Bachelor creator Mike Fleiss announced his departure from the franchise after more than two decades. The decision came after an investigation into alleged racial discrimination and on-set behavior. Showrunners Claire Freeland, Jason Ehrlich, and Bennett Graebner will now helm The Bachelor.
Mike Fleiss, the creator of The Bachelor franchise, has announced his departure from the series after more than two decades.
Bachelor creator Mike Fleiss has announced that he is leaving the show after more than two decades. Fleiss confirmed his departure as the head of the dating show in a statement to Variety after season 27 lead Zach Shallcross and his fiancée Kaity Biggar’s engagement aired on the finale. Fleiss expressed his congratulations to the couple and thanked WBTV and ABC for 21 “extraordinary” years of working together, stating that they have found the perfect creative team to keep the franchise moving forward.
Fleiss previously stepped back as executive producer and showrunner of The Bachelorette in 2021, and the showrunners for The Bachelor moving forward will be Claire Freeland, Jason Ehrlich, and Bennett Graebner, according to Variety. Fleiss made headlines in 2019 for his tumultuous marriage to Laura Kaeppeler, a Bachelor Winter Games producer. Kaeppeler claimed that her husband attacked her at their home in Hawaii and demanded that she have an abortion while pregnant with their second child.
Fleiss denied the allegations, and the divorce was eventually finalized in July 2019. The couple announced that they reconciled four months later. However, that wasn’t the only controversy Fleiss faced that year. Former Bachelorette Kaitlyn Bristowe accused Fleiss of blocking her from being able to compete on Dancing With the Stars after her 2015 search for love. Bristowe claimed that Fleiss is a “piece of s—t” who “hates women” and allowed “all the Bachelors” to compete on the dance series but didn’t encourage her to do the same.
Fleiss denied those claims and stated that he fully supported Bristowe being on Dancing With the Stars. She eventually competed on season 29 of the show and won the mirrorball trophy in November 2020. In the wake of allegations of racial discrimination and on-set behavior, Fleiss spoke out and acknowledged that the show has not kept up with the pace of change in the 21 years since its premiere. Fleiss expressed pride in the work they’ve done to diversify the show but acknowledged he could have done more. He hoped the franchise would continue to move in the right direction.
