Author: Jackie Strause

September 12, 2016 7:16pm PT by Jackie Strause

ABC

Ryan Lochte, partner Cheryl Burke and host Tom Bergeron on ‘DWTS’

The Olympian appeared shocked as the live ABC reality competition show cut to commercial.

Ryan Lochte’s debut on Dancing With the Stars was interrupted when a person or multiple people rushed the stage during Monday night’s premiere. The Olympic swimmer appeared stunned as the live show then cut to a commercial break amid the chaos.

Lochte and partner Cheryl Burke were waiting to hear the judges comment on his performance when an audience member intervened. Judge Carrie Ann Inaba was sharing her opinions with the pair when her attention was diverted. The cameras stayed on her as the background noise grew louder. She then focused on the off-screen shuffle and repeated, “Excuse me, excuse me.”

Host Tom Bergeron could be heard saying “easy” before the cameras panned back to Bergeron and a stunned Lochte and Burke. 

“Take a breathe,” he told the audience, before the show cut to commercial.

When the show returned from the break, host Bergeron thanked the show’s security team for their efforts. 

“So many feelings are going through my head right now,” Lochte told Bergeron after the break. He added that he was “a little hurt.”

“I came out here and I wanted to do something I was completely uncomfortable with, and I did,” he said.

ABC did not immediate respond to a request for comment.

According to audience members who took to social media, the men who rushed the stage were protesters wearing anti-Lochte T-shirts.

Watch the moment below:

Dancing with the Stars

September 06, 2016 6:02pm PT by Jackie Strause

Rick Rowell/ABC

The final four couples of ‘Bachelor in Paradise’

Nick Viall, who was announced as the next ‘Bachelor’ last week, made it to his third finale of the franchise without finding love.

[Warning: This story contains spoilers from the season three finale of Bachelor in Paradise.]

Bachelor in Paradise delivered three engagements and a breakup on Tuesday — all three of the teary eyed proposals complete with Neil Lane diamond engagement rings.

Heading into the finale of the ABC Bachelor summer spinoff series were couples Nick Viall and Jen Saviano, Josh Murray and Amanda Stanton, Evan Bass and Carly Waddell, and Grant Kemp and Lace Morris.

Bass and Waddell were first to exchange their final roses in Sayulita, Mexico, followed by Kemp and Morris. Both pairs walked away engaged.

When it came time for Viall and Saviano to assume the romantic oceanside proposal position, however, the two-time Bachelorette runner-up interrupted Saviano, breaking down in tears. “I wanted to say I was in love with you, but something in my heart just said I can’t,” he said. “Sometimes you wish you could tell your heart what to do, and if I could, I would tell it to choose you. I just feel like something’s telling me to say goodbye. I’m sorry.”

He continued, “My biggest fear is that I’m going to regret it.” In his limo ride away, Viall added: “It’s impossible to not think that … maybe it’s me. Maybe I am in my head too much. The scary part is if I’m incapable of saying ‘I love you’ to anyone … I just need to figure out how to do that again.”

Murray, brother to NFL quarterback Aaron Murray, and Stanton, a single mother of two, ended the finale on a happier note, as the pair also got engaged. The moment marked Murray’s second finale engagement on the franchise after winning Andi Dorfman’s season of The Bachelorette in 2014.

All four couples, minus Viall, then appeared on the live aftershow, After Paradise, which immediately followed Tuesday’s finale. The three engaged couples confirmed that they are still together, and each pair is currently cohabitating. “We’re like one big family,” Murray said of Stanton’s two daughters.

After teasing a big announcement, cohost Michelle Collins then revealed that Bachelor in Paradise has been renewed for a fourth season.

Though missing on the aftershow, Viall did take to Twitter shortly after the episode aired to say that it was “not easy saying goodbye to someone as incredible” as Saviano. 

But he’s looking ahead and hoping the fourth time will be the charm, as the 35-year-old software sales executive was announced as the next Bachelor on last week’s After Paradise. 

“I’ve had an interesting process through this journey, and it hasn’t worked so far,” he said about returning to the franchise, this time as leading man (returning to ABC in January 2017). “Hopefully, things will end up on a more positive note.” 

On Tuesday’s After Paradise, Saviano admitted that she has “mixed emotions” about her ex’s appointment, but said she has since moved on.

Viall was runner-up on two consecutive seasons of The Bachelorette: In 2014 on Dorfman’s season, which ended with Dorfman engaged to Murray and, a year later, on Kaitlyn Bristowe’s season (she is still engaged to Shawn Booth).

On Bachelor in Paradise, Viall again faced off against Murray over Stanton, with Murray getting his happy ending — again — on Tuesday night’s finale. 

Bachelor in Paradise, in its third season, has now produced five engagements with two weddings: Marcus Grodd and Lacy Faddoul wed on the season two premiere (they have since split and revealed the nuptials weren’t legal); and last season’s Tanner Tolbert and Jade Roper wed on the February ABC special, The Bachelor: A Celebration of Love. 

The long-running franchise has often been knocked for its success rate — of 20 seasons of The Bachelor and 12 of The Bachelorette, eight couples remain together. Trista Rehn (season one), Jason Mesnick (season 13), Ashley Hebert (season seven) and Sean Lowe (season 17) all wed on TV, with Rehn also broadcasting her 10-year vow renewal ceremony with husband Ryan Sutter.

In three seasons, Bachelor in Paradise is on its way to producing as many TV wedding specials as the 32 combined seasons of Bachelor and Bachelorette. 

Ben Higgins, who led the 20th season of The Bachelor, will also launch the franchise’s first couple spinoff series when his show with fiancee Lauren Bushnell, Ben and Lauren: Happily Ever After?, premieres Oct. 11 on ABC sister network Freeform.

Bachelor in Paradise

September 02, 2016 2:03pm PT by Jackie Strause

Courtesy of ABC

Luke Pell

The fan-favorite from JoJo Fletcher’s recent season of ‘The Bachelorette’ found out he was passed over the day before he was set to begin filming.

Bachelor viewers everywhere were surprised when ABC announced Nick Viall would be the next leading man of the franchise — but no one was more surprised than Luke Pell.

In an interview with Us Weekly, the fan-favorite contestant from JoJo Fletcher’s recently wrapped season 12 of The Bachelorette said he was supposed to get the gig, and only found out about the last-minute switch hours before he was set to begin filming.

“We were all satisfied, had agreed to the contracts and everything was moving forward,” Pell said. “I was checked into my flight to come to L.A. I got a call from producers Sunday night at about 10 p.m. They said ABC had decided to quote-unquote go in a different direction. I was supposed to fly out Monday morning at 9 a.m. I had my bags packed and everything.”

He continued, “I met with the wardrobe guys. Everything was moving forward. Everyone on the production level was expecting it to be me, as well.” (ABC declined to comment on this story.)

Viall, who is currently appearing on ABC’s Bachelor in Paradise and was a runner-up on two seasons of The Bachelorette, was announced as the next Bachelor on aftershow After Paradise on Tuesday.

The move came as a surprise, as the long-running franchise typically selects a fan favorite from the previous cycle of The Bachelorette. Even franchise host Chris Harrison spoke to the controversial pick, saying, “While Luke and Chase [McNary, also from JoJo’s season] were good guys, we all just kept coming back to Nick, and it’s just crazy enough to work.”  

Last season also saw a last-minute switch when Fletcher was picked over Caila Quinn. Both women, however, were from the previous cycle of Ben Higgins’ The Bachelor.

While Pell told the magazine that he has come to accept the surprising decision, he isn’t holding out hope that ABC would look to him for a future season.

“I probably wouldn’t do it,” said the Nashville songwriter. “I don’t want to wait in the wings for what decisions they can make for my life. I want to head back into taking control of my own destiny.”

In 2014, Viall was the runner-up on Andi Dorfman’s season, which ended with Dorfman engaged to Josh Murray (they have since broken up); a year later, he again came in second on Kaitlyn Bristowe’s season (she is still engaged to Shawn Booth).

On Bachelor in Paradise, Viall again faced off against Murray for the same woman, Amanda Stanton (Murray and Stanton are still dating).

“I’ve had an interesting process through this journey, and it hasn’t worked so far,” said Viall about returning for his fourth chance at love on the franchise. “Hopefully, things will end up on a more positive note.” After the finale of Bachelor in Paradise on Tuesday (8 p.m. on ABC), Viall will return to After Paradise to talk about The Bachelor.

Pell also took to his Instagram account to share a post from his mother about the “next chapter.”

my precious mom #heartofgold

The Bachelorette The Bachelor