WES AND THE MEN TELL ALL

Craig Sjodin
ABC

Austin reality star fights to clear name

Hayden denies that he had a girlfriend at the time he appeared on 'The Bachelorette.'

By Claudia Grisales, http://www.austin360.com/tv/content/tv/stories/2009/07/ABC-Bachlorette-Diss.html

When ABC airs the "Men Tell All" episode for "The Bachelorette" tonight, one of its more notorious contestants will be conspicuously missing: Austinite Wes Hayden.

Hayden was portrayed as a ruthless player who wasn't on the show to find love, but instead had a secret girlfriend and a larger motive to promote his singing career.

Now Hayden says he's on a mission to clear his name. He is denying that he had a girlfriend while taping the show, and he says he's a victim of creative editing.

"I signed a contract with them, so I knew they could portray my character any way they saw fit," Hayden said. "But they have totally slandered me and taken my words and put them out of context. They cut, they paste, they left vital sentences out."

Hayden's public fight is another in a series of behind-the-scenes controversies that have recently plagued the 7-year-old "Bachelor" and "Bachelorette" series, which each season feature dozens of contestants fighting to win the heart of one designated man or woman. The shows have resulted in one marriage (in 2003) in a combined 17 past seasons — 13 for the "Bachelor," and four for the "Bachelorette."

Now, some claim the show has gone too far in its portrayal of unfolding romances, with producers playing a heavy hand to inject drama.

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