Melissa Rycroft
News

Months ago, who would have thought that Melissa Rycroft would get married before Jason Mesnick?

Prospects appeared slim for the former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader, after she was dumped by Mesnick on national TV in favor of Molly Malaney.

But Melissa overcame this heartbreak and found love with Tye Strickland. In fact, the engaged couple has set a wedding date: December 12!

"We aren't doing much. I think small, we plan small," said Rycroft. "But whether it's going to turn out the way we have it in our minds, I don't know!"

It's been pretty much confirmed that Ed Swiderski slept with Lindsey Johnson - and tried to bed Bethany Steffen - just a few days after he proposed to Jillian Harris on The Bachelorette.

But Harris (either loyal or blissfully ignorant) is sticking by her man.

So is Melissa Rycroft, Jillian's Bachelor competitor and friend. When asked about her pal and her shady fiance, Rycroft told Us Weekly:

"She is doing really well. Her and Ed are happy, and I know she is going to become a U.S. citizen. She's moving to Chicago [where Swiderski lives]."

So, does this mean Melissa thinks Jillian and Ed are bound for the altar?

"I absolutely do," she said. "I know they love each other, and I know they are planning a wedding, and I know she wants to marry him. I hope it works out for them."

The March finale of The Bachelor may have ended in controversy, but all involved have now found happiness.

Jason Mesnick and Molly Malaney continue to go strong; and scorned contestant Melissa Rycroft has officially moved on: she got engaged to boyfriend Tye Strickland last week!

Strickland proposed to the former Dancing With the Stars finalist in Dallas on Friday night, as the couple celebrated with their parents over dinner at a local restaurant.

Rycroft announced the engagement on ABC's Good Morning America this morning, a show on which she's serving as a correspondent this summer.

"Sometimes the stars align and the clouds part and everything works out the way it should," she said, adding on her Twitter page:

"Guess the secret's out... Thank you all so much for being so great and supportive!! We're soooo excited!"

A nationally-televised break-up continues to yield professional results for Melissa Rycroft.

The scorned Bachelor suitor, who was dumped by Jason Mesnick on an ABC special, quickly rebounded with a third-place finish on Dancing with the Stars.

Now, she's joining Good Morning America as a special contributor.

With a gorgeous smile and positive attitude, it's easy to see Rycroft fitting in well with this role. Look for her to appear on the talk show eight times this summer, "bringing lighthearted, uplifting and fun stories to GMA," said a source.

What will Melissa Rycroft miss most about Lil Kim, who was voted off Dancing with the Stars this week?

"Everything!" she told Us Weekly after the show. "She is so sweet, and [the show] brought out a side of her for fans to see that they didn't know. I didn't know how sweet she would be. She had something genuine about her that just made me smile."

Still, the season must go on for Rycroft and the other remaining celebs on Dancing with the Stars.

Click on the pics of each tandem below to a look at their Monday Night performances:

Another week, another celebrity gossip magazine cover for Melissa Rycroft.

In the latest issue of Us Weekly, the Dancing Star said: "I'm a southern girl. You make it fried, I will eat it."

Despite this seemingly unproductive advice, the tabloid promises to reveal the dieting secrets of Rycroft and fellow beauty Julianne Hough. We can save readers the cost of purchasing this trashy publication:

Join a dancing competition that requires hours of daily exercise. Watch the fat burn away!

Come on, celebrity gossip tabloids.

We don't expect a lot from you, but the utter replication of another magazine's cover is just lazy.

A few weeks ago, Us Weekly touted the "revenge" of Melissa Rycroft, as if a spot on Dancing with the Stars somehow affected Jason Mesnick in some heartbreaking manner.

Now, in its latest issue, People is also trumpeting - you guessed it - Rycroft's revenge...

Inside People, Melissa talks about how she deals with grief.

“I go through stages. I will shut down and lock myself in my room. And then I’ll get to the point where I can’t be by myself and I have to be around other people all the time. Otherwise I’ll drive myself nuts crying. I cry it out. Then one day I wake up and go, I’m okay.”

Maybe we can soon feel similarly about the repetitive way the entertainment news industry is covering this story.

Melissa Rycroft has already turned her nationally televised heartbreak into fame, thanks to Dancing with the Stars.

Will she soon turn it into fortune, thanks to Playboy?

According to a new report, the one-time Jason Mesnick finacee has been offered $500,000 to pose in the pages of Hugh Hefner's creation. Says a source:

"Hef really wants Melissa to do a pictorial because she's the ultimate girl next door. He thinks she has it all: beauty, brains and spunk. And it doesn't hurt that she has a terrific figure."

It's hidden here, but Melissa Rycroft does posssess a great body. Should she bare it all in Playboy?

It's been a good week for Melissa Rycroft.

On Monday night, she earned raves from the judges - along with 23 combined points - for her initial performance on Dancing with the Stars.

Days later, the scored Bachelor suitor is an Us Weekly cover girl, speaking happily about the new man in her life. Rycroft says she is dating an insurance agent named Ty.

"We've been really good friends, but the timing was never right," she told the tabloid. "With all this going on, he's my support system. It's funny how things happen."

Melissa Rycroft has a new man. That didn't take long.

Melissa Rycroft failed to find a husband on reality TV.

But the former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader is hoping to replace heartbreak with triumph: People Magazine reports that the jilted Bachelor suitor will take over for injured Nancy O'Dell on the new season of Dancing with the Stars.

Rycroft, of course, was dumped by Jason Mesnick on last week's world-shattering, post-finale After the Final Rose special. She has received nationwide sympathy as a result.

According to an insider close to Dancing with the Stars, Rycroft has had only days to rehearse. She's expected to perform live on tomorrow night's premiere and to be teamed with professional Tony Dovolani.

No word on whether or not Molly Malaney will be backstage in case Dovolani wishes to change partners.