"Megan Wants a Millionaire" was killer TV (litterally). Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re delving into the crime that rocked the VH1 reality world.
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00:00You mad at me? Yes. I can see that.
00:03Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're delving into the crime that rocked the VH1 reality world.
00:09It was devastating, I think, for everyone in the industry when that happened,
00:13because I think a lot of companies had to look at how they were doing business.
00:18Reality TV and safety.
00:20I'm nervous, I'm excited, but most of all, I'm ready.
00:25With the rise of reality television, background checks,
00:28and the vetting of contestants' personal lives has not only become easier,
00:31it's nothing short of a necessity.
00:33Every now and then, though, someone slips through the cracks,
00:36like The Dating Game's Rodney Alcala.
00:39Everything was sexy in the 70s, so we pushed the envelope.
00:44The best time is at night, at nighttime, when it really gets good.
00:48Megan Wants a Millionaire contestant Ryan Jenkins was another such example.
00:52I typically date girls that turn a lot of heads. I love the chase.
00:56His horrendous act of violence culminated in a crime that ended two lives
01:00and stopped a lucrative, ever-expanding reality show phenomenon in its tracks.
01:05It also served as a lesson to producers to double down on background checks,
01:09ensuring the safety of all involved on a production.
01:14Ryan?
01:16Sorry, what was the question?
01:18The celeb reality phenomenon.
01:21Billy? Mr. Idol, sir?
01:25I don't think he's coming.
01:27By 2009, VH1 had followed sister network MTV's lead
01:31and successfully pivoted from music channel to unscripted juggernaut.
01:35Its controversial celeb reality lineup, cemented by shows like The Surreal Life,
01:40reignited several celebrities' careers and created stars of its own.
01:44That is ridiculous.
01:46Thank you. I appreciate the compliment.
01:49The unforgettable Tiffany New York Pollard received her own dating show
01:53when public enemy hype man Flavor Flav broke her heart on Flavor of Love.
01:57I Love New York proved the network could poach its own growing stable of participants
02:02and turn them into bona fide reality stars.
02:04With Megan Wants a Millionaire, VH1 was hoping to continue that success.
02:08These 17 unique millionaires answered the call, ready to take their best shot.
02:14No! Megan, no!
02:17And Megan had no idea what would unfold.
02:20Megan Finds a Millionaire
02:22Giving the unapologetic Megan Hauserman her own franchise was a no-brainer.
02:27Her runs on Rock of Love and other spinoffs generated enough drama to sustain the entire
02:32network. Megan Wants a Millionaire would follow her quest to find the perfect man.
02:37Think with your heart. Think with your brain.
02:41I'm gonna do my best.
02:42Okay.
02:43As the title suggests, one particular criterion includes
02:46a potential partner having the funds to make her a trophy wife.
02:49Production took place in early 2009, with 17 men vying for Hauserman's heart.
02:54Of the potential suitors, Hauserman found a clear favorite.
02:58Ryan, please come here.
03:00Excuse me, guys.
03:04It's good of you to choose me first.
03:06Canadian Ryan Jenkins was confident, charming, handsome, and their chemistry was off the charts.
03:11The producers cautioned Hauserman against choosing Jenkins in the end.
03:15Apparently, he was not what he appeared to be.
03:18No one had any idea just how right they were.
03:21I'm looking for honesty, and all Ryan's doing is avoiding my question.
03:25Not a good question to be avoiding.
03:27What the background check missed.
03:29I'm a freelance casting director. We have nothing to do with the background checks now,
03:33I assume, because I've been on a reality show myself,
03:36and I know they did do a background check on me. My assumption would be that there was
03:40a natural vetting process in order, but I'm not speaking as a representative for the show.
03:44Ryan Jenkins was born to a life of privilege in Canada,
03:47where he attended private school and then entered into a lucrative career in real estate.
03:52While his friends, family, and even an ex-girlfriend would eventually paint a glowing
03:56portrait of him, his record had one glaring red flag that should have disqualified him from the
04:01limelight.
04:02Control yourself and not get physical with me.
04:05I'm not going to get physical.
04:06Because that would not turn out well for you.
04:09In 2005, he was convicted for an assault on another ex-girlfriend.
04:13Jenkins was put on probation in order to seek treatment for anger issues as a result.
04:18However, Jenkins' conviction was somehow overlooked by the company
04:21conducting background checks for Megan Wants a Millionaire.
04:24His father had his arrest expunged, so it wasn't easily found when they did the background check.
04:32The suave bachelor.
04:33Hello, Megan.
04:34Look, we're matching already.
04:36We are matching. Have you met any Canadians before?
04:39Never.
04:39Well, it's about time, don't you think?
04:40In the show's series premiere, one of only three episodes that made it to air,
04:45Ryan Jenkins is identified as the smooth operator.
04:48He portrays himself as a cheeky but genuine guy,
04:51winning Hauserman over by promising not to make her sign a prenuptial agreement.
04:55Ah, the two most romantic words in the English language. No prenup.
05:01Bravo, Ryan. Well done.
05:04Even though she suspected his reported net worth of $2.5 million was a lie,
05:08Hauserman admitted she wanted him to win the season.
05:11For the sake of the storyline, she followed producer advice to eliminate him ahead of the
05:15finals, but planned to make amends once the show aired.
05:19She even thought she might reconnect with him once the cameras were down.
05:23So I just thought that I would just call him in like three days and explain to him the situation.
05:28But then he called me and told me he had met the love of his life in Vegas
05:32and that they were married.
05:34Enter Jasmine Fiore.
05:36After losing the show, Jenkins apparently bounced back fast.
05:40Ryan thought that if he couldn't be married to me,
05:44he would find another Playboy model to be married to.
05:46Mere weeks after Hauserman eliminated him,
05:49he met and married model Jasmine Fiore in a quick Las Vegas wedding.
05:53And we do mean quick. The two were married just two days after first meeting each other.
05:58Still, Jenkins told Hauserman on a phone call that in his new bride, he had found his true soulmate.
06:03He asked her for her phone number. She put her phone number in his phone,
06:09and under the contact, she put her birthday.
06:11When he looked at the phone, he saw that it was also his birthday.
06:16They shared the same birthday. And he thought that that was a sign.
06:20Behind the scenes, though, the trouble began almost immediately.
06:23Jenkins' jealousy was a constant problem in their brief marriage.
06:27According to Fiore's friends and exes,
06:29Jenkins was challenged by his new wife's previous relationships with men.
06:33One of the couple's fights saw Jenkins charged with domestic violence in June of 2009.
06:38But it was insisted in at least one social media post that their life together was happy.
06:43Honestly, the only time I had ever seen them fight, it was a money situation or
06:48the credit card got declined at dinner. And, you know, it kind of makes you feel like something.
06:55Did you ever think it would escalate to this, though?
06:57It all falls apart.
06:59In June 2009, Megan Wants a Millionaire had yet to air,
07:03and the ink was barely dry on the marriage license when
07:05Ryan Jenkins signed onto season three of I Love Money.
07:08I told him, leave Jasmine and get some space from her and just go get away from everything.
07:15Featuring several celeb reality contestants vying for $250,000,
07:20Jenkins joined the show in order to fund a life of luxury for his new wife.
07:24But his jealousy and paranoia plagued him for the entire two-month shoot in Mexico.
07:29On July 27th, Jenkins sends this plaintive email to Jasmine.
07:35I want you back. I'm going to do better. I can't live without you. I need you.
07:40A former executive producer on the show recalled that Jenkins hounded Fiore by phone the whole
07:45time, accusing her of cheating on him. Unfortunately, his suspicions ended up being
07:50true. Jenkins did end up winning I Love Money's grand prize, but the season would never air.
07:56And we couldn't talk about it. We had a gag order. They sent out emails. They let us know
07:59we couldn't say anything. We couldn't talk about it for a while.
08:02A grisly discovery.
08:04Once Jenkins returned from filming I Love Money, it became clear that Fiore had reconnected with
08:09an ex-boyfriend, and some friends suggested she was preparing to leave her husband.
08:13Jasmine dyed her hair. She just wanted to become a different person.
08:19And she was actively trying to get their marriage annulled.
08:24Jenkins and Fiore were last spotted together at a nightclub on August 14,
08:282009. Early the following morning, Jenkins returned to their hotel alone.
08:34I realized something happened. From the time they left where the poker tournament was,
08:38to the time we next see him running to his hotel room, he looks panicked and in a rush.
08:43That evening, he reported Fiore missing, possibly unaware that her remains had
08:47already been discovered. It took authorities three days to identify her. By then,
08:52Jenkins was already plotting to make his escape to Canada.
08:56Next time we see Ryan is at 6.24 a.m., and he's leaving the room
09:00with what looks like his clothing in his arms, stacked up.
09:04The manhunt.
09:05Let me just say that this past while has been a surreal existence for our entire family,
09:11and that none of the events fits the Ryan that we knew and dearly loved.
09:16Although Jenkins' loved ones insisted he had nothing to do with the crime,
09:20the evidence told a different story. When Jenkins was formally charged with
09:24first-degree murder on August 20, he had already fled north.
09:28Jenkins was last identified Wednesday, leaving his water ski boat in Point Roberts, Washington,
09:34and was assumed to have crossed into his native Canada.
09:37Evading border patrol agents and an international manhunt,
09:40Ryan Jenkins eventually made it to Hope, British Columbia. There, he was assisted by his half-sister,
09:46who paid for his three-night stay at the Thunderbird Motel. On August 23,
09:50when no one from the room checked out, Jenkins was discovered to have taken his own life.
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10:25The Shocking Reality
10:36The tragic circumstances surrounding Jasmine Fiore's death had a lasting impact not just
10:40on those who knew her, but on the kinds of shows that made her murderer famous.
10:44The H1 cancelled Megan Wants a Millionaire after three episodes had aired, and shelved
10:49Season 3 of I Love Money, which had been scheduled to hit TV screens in January of 2010.
10:54The network then went even further. They cancelled many of their celeb reality shows,
10:59even those that had already been given the green light.
11:11Reflecting on the situation years later,
11:20Megan Hauserman says that it effectively ended her career in the spotlight.
11:24But the bigger headline has to be just how close she came to falling in love with a murderer.
11:35Did you watch Megan Wants a Millionaire as it aired? Let us know in the comments below.
11:40And as always, thanks for watching.