‘The Bachelorette’ creator on Eric Hill’s passing, ‘sensitive’ plan with Andi Dorfman’s season
It is difficult to think about a reality show when you’re thinking about the tragic death of a young man, but when you are in the position of “The Bachelor” and “The Bachelorette” creator Mike Fleiss, this is what you have to do. He can be heartfelt and sympathetic over what happened, but ABC also demands him to deliver a product.
In the wake of the news of Hill’s passing, it was not a surprise to know that the show was going to go forward. He passed after an accident that was unrealted to Andi Dorfman’s upcoming season, and it also occurred after he was already eliminated. Still, though, you have a certain responsibility now to the man’s family to try to be as sensitive and careful as you can be to not hamper their grieving process with your television show.
Speaking to E! News in his first interview since the news broke, show creator Mike Fleiss shared the following message about how he feels, and what the show plans to do to handle this situation properly:
“We’re all just devastated. He was such a vibrant, young dude. He was. It’s tragic .. He was such a young guy who lived life to the fullest. I couldn’t believe it when I heard. I’m still in shock. We’re all in shock. This transcends everything, certainly a television show.
“We’re going to try to be as sensitive as possible. It’s a bizarre predicament that we never expected to be in, but our problems aren’t important. It’s about his family now. My heart goes out to them. I pray for them and my staff, they’re just wrecked.”
First of all, classy comments by Fleiss to remember who matters most in this situation, and it is not anyone on the show. We do also wonder how Andi herself is taking this, and whether or not this situation is made even painful by her unique position as the person who was ultimately responsible for how long people stay around her (for the most part, unless someone leaves on their own). We have to send thoughts out to her as well, even if she may have only known him a short amount of time. How do you move forward with the show production at such a point? The only other thing that we’d say is that we hope that the show doesn’t milk this situation for ratings when it does air, but most of what is being said right now suggests they are thankfully not going in that direction.
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Photo: ABC