Melissa Rycroft Reveals She Was 'Turned Down' for 'RHOD' — Twice!
The reality TV crossover that almost was. Melissa Rycroft revealed that she auditioned for The Real Housewives of Dallas — twice.
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The 38-year-old Bachelor alum, who is a Texas native, recently took to Instagram to answer fan questions.
“Why would you never go on the Real Housewives of Dallas?” one social media user inquired on Friday, March 27.
Rycroft replied, “I’ve been interviewed and turned down twice … I am so NOT Housewife material!”
She added a GIF of Real Housewives of New York City’s Luann de Lesseps.
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The former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader is no stranger to reality television, winning Jason Mesnick’s season of The Bachelor in 2009. After accepting a proposal from the Seattle native, however, Mesnick dumped Rycroft during After the Final Rose six weeks after they got engaged because he was still thinking about runner-up Molly Malaney.
“Filming that was the most awkward thing in the entire world because I’m looking at everybody going you all knew exactly why you were coming here. It was bad,” Rycroft recalled on Us Weekly’s “Here for the Right Reasons” podcast in 2020, adding that producers made her change when she arrived at the taping. “They put me in that shiny foil, strapless mini dress, they put the ring on my finger and backstage they had me watch the engagement video, which I’d never seen before [because] it hadn’t aired [yet]. So they got me all dolled up and all emotional.”
Mesnick and Malaney subsequently got back together and wed in February 2010. In addition to his 16-year-old son, Ty, from his first marriage, the couple share 8-year-old daughter Riley.
Rycroft, for her part, reconnected with ex-boyfriend Tye Strickland after the show. The twosome, who tied the knot in December 2009, share daughter Ava, 10, and sons Beckett, 6, and Cayson, 4.
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Despite the rocky ending to her Bachelor season, Rycroft hasn’t shied away from the cameras. In addition to appearing on two seasons of Dancing With the Stars (and winning one), she has hosted several reality shows, including Bachelor Pad, Redneck Island and Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team. The twosome also had their own show, Melissa & Tye, for one season in 2012.
RHOD, meanwhile, premiered on Bravo in 2016. Season 5, which is currently airing, stars Stephanie Hollman, Brandi Redmond, D’Andra Simmons, Kameron Westcott, Kary Brittingham and Tiffany Moon.
