"She is incredible sweet beautiful and everybody's been watching and I lived it," a somber Jason said in an audience-less studio surrounded by candles. But he said, "Since this all ended things have been different."
Then Jason told Melissa his heart truly belonged to department store buyer and runner-up Molly Malaney, and he was ending their courtship.
"We're not right for each other," Jason told Melissa, who added that after spending time with each other during the holidays he noticed their chemistry had changed.
"I trusted you with everything. He knows what I've been through," an irritated Melissa said. "I'm so mad at you."
"I don't get it at all because none of it makes sense," Melissa said before handing over the engagement ring Mesnik had given her.
She expressed her disappointment and anger about the single father's decision.
'I've been through a ton of heartbreak. You've been through a ton of heartbreak," Melissa said. "You should know better than to do something like that."
She kept a defiant resolve until she entered the limo for a confessional where she broke down.
A Second Chance
After the drama unfolded with Melissa, Jason still had to face Molly, whom he hadn't seen or spoken to since the show's finale.
Jason admitted he was still in love with Molly who was was initially speechless. "This is something I dreamt of but never expected to hear," she said. "To hear you say this, of course, I'm so excited about it. There's a piece of me that's confused."
"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't glad this happened," a gleeful Molly added.
But she said that she also needed a better understanding of why she was dumped in the first place.
But the two appeared to seal their new relationship with a kiss.
Jason's bait and switch treatment of Melissa attracted public scorn before the day was done. Appearing on ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live'" Kimmel sarcastically asked Jason, the first single father bachelor to appear on the show, if he was going to trade in his kid for another child, perhaps a blonde one.
Jason told Kimmel he thought one day he and Melissa "would be friends" again.
"No you will not," a hysterical Kimmel shot back.
A History of Changed Minds
The drama that unfolded around Jason wasn't new. He appeared on "The Bachelorette" in 2008 season but this time as a contestant vying for the attentions of bachelorette DeAnna Pappas making it to the final two.
Pappas would later claim that she too, had made a mistake in choosing professional snowboarder Jesse Csincsak over Jason during the season four finale.
And in the 2007 season of "The Bachelor" Brad Womack opted not to choose either of his two finalists during his final rose ceremony.
In fact, in all the incarnations of the popular show, only one couple has made it down the aisle. Trista Rehn, who came in second on the first season on "The Bachelor" and was the original "Bachelorette" married her pick Ryan Sutter. Today the couple has one child and is expecting another.
The couple says they are taking things slowly. So there's no ring on the finger. at least not yet. But both agree they couldn't be happier.
Tonight @ 10 on ABC 7 watch After the Final Rose, Part 2 as Jason and the final two women revisit some of the memories from his quest for love; updates on the couple and the woman who was not chosen.
