The creator of the ‘Bachelor,’ Mike Fleiss, is stepping away from the award-winning franchise.
Fleiss has been with the franchise from the beginning. The first installment of the reality TV dating dynasty, “The Bachelor,” premiered in 2002. The series aired its 27th season finale on Monday, March 27th. ‘Bachelor’ lead Zach Shallcross’ experience ended with an engagement to his front-runner Kaity Biggar.
Fleiss, 58, issued a statement announcing his departure from the franchise on Tuesday.
The ‘Bachelor’ Franchise Creator Announces His Departure After 21 Years With The Franchise
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Fleiss shared his statement with Variety.
“First and foremost, congratulations are in order for Zach and Kaity,” he said. “I wish them a long and happy life together. I want to thank WBTV and ABC for 21 extraordinary years. They’ve found the perfect creative team for me to entrust the ‘Bachelor’ franchise and keep this lightning in a bottle bold and moving forward. Let the journey continue,” his statement concludes. (per Variety)
The outlet also reported Fleiss allegedly has not been involved with the “day-to-day process” for a decade; an unknown source had shared this information and was said to be closely involved with the franchise.
The Hollywood Reporter revealed three executive producers and showrunners have already been hired to take Fleiss’ place. According to the outlet, they are Jason Ehrlich, Claire Freeland, and Bennett Graebner.
Fleiss regularly retweets content about the franchise on his Twitter account. He has not tweeted anything additional as of this writing.
‘Bachelorette’ Lead Kaitlyn Bristowe had Previously called Fleiss Out
“The Bachelorette” alumna and current host of the “Off The Vine” podcast Kaitlyn Bristowe spoke out against Fleiss in 2019.
According to our report written then, Bristowe revealed the franchise’s creator allegedly kept her from competing on a rival ABC show, “Dancing With The Stars.” ‘DWTS’ now airs on Disney+.
Bristowe gave more details in an interview on the “Talkhouse Podcast.”
She told host Nikki Glaser, “They won’t let me [go on the show] ever. I’ll tell you exactly why I can’t go on ‘Dancing With The Stars.’ Anybody that listens to this podcast knows why I can’t go on ‘Dancing With The Stars.’ And it’s because, and I will say this with a mic in my hand and a smile on my face, that Mike Fleiss is a piece of s**t. He’s the creator of ‘The Bachelor’ and he hates women,” Bristowe concluded. (via The Blast)
Bristowe would eventually go to win the 29th season of the competition, along with Artem Chigvintsev. Fellow ‘Bachelorette’ alumna Gabby Windey recently came in second place during season 31.
The duo had also gone head to head during a 2017 Twitter exchange.
A Twitter user had tagged Bristowe in a tweet asking why no Bachelor Nation members had been involved in the franchise at the time.
Bristowe responded with a quote-tweet, writing, “Actually, I was offered it, had the contract & Mike Fleiss told me I wasn’t allowed. He said he didn’t want people wanting fame after the show [thinking emoji].
Fleiss then reassured Bristowe she had his “total support” to appear on the show. She would fire back, “Thanks I’ll get right on that opportunity 2 yrs. ago. I wonder what changed your mind? ?”
Bristowe would later release a statement addressing ‘Bachelorette’ Hannah Brown’s involvement on the show and would address her past statements surrounding why female leads had not historically been granted the same opportunities as their male ‘Bachelor’ counterparts.
“I’ve spoken out in the past about how ‘Bachelorettes’ haven’t gotten the same amount of love as ‘Bachelors’ when it comes to the chance of competing in the ballroom. The fact that it’s happening again for a female franchise lead is long overdue. I will be watching, glass of wine in hand, cheering her on,” she said.
Bristowe also claimed in her “Talkhouse Podcast” interview that Fleiss had been “in hot water” regarding his 2019 domestic violence investigation, and the event had served as the catalyst for him allegedly giving Brown the ‘green light’ to compete on ‘DWTS.’
“…the only reason why he let Hannah go on this season of ‘Dancing With The Stars’ is because- well, I hope I had something to do with it, that I said something- but because he’s in hot water because there’s some s**t that came out on him abusing his wife. So he’s like, ‘Look at me, I love women’. As long as he is in power at ABC, I will never get on that show,” Bristowe concluded.
The next season of “The Bachelorette,” featuring ‘Bachelor’ season 27th alumna Charity Lawson as the lead, will premiere on June 26th.
