The Bachelorette's Lame Finale

By: Shannon Gossage

Viewers were disappointed with the outcome of the third installment of ABC’s reality series The Bachelorette, when Jen Scheft turned down proposals from finalists John Paul Merritt, 25, and Jerry Ferris, 29. At the final rose ceremony, both men proposed to Scheft who shot down John Paul and picked Jerry. Three months later when they met up for The Bachelorette: After the Final Rose Ferris asked Scheft what she wanted him to do with the ring and she told him she would rather just be friends.

A source close to Scheft said, "I said from the beginning that I didn’t think she was gonna get hitched out of this. She wasn’t really into any of the guys." It has recently been reported that Scheft, 28, has been dating her boss, local nightclub promoter Billy Dec, 32. Scheft was asked directly on The Bachelorette: The Final Rose if she was dating Dec and she denied any romantic involvement, saying that he was her boss and that was it. Scheft recently said she is "happy" and has "no regrets." She said, "I am so happy that I did the show, and it was a great experience."

This is yet another "failure" for the ABC franchise. Out of all nine of the "love matches" in the history of the Bachelor and Bachelorette, only two couples are still going strong. Trista Rehn married her "bachelor" Ryan Sutter over a year ago and Byron Velvick and his pick Mary Delgado recently announced that they are moving in together. That equals a total of seven failed romances. The next installment of the series will star "actor" Charlie O’Connell (brother of Crossing Jordan’s Jerry O’Connell) and if ratings do not improve considerably it will probably be the last.