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‘Bachelor’ not surprised by Melissa’s ‘Dancing’

Jason Mesnick, the man who chose, then rejected Melissa Rycroft, is still dating Molly Malaney from the reality show.
/ Source: Access Hollywood

Jason Mesnick will forever be known as the man who pulled the dramatic switcheroo on the season finale of “The Bachelor.”

And while he is a few months removed from his stint on reality TV, Mesnick still finds himself fending off “Bachelor” backlash for dumping Melissa Rycroft on national television for another chance at love with Molly Malaney.

“I think the time for me when people have been negative is when like a girl — her boyfriend just broke up with her and they just look at me like it’s my fault,” Mesnick told Access Hollywood’s Maria Menounos. “I’m sorry if you feel that way, but it’s not me! It happens every day and it wasn’t me, I promise. I didn’t put him up to it.”

Menounos caught up with Mesnick and girlfriend Molly Malaney in Turks & Caicos, where the couple was enjoying a vacation at the grand opening of Beaches Turks & Caicos’ New Italian Village.

After spending several months being hounded by cameras for “The Bachelor,” have the two gotten used to life in the media spotlight?

“I don’t think you can ever get used to the cameras being on you,” Malaney admitted. “I never got used to it.”

In fact, since the show ended, both Mesnick and Malaney have tried to stay out of the public eye.

“We really stepped away from everything. That’s not why we did the show. That’s not why we did any of this,” Mesnick added.

As has become customary, once “The Bachelor” ends, one of the jilted lovers lands their own show — as is the case with new “Bachelorette” Jillian Harris, whose new reality run at love premiered this week.

So does Mesnick have any advice for Harris?

“She doesn’t need any advice from me,” he told Menounos. “She said that she was always looking for a best friend and I think that’s what she’ll look for and she’ll find.”

Rycroft ‘a great dancer’Of course, Harris isn’t the only one of Mesnick’s former suitors making a name for herself on reality TV.

Rycroft, who Mesnick dumped on the “Bachelor” finale, made it all the way to the finals on “Dancing With the Stars.”

But have Malaney and Mesnick been two of the millions tuning in each week to see Rycroft on the dance floor?

“I haven’t been able to watch, but a lot of people that I work with watch and they said she’s been doing a phenomenal job,” Malaney said. “That doesn’t surprise me — she’s a great dancer.”

And Mesnick said Rycroft making it to the finals may have surprised some people — but not him.

“When I found out she was on the show, I said I think she’s going to win it,” he added. “Because I know how passionate she is about dancing. I think it was a great fit.”

And through all their drama that was played out on national television, Mesnick believes it was all for the best for everyone involved.

“We’re in such a better place right now. I think anybody who was associated with that show, especially the last four of us — Jillian, Molly, me and Melissa — we’re all in a place where I think we should be,” Mesnick contends. “And you can’t mess with fate. Fate is what it is and I think we’re all exactly where we need to be.”