'Bachelor' creator Mike Fleiss defends finale, Melissa says she's fine

Among the biggest questions left hanging in the two-night, four-hour denouement of The Bachelor is: Why? Why would the show put Melissa Rycroft through the pain of having Jason Mesnick dump her in front of millions of people?

The answer, Bachelor creator Mike Fleiss says, lies in the very fact that it's a TV show. "That was really the defining moment of the series, and to not put that on TV seems strange," he says. "But the real difference here is that his decision to break up with Melissa involved the other party in the situation, which was Molly. So it was all part of our Bachelor universe, and it seemed weird to turn the cameras off for that.

"We try to tell a complete story, and to have that go on and not let the viewers be part of it I think would have been a mistake. ... This show's been on so long that people know what they're getting into. And 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. I don't see the difference."

Fleiss says he understands some of the anger directed at the show and at Mesnick -- "He was so immensely popular that he had the furthest to fall in some ways" -- but he also thinks Mesnick ended up making the right choice for himself. "I was with the couple last night. They're happy as can be," Fleiss says. "He kept telling me, 'What was I gonna do? I was in love with the girl.'"

Fleiss doesn't see Mesnick's situation as much different than when previous Bachelor and Bachelorette seasons -- notably those of Brad Womack and Jen Schefft -- closed without the fairy-tale ending. "It's similar -- whenever the show is big in the ratings, the controversy is just as big," he says. "That's part of the deal."

He also bristles at a common accusation in online comment about the finale, namely that he or other producers had scripted or at least stage-managed the outcome: "We don't do that, we've never done that and we never will do that. The great thing about unscripted television is it's unpredictable, and that's what this was. It caught us off-guard, it caught the viewers off-guard -- that's why unscripted television works. That's why it's popular, because it doesn't feel pat, it doesn't feel set up, it doesn't feel contrived."

ABC says Rycroft didn't want to do any more interviews about her experience at the moment, but the network did release a statement on her behalf. It reads in part:

"I want to thank everyone who has been so supportive throughout this process. This has been such an overwhelming experience, and I really do appreciate the support system behind me. This was definitely one of those experiences that changes your life, and makes you so much more aware of who you are and what you want out of life. Strange as it may sound, I am doing really well. ... I still have my same life mottos: Live life with no regrets, and keep smiling no matter what happens. I'm in such a good place in my life right now, and I really couldn't be happier. I don't regret anything that happened over the past few months, because I know I wouldn't be where I am today had none of it happened. I have, however, decided to move on from my reality television days, and get some sense of normalcy back to my life. As wonderful of an experience as The Bachelorette would be, I think it's time for me to move on from my television days and see what my future holds back in Dallas."

For his part, Fleiss says he hopes Rycroft puts her Bachelor experience behind her and "finds the right guy."

"She's a terrific girl. I would venture to say she's the most popular girl in the country right now," he says. "I hope some of that is a positive for her."

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