Melissa Rycroft

Melissa Rycroft is a television personality, host and dancer best known for appearing on The Bachelor. Rycroft spent her childhood in Dallas, where studied dance from a young age and later went on to join her high school drill team. She attended the University of Oklahoma before transferring to the University of North Texas, where she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in marketing.

Rycroft began her television career in 2006 when she auditioned for the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders and was featured on CMT’s Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team. She later competed on the 13th season of The Bachelor in 2008, where she became engaged to Jason Mesnick before their relationship ended during the show’s After the Final Rose special. She went on to compete on Dancing With the Stars, finishing third during season 8 before winning the All-Stars season in 2012.

Throughout her career, Rycroft has appeared on Bachelor Pad, Entertainment Tonight and Good Morning America. She has also hosted shows including Redneck Island and Morning Dose. She also cohosts the “Logically Irrational” podcast with her husband, Tye Strickland, and, in 2012, she published the book My Reality.

Rycroft was briefly engaged to Mesnick before their split. She later reunited with Strickland, whom she had met in 2006. They tied the knot in Mexico in December 2009. The couple share three children: Ava Grace (born in 2011), Beckett Thomas (born in 2014) and Cayson Jack (born in 2016).