Most Controversial TV Show: How VH1's 'Megan Wants a Millionaire' enforced background checks on reality stars
After appearing in a string of VH1 reality shows, reality star Megan Hauserman managed to bag her own show in 'Megan Wants a Millionaire'. The reality star was hoping to find her prince charming on her very own reality show. She had 17 wealthy men competing for her love and affection.
When she came across real estate developer Ryan Jenkins on her show, she was instantly smitten. The duo reportedly began seeing each other outside of filming the show. She reassured Jenkins that she would pick him as the winner of the reality dating show. So, when Megan informed the producers of her decision to go with Jenkins as the winner, she was dissuaded by them.
The producers felt that Jenkins wasn't charismatic enough, and pushed her to pick another contestant named TJ Diab as the winner. At that time, Megan was very upset but did as she was told. Looking back, we are sure Megan must be heaving a sigh of relief on escaping the gruesome fate she would have met with had she gone ahead with choosing Jenkins as her man.
Although Megan picked TJ Diab as the winner, she still wasn't over Jenkins. So after the show ended, she reached out to him and checked if he was still interested in seeing her. Jenkins, who came in third on the show, wasn't interested in pursuing her anymore and left her feeling shocked when he revealed he got married to another woman.
Just after the show's filming ended, Jenkins met swimsuit model Jasmine Fiore during a trip to Las Vegas.
The couple got married within 48 hours of meeting each other. Unfortunately, the couple didn't have a happy marriage. 'Megan wants a Millionaire' premiered in August 2009. Within two weeks of its premiere, Fiore's mutilated body was found in a suitcase lying in a dumpster. Her body was so badly mutilated that authorities couldn't identify her.
They traced her identity through the serial number on her implants. The police immediately began suspecting Jenkins in the case. When Megan heard of Jenkins' involvement in the brutal murder of Fiore, she was terrified. She revealed in an interview. "I was terrified he was going to come after me." However, Jenkins couldn't be found anywhere.
A few days later, police authorities discovered Jenkins' body in a motel in Canada. He reportedly died after hanging himself from a clothes-rack by a belt. After Jenkins' connection to Fiore's murder was made public, VJ1 immediately took 'Megan Wants a Millionaire' off the air, after just airing three episodes of the reality show. VH1 and the showrunners came under fire for poor background checks carried out on the contestants after it was discovered that Jenkins already had a criminal record prior to his participation on the reality show.
Ever since the debacle with 'Megan Wants a Millionaire', reality shows have become a lot more stringent about the background checks of their stars and began following a very extensive and elaborate process of vetting the people appearing on the show.
