Bachelorette star: I was drugged and sexually assaulted on show
Former Bachelorette Meredith Phillips has claimed she was drugged and sexually assaulted by the show's female masseuse during the filming of her season.
Meredith, who starred in Season 2 of the reality show in the US in 2004, appeared on the Reality Steve podcast, and alleged that while she was staying in the show's mansion, she was given a mystery pill by a massage therapist.
"I just assumed it was an aspirin or something to loosen up my back…and it definitely wasn’t that, that’s for sure,"
She alleges the last thing she remembers is the masseuse getting into a bathtub naked with her and "rubbing areas she probably shouldn't have,"
"I woke up naked and don't remember much," she admitted.
Meredith says when she confided in another woman working on the show, the woman said that she, too, had been "roofied and in a hot tub and kind of accosted' once during production."
The former reality star claims she never reported the incident because she "wanted to protect the franchise", which she freely admits is "f***d" up.
"I had no control. Zero. I think that was the hardest part for me, that I couldn’t even lift my arms to say no," she added.
ABC and production company Warner Bros. had no comment on the allegations when TVLine reached out for a response.
This is not the first time ht US franchise has been rocked by sexual misconduct allegations.
Last year, allegations of sexual assault surfaced on the Bachelor In Paradise set, which halted production on the summer spinoff. Producers, however, found no evidence of misconduct and continued filming weeks later.
