Former Bachelor Star Complains That Ellen DeGeneres Was Too “Harsh” On Him

During the 13th season of The Bachelor, Jason Mesnick broke up with finalist Molly Malaney. Then he proposed marriage to Melissa Rycroft. Then he decided he had picked the wrong women, so he split up with Mycroft on live TV, and reconnected with Malaney. And Ellen DeGeneres is the one in the wrong? Mesnick, who is now married to Malaney, has a go at the talk show host in an excerpt from his upcoming (and currently untitled) memoir. In a preview published by The Huffington Post, the father of two objects to how DeGeneres challenged him about his dating choices while the cameras were rolling, but played it down during breaks. Mesnick, who admits he didn't stand up to Bachelor producers when his feelings for the women began to change, recalls how Jimmy Kimmel ("the nicest celebrity I've met") warned him that DeGeneres might not be quite so understanding. "He said, and I’m paraphrasing, 'Ellen is going to really attack you because she needs to do it for her audience. Here’s what I would say if I were you, based on your experience... And here’s what I would do on Ellen... Just because you don’t want people to react and you’re not a bad guy. I can see that,'" Mesnick recounts. "And so I took his advice and I went on Ellen and was just like, 'Look, I don’t really know anything about this industry. I’m just trying to be myself.' “Anyway, I took Jimmy Kimmel’s advice. He’s such a good guy. I don’t know Ellen at all; I’ve been on her show a few times because of The Bachelor. Ellen was kind of harsh, like Jimmy said she would be, but I remember that between takes on commercials she said something like, 'I know how this show works. Don’t worry about it. I’m just kind of doing my thing.' I thought — even her, right? So she had to lash into me based on TV stuff, but when the camera stops rolling she says, 'Don’t worry, it’s all for TV.' It was just one of those things where I thought why can’t we have an honest conversation where the truth is the same when the cameras are rolling as when they’re not rolling?” This is coming from a guy who did The Bachelor. As you can see from this clip, DeGeneres didn't really sugar-coat her impression of Mesnick's romantic bait and switch. Does she let him have it? Sure. Is it a little harsh? Maybe? Is it as harsh as dumping your fiancée on TV? No way. If you're going to do the crime, you've got to do the time, buddy.