Jason Mesnick and Molly Malaney attend the grand opening of Italian Village and Pirates Island... 
(Dimitrios Kambouris/WireImage for BWR Public Relations)
The last season of "The Bachelor" captivated millions of viewers with its passion, its drama and its endless tears.
For Mesnick, choosing Rycroft in the finale was a heart-wrenching decision.
"How could I be sitting here this hurt?" he asked on the show shortly before proposing. "Today is supposed to be the best day of my life."
For Rycroft, the fairy tale ending lasted only six weeks. "Bachelor" viewers were shocked when Mesnick told Rycroft on the "After the Final Rose" special that the two weren't right for each other.
Minutes later, he said he was still in love with Malaney and asked her for a second chance.
"I haven't been able to stop thinking about you," he said. "My heart hasn't let go."
"This is something I dreamt of but never expected to hear. My feelings never changed for you," a stunned Malaney replied. "To hear you say this, of course, I'm so excited about it. There's a piece of me that's confused.
"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't glad this happened," she added.
Chris Harrison, the host of "The Bachelor," told "Good Morning America" in March that Malaney did not know Mesnick was going to profess his love for her.
"Molly kept looking at me to wonder if this was real. She thought -- she really couldn't assimilate what was going on, and that speaks to the fact she had no idea when she walked on that stage what was going to happen," Harrison said.
Mesnick was criticized for his decision by outspoken fans.
"I feel terrible for [Rycroft], how she, you know, thought that she would be engaged once in her life -- and he took that away from her," one fan said. "That's just devastating."
But Mesnick said he had to follow his heart and told "GMA" that "we've got to leave all that in the past now."
Rycroft, 26, went on to appear on "Dancing With the Stars" and is currently a special contributor for "Good Morning America."
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