melissa rycroft

The season premiere is still a couple of days away, but already the 14th season of ABC's 'The Bachelor' has got tongues wagging.

It appears that someone else on the reality TV series -- besides the Bachelor Jake Pavelka himself, that is -- has been getting some loving. A recent ABC promo is teasing scandal, with one woman on the clip dishing that "she's been having this sexual affair with somebody else in the Bachelor house." And while the promo pans to footage of a couple of same-sex contestants frolicking around together, a New York Post report suggests that a 'Bachelor' contestant is actually having an affair with a male member of the reality show's production crew.

Thirteen is an unlucky number for Jason Mesnick: His appearance on season 13 of 'The Bachelor' changed him overnight from a prince to a frog.

The show saw bachelor Jason tell both finalists -- Molly Malaney and Melissa Rycroft -- that he was in love with the other. Each women was rejected for the other in a span of six short weeks.

Have reality dating shows forgotten their mission?

Couples have been entering and exiting the revolving doors of 'The Bachelor' and 'The Bachelorette' asking, "what's love got to do with it?" Not much apparently, because 15 out of 18 couples have broken up after the show wrapped.

According to US Magazine, the latest couple to call it quits is season 6 bachelor Byron Velvick and his fiancée, Mary Delgado. The pair had a dreamy on-camera courtship but off-camera their five-year relationship was tumultuous: Delgado was arrested in 2007 for assaulting Velvick after a 'Bachelor' reunion show. So if these casualties of television induced romances are any indication, on-camera dating is no way to find true love.

(S09E19) It's been nine weeks on Dancing with the Stars and I didn't expect to see Joanna, Kelly, or Donny around this long. Unfortunately, one of them was eliminated.

For no reason, Melissa Rycroft showed up on this results show and slipped in the professional's performance. This was probably because her fans caused an uproar since she wasn't a candidate for the Design A Dance competition. Instead of "Sabrina was robbed" we got "Melissa was robbed," and ABC listened.

It was a busy show, but the elimination was not a shocker to me. By this point, fan support outweighs the judges scores.

Infamous 'Bachelor' couple Jason Mesnick and Molly Malaney are engaged, PEOPLE reports.

Mesnick reportedly popped the question last night in New Zealand, site of his original 'Bachelor' proposal, to which Malaney "giddily accepted."

Mesnick and Malaney met on season 13 of the hit ABC dating series, in which Malaney finished second to winner Melissa Rycroft. Rycroft was later dumped by Mesnick on the 'After the Rose' special, only to find out that he still had feelings for Malaney.

(S08E21) The night started with a grand swoop of the set, something I wished that would be used more often. Unfortunately, the episode really dragged on until the last hour. I guess I'm now prepared for the long results show for American Idol tomorrow.

I get to make my final jab at Samantha Harris for the season: someone has to fire her stylist. That dress was ugly.

The outcome was a little bit of a shock, but I would appreciate a win from any of the three contestants. We start (and end) the night with Lady GaGa, and she didn't do half bad.

We're finally at the end of the season with the three strongest dancers. After ten weeks, I have no clue how Belinda Carlisle did back in week one. At this point, you could tell me that Nancy O'Dell was eliminated in week two and I would believe you. The mirror ball trophy was placed in front of the judges table and the judges seem excited about the competition. Unfortunately, we got some more disappointing freestyle performances.

The interesting thing about the three competitors is that their strengths are in different categories. Shawn is probably the quickest learner and can technically perform. Gilles is best with Latin, and Melissa is best with Ballroom. Melissa probably has the biggest hill to climb, coming from third place and stuck with a Latin performance.

(S08E19) I normally have the opportunity to watch Dancing with the Stars in high definition, but this week's results show I watched from the 4:3 resolution. I have to admit, this show needs the extra sides of frame for HD. There is a degree of beauty missing from the show.

One thing I forgot to mention about Melissa's performance last night was that she got an unlucky draw. I find it unfair to have the Cha-Cha near the end of the season since it lacks the flair of the Salsa and Samba, or the passion of the Paso Doble. I gave her some credit for doing as well as she could, but she lacked the passion.

It turns out that Afton was cursed. Everyone that Afton touched, including herself, got eliminated. More about the professional competition and the elimination after the jump.

(S08E18) Tonight's episode didn't have to be two hours. I already suffered from watching a three-hour finale of The Celebrity Apprentice, and when I saw the show start with a professional group dance, I knew this episode was going to be padded. That three-minute buffer of dancing could be worse; Samantha Harris could have tried to interview the celebrities for three minutes.

I caught Samantha Harris this afternoon on the syndicated version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, covering for Meredith Vieira, and she was a little better on that show. I have to think that she just can't roll with the punches as well as Tom Bergeron. Her flaws really kicked in tonight as she fumbled through the whole show. Can't we have a contest to find a new co-host?

(S08E16) Tonight we found out how badly Melissa's injury affected her: not at all. If anything, the injury made her work harder. We're provided with two dances per celebrity tonight (one ballroom, one Latin), and even though the show could be accomplished in an hour and a half, we're given another half hour of padding.

We start the night with a professional group dance demonstrating ballroom. The best part of the professional dance was that there was an audience shot right after, and no one looked impressed. After ten minutes of padding we start the night with Shawn Johnson.

(S08E15) I finally learned my lesson and turned the channel at the minute before the top of the hour. I was rewarded with the Team Tango dance. I was dreading the group week, because I thought that whichever team got Ty, it would have been a crutch. I was wrong; there was no Susan Lucci this year. The synchronicity of the end sequence is great to see.

Tonight's recap pointed out two odd things I never noticed: 1) There was a woman's head that blocked part of the judge's table; if I were the producers, I'd ask her to move. 2) Bruno sniffed Ty's shirt when he took it off during the Team Tango. More odd nuances after the jump.

There was something wrong about this week's Dancing with the Stars: everyone who performed did well. If it weren't for Melissa hurting her rib last week (which I predicted would become a problem), the show would have actually been a close race. The paranoia of the news got me wondering about Melissa's disappearance; for a quick second I thought she had contracted the swine flu. Thankfully, it was just her rib.

Is it me or is Bruno not making any sense this season? He creates any excuse to get up, flail his arms into Len, and scream nonsensical phrases. The problem is that I think Carrie Ann is catching the Bruno flu.

(S08E12) After getting rid of Steve-O, mysteriously everyone got better. The average tonight was 26. There were some definite standouts.

We are reminded that the clothes were created by the contestants. I'm happy to see Edyta with clothes on, but I'm a little saddened that there was no denim for Ty. Unfortunately, Samantha was channeling Pollyanna and I was expecting her to have a milk bucket ready for her daily chores. Take a tip from Cat Deeley and find a hip stylist. Speaking of which, more So You Think You Can Dance references after the jump.

(S08E11) With no dance off, the results show lost most of my motivation. The fluff factor of the cheesy dances was in high effect. The episode was surprisingly sexual: Samantha couldn't keep a straight face interviewing Lawrence about Edyta's lack of clothes, Chuck said some double entendre involving Bruno, Shawn and Melissa considered putting their partners in very little clothing, and Steve-O used the word "Man-struate."

Luckily for America, the show created one of the best drinking games. It has nothing to do with scores, clothes, or Samantha Harris saying something stupid. More information after the jump.

(S08E10) We're finally at the half-way point where (presumably) the bad dancers have disappeared. We have our four early standouts and then the other four. It's weird that there are only three female celebrities left, but those three are the best.

How do I love this show when there are two large flaws bringing it down? The musical arrangements this were horrendous. The band's take on "If I Were a Boy" by Beyonce and "Dance Dance" by Fall Out Boy were atrocious. Samantha still hasn't improved; this week she called Len a "Poopy head."

On a fashion plus, I got my wish of Edyta wearing legwarmers. Even Lil Kim has a pair. More musings after the jump.