Murder suspect Ryan Jenkins stars in VH1’s as-yet-unaired “I Love Money 3,” the production company behind the series, 51 Minds, confirmed to Access Hollywood.
Jenkins has been charged by the Orange County District Attorney with the murder of model Jasmine Fiore – his ex-wife – whose body was found naked in a suitcase over the weekend. Fiore’s teeth and fingers were forcibly removed, according to the The Associated Press – she was identified by the serial numbers on her breast implants, the District Attorney’s Office confirmed to Access on Friday.
Filming on “I Love Money 3” has already been completed, a 51 Minds spokesman confirmed to Access. VH1 did not immediately return calls from Access on whether “I Love Money 3” would be scrapped. However, “Rock of Love’s” Lacey Conner was also set to star in the series – and blogged on Thursday that it had indeed been canceled.
“I Love Money 3 will NOT be airing,” she wrote on her MySpace page. “It’s disappointing for all of us, who were a part of the show, but of course it is also more than understandable.
“I spent quite a bit of time with [Jenkins],” she added. “Had a lot of one-on-one conversations with him, and got to know him quite a bit. I am in complete shock, disbelief, and horror, from the events that have taken place, and that his wife has been murdered.”
Jenkins also starred on the network’s current show “Megan Wants A Millionaire,” which has since been pulled from the airwaves and online – nevertheless, the show has been made available to the authorities.
“The police asked 51 Minds for some tape from his ‘Megan’ appearances. The company has been completely cooperative,” a spokesman from the production company told Access. On whether “I Love Money 3” would air, the spokesman said it was VH1’s call.
The spokesman also noted that Jenkins did not undergo a separate background check for “I Love Money 3” as his background had been checked three months prior, and deemed clean, for “Megan.”
“The company did have in place what it thought was a thorough vetting process that involved complete background checks by an outside company for all contestants on its shows,” the spokesman said. “Clearly, the process did not work properly in this case. 51 Minds is investigating what went wrong and taking steps to ensure that this sort of lapse never occurs again.”
According to The AP, the U.S. Marshals Service has approved a $25,000 reward for information on Jenkins, who is thought to be in his native Canada. Authorities have reportedly started a cross-country air and ground search for him.
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