Taking into account some recent developments, it looks like Melissa Rycroft's now infamous dumping on the latest season of The Bachelor was a huge blessing in disguise after all.  Not only did she get unprecedented support from people about the incident (while Jason Mesnick and Molly Malaney were portrayed as backstabbing villains), she landed a belated spot on yet another ABC show Dancing with the Stars, and, judging from the ratings, helped make the transition on ABC's Monday night lineup as fluid and successful as possible.

As if that weren't enough, Us Weekly reports that Melissa hasn't exactly been pining over Jason weeks after the televised dumping.  Melissa revealed that she has been dating long-time friend and insurance agent Ty. She first mentioned Ty, which ironically is also the name of Jason's four-year-old son, on a recent appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

"We've been really good friends, but the timing was never right," she says.  "With all this going on, he's my support system.  It's funny how things happen."

Bouncing back big time from the unceremonious dumping, Melissa had also gotten a lot of support from former Bachelor contestants while Jason was slammed left and right.  Andrew Firestone called him an "ass" while Trista Sutter said of Melissa, "She deserves so much better!"

On Dancing with the Stars, meanwhile, Melissa's partnership with professional partner Tony Dovolani earned them a high score of 23 out of 30 from the judges, one of who commented that "The Bachelor's loss is Dancing With the Stars' gain."  When a video of Jason was shown, on the other hand, the DWTS audience booed.

"She feels like Cinderella right now," Dancing with the Stars producer Conrad Green says.  "Someone's just called her up and invited her to the ball!"




- Glenn Diaz, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: Us Magazine
(Photo courtesy of ABC)