obligation there.  None.

Q. OK Magazine: Why choose to change the way people view Jason?
A. Mike: First of all, it's a tv show and that was really the defining moment of the series.  To not put that on tv seems strange, when you consider that we are making a tv show and these people signed up to do a tv show.  His decision to break up with Melissa involved the other party in this situation, which was Molly.  It was all part of our Bachelor universe so it seemed weird to turn the cameras off for that.  We try to tell a complete story.

Q. OK Magazine: Will you keep doing The Bachelor until you get a guy who will actually pick a girl and stay with her?
A. Mike: Sure.

Q. Grand Rapids Press: It seems so shameless to hurt Melissa in the way that you did.  The show almost seems set up to hurt people.  How do you respond to that?
A. Mike: It's set up to help people find each other.  That's all it is.  It's a tv show and these people signed up to go on a tv show.  It's not like we barged in on someone's personal relationship and filmed it and put it on the air without their consent.  The show's been on for so long.  People know what they're getting into.  To me, I don't see the difference between breaking up with Molly on tv in New Zealand and breaking up with Melissa on tv in Glendale.

Q. TV Guide: Can you walk us through the timeline of Melissa and Jason's relationship leading up to the breakup?
A. Mike: They saw each other.  They were on the phone every day.  I don't know the specific timeline but he had plenty of access to her.  It was just wasn't working out for them.  She knew it.  She didn't know that it was about Molly.  I think that was the thing that caught her off guard.

Q. TV Guide: He definitely had the opportunity to tell her before they were on air, right?
A. Mike: Oh yeah.  There were no contractual obligations.  You can check the contracts.  How would you even put that in a contract?

Q. Seatte Intelligencer: Did Molly have any idea that Jason had ended things with Melissa?
A. Mike: No, she didn't know.  We told her we were going to do an update on everybody.  That was scheduled long before Jason told us he was having trouble with his relationship wtih Melissa and was in love with Molly.  We always do an "After The Final Rose".

Q. In Touch Weekly: Has Melissa asked to be the next Bachelorette?
A. Mike: I tried to get her to be the next Bachelorette.  She didn't want to do it.  First, I tried to talk Molly into doing it when Jason was with Melissa.  She was still upset with Jason and didn't feel like she could commit.  She had just started to come around when this thing happened with Jason.

Q. In Touch Weekly: Did you apologize to Melissa that the breakup had to be public?
A. Mike: I didn't speak to her.

The Bachelorette returns this May to ABC with Jillian Harris in the driver's seat.  Stay tuned to RealityWanted for coverage on the upcoming season!

(Image courtesy of Business Week)

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