Jason Mesnick

Jason Scott Mesnick is a reality television celebrity. He was the runner-up on Season 4 of The Bachelorette and was the Bachelor of the 13th season of the reality dating show The Bachelor.

Mesnick was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and has two brothers, Sean and Larry. His family moved to Washington state when he was eight. When he was a teenager, his parents divorced. He attended Lake Washington High School, graduating in 1994, then attended the University of Washington, graduating in 1998 with a BA in Psychology. He is also a brother of the Theta Chi Fraternity, Alpha Rho Chapter.

In 2003, Mesnick married Hilary Buckholz. The couple had a son, Ty, in 2005, and divorced in 2007, with Mesnick retaining custody of Ty.

Mesnick now resides in the Seattle suburb of Kirkland. He is a Residential Consultant at NWG Real Estate specializing in working with families.

Mesnick competed on the fourth season of The Bachelorette, which premiered in May 2008, as one of the suitors of DeAnna Pappas, even proposing in the final rose ceremony before Pappas stopped him. Mesnick was then chosen to be featured on the 13th season of The Bachelor, which premiered in January 2009.

On The Bachelor, Mesnick proposed and became engaged to Melissa Rycroft, a 25-year-old Dallas native and former squad member of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. On the season's finale, Mesnick revealed that he changed his mind. When Rycroft was brought out, he broke up with her, and she returned the engagement ring. Molly Malaney, the runner-up, was then brought out. Mesnick asked for another chance with her, and she accepted.

Mesnick was a guest on Jimmy Kimmel Live! the day after the final episode, After the Final Rose, was aired. He said the chemistry was different between him and Rycroft. Kimmel asked Mesnick why he proposed marriage to Rycroft and Mesnick replied that Rycroft was exactly what he wanted at the time, but he did not want to lead Rycroft on. In June 2009 Rycroft announced her engagement to a man (Tye Strickland) she had been dating in Dallas.

In October 2009, while vacationing in New Zealand, Mesnick asked Malaney to marry him and she accepted. They were married on February 27, 2010, in Rancho Palos Verdes, California. Their wedding aired in a two-hour special called The Bachelor: Jason and Molly's Wedding, on March 8, 2010. On October 12, 2012, the Mesnicks announced that they were expecting their first child together, telling their son Ty (7 years old at the time) during a game of Hangman.

Molly and Jason welcomed daughter Riley Anne Mesnick on March 14, 2013. She was born in Seattle and weighed 6 lbs., 8 oz.

In an article in The Huffington Post on January 19, 2017, with the headline "ABC’s The Bachelor Star Jason Mesnick Tells His Story With Insider Scoop On Jimmy Kimmel, Ellen, and Fake ‘Reality’ TV", Jason told his story for the first time and in his own words about what happened behind the scenes while filming The Bachelor.