Melissa Katherine Rycroft-Strickland (born March 11, 1983), from Dallas, Texas, is a reality television contestant and former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader. She was a drill team officer at Newman Smith High School in Carrollton, Texas where she graduated in 2001. She participated as a contestant on the thirteenth season of ABC's The Bachelor, on the CMT reality TV series Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team and on the eighth and fifteenth seasons of ABC's Dancing with the Stars. Rycroft was named to People magazine's list of World's Most Beautiful People 2009 and was also named as #99 on Maxim's list of "Hot 100 of 2009".

Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team

Rycroft was one of the more popular contestants during the first season of the CMT reality TV series Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team. As the first season concluded, Rycroft was selected as one of the 35 Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders (DCC) for the 2006 NFL season. Rycroft remained on the DCC squad through the 2007 NFL season.

The Bachelor

Rycroft appeared on the 13th season of The Bachelor as one of the 25 bachelorettes vying for the heart of The Bachelor, Jason Mesnick. In the season finale, Mesnick chose Rycroft over runner-up, Molly Malaney, and proposed to her. Rycroft said yes. But following the episode, ABC aired the After the Final Rose (Part One) episode, which was taped six weeks after the season finale episode, and it was then that Mesnick revealed that he was breaking up with Rycroft, stating that he was still in love with Molly Malaney.

Dancing with the Stars

Rycroft took the place of then-Access Hollywood host Nancy O'Dell on the eighth season of Dancing with the Stars after O'Dell withdrew from the competition due to an injury sustained during pre-season practice. Rycroft was partnered with professional dancer Tony Dovolani, and competed on the season premiere episode having only practiced for two days, the shortest amount of practice time for any contestant in the show's history. Despite this, she tied for second place for week one's performances. On May 19, 2009, Rycroft finished third on the Dancing with the Stars finale.

Rycroft returned to the show in its fifteenth season as one of the "All-Stars" contestants. She was partnered with Tony Dovolani, her partner from season 8. This time, Rycroft and Dovolani became the season champions on the November 27, 2012 results show.

Other shows

Rycroft joined Good Morning America as a contributor throughout summer 2009. She also was a co-host on ABC's Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve on December 31, 2009, and did features for Entertainment Tonight and The Insider.

Rycroft and Chris Harrison co-hosted season one of the ABC reality show Bachelor Pad, which began airing August 9, 2010. Her CMT reality show Melissa & Tye, made under the working title, Melissa and Tye: A New Reality, follows Rycroft moving to Los Angeles to pursue her Hollywood career while managing a long-distance relationship with her husband, Tye Strickland.

Personal life

Rycroft was previously engaged to Jason Mesnick, whom she met on The Bachelor. They ended their relationship after Mesnick admitted to still having feelings for runner-up, Molly Malaney. Rycroft then began dating Tye Strickland, whom she had dated on and off for two years. In June 2009 she announced via Twitter that she and Strickland were engaged. They married on December 12, 2009, in Mexico.

On October 20, 2010, Rycroft announced on CBS's The Talk that she was pregnant and was having a baby girl. On February 16, 2011, she gave birth to the couple's first child, daughter Ava Grace Strickland.

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