Former 'Bachelorette' Meredith Phillips Alleges She Was Sexually Assaulted by a Masseuse While on the Show
Former Bachelorette Meredith Phillips claims she was drugged and sexually assaulted by a masseuse while the show was in production in 2003.
The reality star, who was the season two Bachelorette in 2004, made the allegations during Reality Steve's latest podcast.
About midway through the podcast, host Steve Carbone asks, "What's the hardest thing you had to deal with being the Bachelorette?" After a long pause, Phillips claims that she was roofied by a masseuse that was hired by a producer to come to her bedroom and give her a massage.
"Well, besides being always really tired and some of the producers were, how do I say this, helpful but not helpful. In terms of trying to make me relax. Normally, I wouldn't really talk about this, but I'm going to tell you because it's bothered me for years," she says.
"[I was roofied] by a masseuse that a producer hired, to come into my room and give me a massage," Phillips alleges. "And she said, 'OK, I'm going to give you a pill.' And I'm like, 'OK.' I just assumed it was like an aspirin or something to loosen my back or Tylenol, or something. And it definitely wasn't that, that's for sure."
Phillips continued on, claiming that the last thing she remembered was being in the tub with the masseuse.
"She got naked and she was in the tub with me and rubbing my back and rubbing areas that probably she shouldn't have," she claims. "And then I was put in bed. I woke up naked. I don't remember much. I wasn't even drinking so, yeah."
Phillips alleges that she remembered "everything until a certain point."
"When the pill kicked in, I literally couldn't even move my body, so I have no idea what the pill was at all. But all I know was, I was told, 'This will make you feel better,'" she claims. "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."
Phillips says that she didn't tell the producer (or anyone) about what allegedly happened at the time because it felt "weird."
"I didn't speak of it until later, because I felt that it was really weird at the time and I felt violated," she claims. "So, I didn't know what to say or how to say it. I mean, how do you bring that up? That's just weird. And the other crew didn't know that this masseuse was coming in to give me a massage, you know? So most people didn't know."
Phillips told Carbone that she kept the allegations to herself for a long time.
"I have kinda held it in for a long time, because in a weird way, I wanted to protect the franchise, which is f**ked up," she claims. "Because of all the people that I got along with, the producers, for the most part. This one producer that -- I mean, I can't stand up to that. I'm just the talent at this point, so."
Phillips did not reveal the name of her alleged perpetrator in the podcast. Carbone also noted that about "50 seconds to a minute" of the podcast was edited to remove people's names to protect their privacy.
ET reached out to both ABC and Warner Bros., who had no comment.
Last August, Bachelor in Paradise was temporarily halted due to allegations of sexual misconduct. For more on that, watch the video below.
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