'Bachelor' denies finale fix claims

The Bachelor creator Mike Fleiss has denied claims that the finale of this year's series was fixed.

The episode, which screened in the US on Monday, caused uproar among fans of the show after star Jason Mesnick dumped contestant Melissa on camera.

Mesnick then expressed his love for runner-up contestant Molly, a move which fans believed to have been staged.

Mike Fleiss denied a fix, calling Mesnick's move "a true change of heart". He told The Hollywood Reporter: "It's patently untrue. Also, these guys aren’t good enough actors. If they’re actors, they're the best actors on television.

"The only reason we felt compelled to put that on television was because it was the first time the change of heart involved the other person on the show. Usually when that happens, it's for other reasons, or involving somebody else. This time the change of heart was in the world of The Bachelor."