The Bachelor

Lex McAllister, a contestant on one of the most popular seasons of "The Bachelor" is dead, and authorities and her family believes it's a suicide ... TMZ has learned.

Lex appeared on season 14 of the show with Jake Pavelka ... she was eliminated after the first week. Lex made waves when she spoke out about Jake's breakup with Vienna Girardi (the season's winner), saying Girardi was not at fault.

Law enforcement sources in Columbus, Ohio tell us they received a 911 call Saturday at around 2 PM ... the caller stated Lex had texted her earlier that day saying she wanted to "end her life" and when the caller went to check on her it appeared Lex had OD'd on prescription pills.

She was taken to a hospital in stable condition but, according to her family, her body started to shut down. The family withdrew life support and Lex died Tuesday morning.

A member of Lex's family tells us, she struggled with depression and bipolar disorder.

Gia Allemand, who was also a contestant on Lex's season of the show, committed suicide in 2013 by hanging.

When "The Bachelor" contestants hooked up with some famous pigs in the Bahamas, the pigs got the short end of the stick ... according to our swine sources.

If you missed it Monday night, Ben and his chicks hit the Bahamian island of Exuma ... where pigs roam the beach and swim with tourists, usually quite peacefully. But some of the hogs had beef with the ladies, got aggressive, and sent the ladies squealing and running. Pretty funny stuff.

Now the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism is defending its swine, saying they only got ornery because they picked up on the contestants' bad attitudes. Pigs are more sensitive than ya think, according to tourism officials.

Important to note ... no one, human or pig, was injured and most of the girls just played "damsel in distress" -- which got Ben's attention.

'Bachelor' favorite Lauren B.'s mystery ring is either a Cracker Jack prize or the most embarrassing engagement ring in history ... according to Chris Harrison.

"The Bachelor" host could barely contain his laughter outside Staples Center Tuesday night when we asked about the ring that had fans thinking Lauren was the winner. Chris calls us out for missing the obvious sign Ben didn't put that thing on Lauren's hand.

Watch, he also jabs our photog pretty good for filling out a Bachelor bracket. Which is totally deserved.

'Bachelor' Ben Higgins celebrated the first day of Black History Month by booting the only black contestant left from the show.

Poor Jubilee Sharpe was rose-challenged on Monday night's show, leaving in tears.

Jubilee got her walking papers when Ben told her during a group date he just wasn't into her and then sent her packing.

Maybe he judged her on the content of her character.

'Bachelor' favorite Lauren Bushnell looks like a taken woman, judging from the ring on her finger, but there's less here than meets the eye.

The photo surfaced Tuesday -- Lauren wearing what looks like an engagement ring -- and it caused a ****storm thanks to her friend who posted the pic on Instagram.

Could it be ... Ben not only picked her but popped the question?

No.

The photo was taken in September, 2 months BEFORE Ben picked the woman of his dreams. There's no way she was married during the competition, or even engaged, because it would mean the show was a sham and that would be a PR disaster for producers.

So the takeaway is this ... a rose by any other name may be a rose, but a ring on the left ring finger is not always an engagement ring.

Just because Chris Soules didn't score a wife on "The Bachelor" ... doesn't mean he's searching for one on FarmersOnly.com -- according to a lawsuit he just filed.

Chris says a TV and web commercial for the site -- where farmers "don't have to be lonely" -- used his "persona" without his permission. The spot claimed Chris needed the site's help in the romance department because "he picked a city girl" while he was on a TV show.

Soules picked Whitney Bischoff on 'Bachelor,' but they famously broke up after a 6 month engagement.

Here's the odd thing ... the FarmersOnly ad never actually shows Chris' face, or says his name -- it's just a silhouette of a cowboy over the Hollywood sign, while a spokesman talks about the cowboy's love problems.

But as Chris says in his lawsuit ... he's "one of the most famous celebrities in the United States" -- so he and his attorneys think he's the lonely cowboy in the FarmersOnly ad.

Chris wants all the money the site made off "his" commercial, plus damages.

'Bachelor' contestant Lauren Bushnell still has a ways to go to the final rose, but she's a total winner in a bikini.

Lauren B. hit the beach in Cabo San Lucas with her family.

There are still 17 ladies left in the 'Bachelor' house this season -- and Lauren, a flight attendant, is definitely a frontrunner ... with fans, anyway. There are even rumors she won the whole thing.

Lauren's next one-on-one date with Ben H. better require a bikini! For her, not him.

Kris Jenner has been out of the dating game so long, the term "single" confounds her.

Kris was on "Bachelor Live" Monday night with Chris Harrison and Chris Soules and she talked about being single with 4 kids back in the day. Harrison asked her if she's single now, and she said "yes."

But our Jenner sources say she's still solid with Corey Gamble. In fact, the 2 were out together Monday night at Craig's in WeHo.

And speaking of being out at Craig's ... our Jenner sources say the fur is fox ... an '80s vintage Dior.

Cue PETA posting videos on how fur coats are made.

'Bachelorette' star Ben Z is more concerned about his rock hard bod than a follow-up run on "The Bachelor."

Ben surfaced this weekend in San Francisco where he competed in his first bodybuilding competition. He didn't win, but more importantly he didn't finish in last place ... ultimately coming in 8th out of 15.

Ben tells us he's 210 lbs now ... down 90 lbs from his days as a linebacker playing college football, which is when that "before" pic was taken. He claims he's leaned out naturally with diet and exercise -- sans steroids or testosterone boosters.

Many thought since he was last season's resident hardbodied badass ... he'd be a shoe-in for "The Bachelor." He tells us producers approached him but he didn't get back in time with his answer.

Spending too much time in the gym, Ben?

Kris Jenner was all smiles a day after cancelling a promised appearance on "Bachelor in Paradise: After Paradise" because of what she said was a blown-up lip.

Kris hit up Nobu in Malibu Tuesday night and there wasn't a trace of lip 911. A day before, she cancelled her Monday night appearance on the show, saying she had a huge, swollen lip from some sort of insect bite and therefore couldn't appear on TV. She compared it to "a tire on my face."

On Tuesday, the tire was flat.

What's weird is on Sunday Kris went to the VMAs, and her lip looked completely normal -- so the insect bite must have happened sometime after that.

Big bugs out there in Calabasas.

"Bachelor In Paradise" star Ashley Iaconetti did not serve Jared anything with a cherry on top -- not her's anyway, because Monday's episode was just a tease, or at least that's her story.

TMZ has learned Ashley I.'s telling friends ... producers fed her those lines about possibly losing her famous virginity. If you missed it, Ashley's chastity seemed up for grabs when she drunkenly slurred that she dug Jared enough to give it up to him.

Sources close to Ashley say she knows virginity is the thing that's made her famous, so she'd never blow it on a one-night stand.

We're told she's holding out for Mr. Right -- who, as we all know, rarely pops up on reality shows.

Being on "The Bachelor" doesn’t have the type of pull you’d think … because it couldn’t even get a contestant to the front of the line to meet Kim Kardashian.

Ashley Iaconetti, better known as the show’s hypersensitive virgin, was staying at an L.A. hotel when she heard her idol was doing a meet and greet at a nearby DASH store. She put on heels and a “I’m A Kim” t-shirt – not at all creepy – and spent 2 hours waiting in line like everybody else … to no avail.

Ashley tells us she was still 50 people away when Kim jetted out the back door.

Might be for the best … Iaconetti has visibly changed her appearance to look like Kim over the years, but swears it’s mostly due to losing weight and adding makeup. Her obsession even earned her the nickname Kardashley on "The Bachelor."

A contestant on "Bachelor In Paradise" is calling out producers for making him look like a raging drug addict.

Joshua Albers tells TMZ, the story he told on Sunday’s episode about an LA club that sells $30 coconuts filled with Molly is not what it seems. He says he was just relaying what a crew member told him, but says the editing makes it look like the story was all about him.

Albers admits, he’s tried Molly once. He was so taken aback by the way he was portrayed on the show he called his parents, fearing their reaction.

He tells TMZ, "It wasn't too bad because they know the effect of editing. ... Plus, they know that if it was as big a deal as they made it out to be, there would have certainly been footage of JJ (another cast member) running his mouth about it."

Albers continues, saying his parents trust his word over that of the TV show -- "They know their baby boy better than that."

Juan Pablo was up to no good in Vegas -- at least that's the way it seemed --- cavorting with a soon-to-be bride until all hours of the morning.

The most hated bachelor ever on "The Bachelor" was prowling around The Bank Nightclub at the Bellagio last Saturday, when he spotted a bachelorette party ... not the show, just random chicks.

Juan was like a heat-seeking missile, zeroing in on the bride, taking her on the dance floor where he got all handsy and grindy.

But Juan wasn't done. He invited the entire party to his table, but they all declined ... except the bride. We're told the 2 of them drank and danced until 4 AM.

'Bachelor' star Chris Soules is suddenly single, and a lot more marketable ... at least to one venue, which is fully taking advantage of his breakup with Whitney Bischoff.

As all of Bachnation knows ... Chris and Whitney ended their engagement Thursday -- and the folks at iPlay America (an indoor theme park in NJ) immediately reacted by relabeling him the "The Ultimate Bachelor" on all its promos.

Soules is the main attraction June 13 at iPlay, and previously the park was simply billing him as a 'Bachelor' star and "Dancing With the Stars" contestant.

"The Bachelor" star Chris Soules is definitely no 40-year-old virgin ... but he did a damn good impression by getting his chest hair torn out for his next performance on "Dancing With the Stars."

We're told Chris will be channeling Hercules in the dance number, and his partner Witney Carson suggested he clean up that Soules Patch ... of course, she volunteered to wax on, wax off.

We're told he'll wear a skirt to show off his man-gams, and nothing above to showcase his new, smooth chest. We doubt fiancee Whitney Bischoff will complain.