Did Melana Scantlin, the bachelorette at the center of NBC's new Average Joe series that features sixteen guys with great hearts, but admittedly average looks competing for the heart of a beautiful woman, really take the twist as well as NBC would have the public believe? Apparently not.

ADVERTISEMENT
According to the Daily News, after first sighting the sixteen men, Scantlin turned off camera and suggested that she'd being duped by the show's producers. Later, according to the New York Post, Scantlin ran off into the desert before regaining her composure and returning to the Palm Springs mansion where the show was filmed.

In an interview with the Post, Stuart Krasnow, the show's executive producer wouldn't confirm that the stories of Scantlin's reactions, but he didn't deny it either. "I would not want to repeat that evening," said Krasnow. While Scantlin did decide to stick the program out for the duration, according to Krasnow, the producers were so unsure of what her initial reaction was going to be that they had a back-up girl (perhaps the star of the already filmed sequel) on stand-by... and waiting in the garage. "We were so nervous that Melana would potentially run away that as we taped the show we had a back-up girl booked - who we kept in full hair and makeup, and a beautiful dress - ready to go right in and replace [Melana] if need be" Krasnow explained.

And regarding her decision to stick with the series, in an interview with the Boston Herald, Krasnow seemed to imply that Scantlin, who according to Kransow was only told that she was "coming on a show where she was going to meet some wonderful, desirable men" might have made her decision with something other than 100% pure sincerity in mind. "Reality hits," Krasnow said. "If you run off, you look worse. So she sort of dealt with what was handed to her."