While Chris Harrison recognizes some viewers still harbor hard feelings about the awkward manner in which thirteenth-season The Bachelor couple Jason Mesnick and Molly Malaney's relationship began, he feels they shouldn't let that overcome the "joyous occasion" of their upcoming wedding, which ABC will chronicle with a The Bachelor: Jason and Molly's Wedding special.
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"I know that some of you have mixed emotions about this as I've already heard many comments on Twitter and Facebook, but this is a joyous occasion and I'm very proud to be a part of it," The Bachelor host wrote on Tuesday in his weekly Entertainment Weekly blog.
"This will be fun for us because on top of friends and family, many of our old favorites will be back and involved in the wedding."
The two-hour special will air on Monday, March 8 at 8PM ET/PT and include footage of Malaney's bridal gown fitting, the couple's discussions with their wedding planner and event designers, their bachelor and bachelorette parties, and the actual ceremony at an undisclosed "perfect" location, according to ABC.
"This has been in talks for quite some time and I knew they were interested," Harrison told TVGuide.com in a Tuesday interview.
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"It's odd when you're trying to schedule a TV wedding because you have to think about the date, time, length and how it's going to fit, so that side of it is very unromantic and impersonal."
The Bachelor's thirteenth-season filmed in Fall 2008 and concluded with Mesnick -- who had originally been dumped by DeAnna Pappas at the end of her 2008 edition of The Bachelorette -- getting engaged to Melissa Rycroft and rejecting Malaney.
However Mesnick later dumped Rycroft on-air in favor of Malaney during a January taping of the season's After the Final Rose special.
Mesnick's decision didn't sit well with some viewers and he was forced to defend it after the special aired.
"It was my real life, and people can question that or doubt that, but they're real feelings and I, on that last day, was falling in love with two girls," said Mesnick during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live last March.
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Less than a week later he apologized to viewers during an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
"I think what I wanna do is to apologize to everybody out there, all of the fans of the show, because I thank you for watching but this was my real life and it was the hardest thing I had to do and I made some big mistakes," said Mesnick at the time.
"But in the end I found my true love and I really am happy right now, and I know I hurt somebody that I never wanted to hurt and I really regret that. But I wanted to thank everybody for their support, and I know people got hurt along the way, even the viewers, and I apologize to all of you guys too."
Mesnick and Malaney got engaged last October during a trip to New Zealand, which is where Mesnick originally rejected Malaney and got engaged to Rycroft during the season's Final Rose Ceremony.
The only other The Bachelor or The Bachelorette couple to actually wed are The Bachelorette first-season couple Trista and Ryan Sutter -- and their wedding was also telecast during a three-episode special that aired in December 2003.
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"I wish we could do it live -- that's the only mistake we made with Trista and Ryan," Harrison told TVGuide.com
"It was big as it was, but I think it would've been a thousand times bigger if... we had been able to do it live and capture the moment."
About The Author: Christopher Rocchio