Replace 3/31/23 at 11 p.m. ET:
Fleiss spoke out within the wake of a Selection report that claimed his exit from the franchise got here on the heels of an investigation into alleged racial discrimination and his on-set conduct.
“Since its premiere 21 years in the past, instances have actually modified, and I’d must say we didn’t sustain with the tempo of these adjustments,” Fleiss advised The Hollywood Reporter on Friday, March 31, two days after his announcement that he was leaving the collection. “I’m happy with the work we’ve carried out over the previous 5 years to make the present considerably extra numerous, however I do imagine I might have carried out extra. Hopefully, the franchise will proceed to maneuver in the appropriate course.”
Finally, the franchise creator advised THR, he believed he left his submit with “extra good days than dangerous, lifted extra spirits than damage emotions” and with “extra associates than foe.”
Authentic story continues beneath:
His remaining rose! Bachelor creator Mike Fleiss introduced he’s leaving the franchise after greater than 20 years.
“At the beginning, congratulations are to ensure that Zach [Shallcross] and Kaity [Biggar],” Fleiss, 58, advised Selection in an announcement on Tuesday, March 28, referring to the season 27 lead, 26, and his fiancée, 27, after their engagement aired on the Monday, March 27, finale. “I want them a protracted and blissful life collectively.”
Fleiss, who launched the ABC collection in 2002, went on to verify his departure as the top of the relationship present.
“I wish to thank WBTV and ABC for 21 extraordinary years,” he continued. “They’ve discovered the right artistic crew for me to entrust The Bachelor franchise and hold this lightening in a bottle daring and shifting ahead. Let the journey proceed.”
The California native, who created The Bachelorette in 2003 following the Bachelor’s success, beforehand stepped again as government producer and showrunner of the female-led collection in 2021. (Season 20 of the Bachelorette premieres later this summer time with lead Charity Lawson.)
Shifting ahead, The Bachelor shall be helmed by showrunners Claire Freeland, Jason Ehrlich and Bennett Graebner, in accordance with Selection.
Forward of his departure, Fleiss made headlines in 2019 for his rocky marriage to Laura Kaeppeler. The Bachelor Winter Video games producer raised eyebrows in July of that 12 months when Kaeppler, who was pregnant with the couple’s second little one on the time, claimed her husband attacked her at their dwelling in Hawaii and demanded that she get an abortion.
Whereas Fleiss denied the allegations, the twosome known as it quits that very same month. Kaeppler ultimately dropped the assault claims she made in opposition to her partner, and their authorized separation was finalized in July 2019.
4 months later, the pair introduced that they made amends and had been again collectively. “Pleased to report that @FleissLaura and I’ve reconciled. I like my spouse and am grateful for this chance to work on our marriage,” Fleiss wrote through Twitter in November 2019. “Thanks for the assist, #BachelorNation!”
Fleiss’ marital woes, nonetheless, weren’t his solely actions known as into query that 12 months. In October 2019, former Bachelorette Kaitlyn Bristowe slammed the present’s creator for allegedly blocking her from having the ability to compete on Dancing With the Stars after her 2015 seek for love.
“I’ll let you know precisely why I can’t go on Dancing With the Stars. Anyone that listens to this podcast is aware of why I can’t go on Dancing With the Stars,” Bristowe, 37, mentioned throughout an look on the “Talkhouse” podcast. “I’ll say this with a mic in my hand and a smile on my face, that Mike Fleiss is a chunk of s—t! He’s the creator of The Bachelor, and he hates girls.”
The “Off the Vine” podcast host claimed that Fleiss allowed “all of the Bachelors” to compete on the dance collection however didn’t encourage her to do the identical.
“I used to be bitter for a very long time as a result of dancing was, like, a ardour of mine. Being advised no, simply because somebody needs to say no to you,” Bristowe solely advised Us Weekly in October 2019. “When you have the choice to crush anyone’s desires or make it occur and also you select to crush their desires simply ‘trigger you have got, like, a bitterness in the direction of them and I’m similar to, ‘What sort of individual are you?’”
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Fleiss, for his half, beforehand claimed that he had no situation with the Dew Edit designer happening DWTS. “@kaitlynbristowe has my whole assist if she needs to look on DWTS,” he wrote through Twitter in March 2017. Bristowe ultimately competed on season 29 of DWTS and received the coveted mirrorball trophy in November 2020.
