Melissa Rycroft is one of the few The Bachelor fans who is actually pleased with the end result of the show's eighteenth season, however, it's for a hilarious selfish reason.
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"I have to thank [Juan Pablo Galavis] for being controversial, because I think he took the heat off of our season," Rycroft joked with People.
Rycroft competed on The Bachelor's thirteenth season for Jason Mesnick's heart. She was selected by Mesnick at the final Rose Ceremony, which aired in early 2009. However, Mesnick brutally dumped her on-air for the show's runner-up Molly Malaney on the season's After the Final Rose special. Mesnick and Malaney have been happily married since February 2010 and have one child together.
But Rycroft, 31, admitted it was tough to view Galavis in a positive light this season.
"It's so hard to judge because it is reality TV -- and to a point it is edited -- but unfortunately, it didn't come across as very likable," she told People of The Bachelor star, who gave girlfriend Nikki Ferrell his final rose without a proposal or even an "I love you."
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"He didn't come across as the guy who was really, genuinely there to find love and find a wife."
Rycroft revealed in November she's expecting a baby boy with husband Tye Strickland, whom she already has a three-year-old daughter with named Ava Grace. Rycroft and Strickland got engaged in June 2009 and wed in December of that same year.
Reality viewers were first exposed to Rycroft when she appeared on the first two seasons of CMT's Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team. She then went on to compete on The Bachelor, which filmed in late 2008.
After Mesnick rejected her, Rycroft accepted an offer to join Dancing with the Stars' Spring 2009 edition as a last-minute replacement for injured Access Hollywood co-anchor Nancy O'Dell. She eventually finished third behind Gilles Marini and eventual champ Shawn Johnson.
Rycroft then went on to accept work as an entertainment news correspondent and host for numerous projects. She also returned to Dancing with the Stars to compete on the show's fifteenth season dubbed Dancing with the Stars: All-Stars in 2012. She was crowned the winner with professional partner Tony Dovolani after competing against memorable veteran celebrity dancers.
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Rycroft and Strickland also starred in Melissa and Tye: A New Reality together in 2012, however, the show was canceled by CMT after only one season.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski