'The Bachelorette' 2014 contestant Marcus Grodd discusses fellow-contestant Eric Hill's death, saying ABC Networks did a good thing by airing Hill's passing away.
"The Bachelorette" has always had its fair share of drama. However, this year the drama was coupled with tragedy following the death of a contestant on the show - Eric Hill. He passed away in April this year in a paragliding accident. His parachute collapsed and he crashed into a hillside. Though Hill passed away before the show began airing, ABC Networks faced a tough decision on whether to the air the episode about his passing away or not. And finally they did.
The most recent episode of the matrimonial show documented how the other contestants found out about Hill's death and their reaction when host Chris Harrison broke the news to them.
"You all know Eric Hill. He - a couple of days ago - was in Utah paragliding and was in a serious accident. We knew he was hurt bad we just didn't know how bad. We learned this morning that he passed away," Harrison told the remaining contestants.
Recently, fellow contestant Marcus Grodd spoke to International Business Times about Hill's death and his thoughts of the network air the incident.
"I think it was a positive thing for the show to air the passing of Eric Hill," Marcus told IB Times. "He was a good close friend of mine; we had a lot of friends in common in Dallas."
He also said that airing the episode gave fans a chance to see what a great person Hill was and the strong bonds of friendship he built while on the show.
"I think them not showing it is pushing it under the rug and not giving him the respect and the opportunity of him being portrayed on the show as he did," Marcus continued. "I think he did a phenomenal job and it was sad to see him leave; and hearing that news was really devastating. So, it's a great thing that America saw that and saw our reaction and saw the great, great person that Eric Hill was."
The producing network also revealed that this season of "The Bachelorette" featuring Andi Dorfman is dedicated to Hill, who was eliminated from the show in the fourth episode.
In the show's 8th episode (the one brocasting news of Hill's death) Dorfman broke down in tears and said she regretted having "killed him (Hill) out of the show." According to previous reports, Dorfman was offended when Hill told her that he had come to the show to meet a person and not an actress.
