Close to a week ago, we told you about the shocking allegations against Bachelor creator Mike Fleiss and how his wife Laura Fleiss accused him of attacking and injuring her after demanding she get an abortion.
The reality TV honcho’s ex has since been granted a temporary restraining order against him as they move forward with a petition for divorce and prepare to battle for custody of their four-year-old son, Ben.
Now, franchise host Chris Harrison is speaking out on the alarming list of accusations against the creator.
Related: ‘The Bachelorette’ Star Mike Johnson Start Is Totally Flirting Demi Lovato!
The 47-year-old opened up to hosts of the Bachelor Party podcast about the ongoing situation and explained how it’s “completely different” from a previous Bachelor In Paradise scandal that went down back in 2017.
“That was a production situation, something that happened on our set having to do with our show and was relative to our production. Mike Fleiss and his situation is completely different. It is a very personal, private matter between he, his wife, his kids, his family and is outside of production.”
Although it wasn’t directly name-dropped, we can assume the production situation mentioned is referring when filming was suspended during BIP season four over a sex scandal caught on camera between former contestants DeMario Jackson and Corinne Olympios.
While it’s become clear that Bachelor Nation has dealt with its fair share of dramatics over the years, including the recent cheating allegations against current contestant Jed Wyatt, even something like what Fleiss is in the middle right now of sounds almost too crazy to be true.
Harrison continued, insisting that Warner Horizon Productions, a division of Warner Bros. that owns the rights to the ABC hit show on our TV screens every week, is indeed investigating the matter.
“They have reached out to me and they have let me know they are aware of the situation, are aware of the allegations. They are taking them very serious and they’re looking into them.”
The claims are pretty serious as Laura alleged the show creator violently attacked her while 10 weeks pregnant, putting her and their unborn child in immediate physical danger. Mike, for his part, denied his ex’s reports and said she was the aggressor in their altercation.
All that aside, Chris said he’s reserving his judgement until more is revealed about the incident.
He added:
“Beyond that, I really don’t have any comment. It wouldn’t be right for me to have any more comment beyond that right now. We will wait and see until anymore facts come in. I believe them that they are taking this very serious and looking into this.”
Well, what are the possible outcomes if this scandal proves to be too much for the network AND the public to handle?
We mean, people aren’t going to just let this one slip under the rug, right?
A source previously told E! News there’s a real possibility the rose-filled competition dating show can and may go on without Fleiss.
“When it comes to filming The Bachelor, The Bachelorette and Bachelor in Paradise, Mike Fleiss is not part of the day-to-day operation and has not been for years. He will usually show up for the first day or two of filming but then head back to Hawaii and oversee things remotely from one of his homes there. Once the show starts airing, he’ll be very active on social media but he really is not part of the filming process.”
The insider added:
“Even though he’s the creator, if he’s forced to step away or remove his name from the show, it wouldn’t affect filming. That is unless ABC decides to cancel the franchise as a result of this.”
Hmm. Very inneresting. It might be a good idea to part ways with the guy and save the franchise from even more embarrassment OR being canceled altogether… but we’ll just have to wait and see!
The Fleiss’ have both filed separate petitions for divorce with claims against each other, as the reality TV exec is gunning for primary custody of their son. We’ll continue to follow this story for more developments.
But until then, how do YOU feel about it all, Perezcious readers? Sound off in the comments (below)!
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