Fans of ABC’s The Bachelorette Season 6 may have been disappointed after seeing this week’s Men Tell All episode. Why? Because the men most fans wanted to hear from- namely Justin “Rated R” Rego and heartbreaker Frank Neuschaefer- weren’t there. Now host Chris Harrison has touted that Frank Neuschaefer will appear on the August 2ndAfter the Final Rose special after The Bachelorette finale. So is Harrison telling us the real deal- or is this another false promise from Bacheloretteland?
Neuschaefer’s sudden departure from the show- after his revelation that he still had feelings for his ex-girlfriend Nicole- was the scandal of the season. While Justin “Rated R” had a scandal of his own- two hometown girlfriends that lived only 5 minutes apart- he didn’t break Bachelorette Ali Fedotowsky’s heart the way Frank did. Indeed, Frank was one of Ali’s final three men- she even went to his hometown in Chicago and met his family.
Needless to say, even though “Rated R” may have wanted the title, Neuschaefer has been painted as the villain on this season of The Bachelorette. His crime? He dared to fall in love with two women at the same time. Hmmmm….sounds like a familiar premise.
So why, after he’s been trashed by Ali and most of the other guys on The Bachelorette, would Frank Neuschaefer agree to boost ABC’s ratings by appearing on the After the Final Rose episode? Surely Chris Harrison will berate him some more and Ali will turn on the waterworks. Would there be any reason for him to go on the show, especially if he is still happily reunited with Nicole?
The fact is, no one is certain that Neuschaefer is actually going to be on the show. As Bachelor blogger Reality Steve has reported, Monday night’s Men Tell All episode was taped nearly 2 weeks ago. At that time, Harrison may have been under the impression that Frank would be present at the After the Final Rose taping. But RS says the After the Final Rose taping was scheduled to be this past weekend- and he received numerous tips about Frank sightings in Chicago over the weekend. Sounds like Frankie may have either canceled or no-showed.
But Chris Harrison’s blog on EW.com contradicts this. He writes all about how he can’t wait to sit down with Frank next week and ask him the tough questions about his relationship with Nicole. Harrison promises he’ll have all the answers on next week’s After special.
The only scenario I can think of is, perhaps Neuschaefer has agreed to sit down with Harrison one on one- without a studio audience- for the sole purpose of clearing his name. Harrison’s verbiage makes it sound like he hasn’t actually sat down with Frank yet, but is planning to.
If Frank plans to chat with Harrison in order to set the record straight, it could backfire. Just ask Rozlyn Papa, last season’s Bachelor “villain” who got blindsided when she agreed to go to the Women Tell All taping during her season. Papa was kept sequestered from the other women and was bombarded with accusations about her alleged romance with a show producer.
As for Neuschaefer facing Ali again, I can’t see that either. Why would he agree to be confronted by her on camera? I really don’t see any benefit for him unless he’s contractually obligated.
So at this point, it’s a wait and see game. Until I see an ABC trailer with Frank’s in the studio with either Chris Harrison or Ali, I’m just not buying it.
Sure, if Ali gets to confront Frank, it will make for great TV. Just don’t count on it.
*****
Sources:
The Bachelorette, July 26, 2010, ABC TV
www.realitysteve.com
http://popwatch.ew.com/2010/07/27/chris-harrison-blogs-the-bachelorette-the-men-tell-all/
