This comes after The Bachelorette, season four - a spin-off of The Bachelor - let the cat out the bag by screening a snippet of the The Bachelor finale, much to the disappointment of its die-hard fans.

The snippet, aired on September 4 on The Bachelorette, showed fans the finale of The Bachelor, seasons 11 and 12, which was meant to be aired soon after.

The Bachelor season 12 is currently being aired on Fridays at 8pm on the Series channel.

Several irate viewers called into Mark Pilgrim's show on Highveld Stereo on Saturday to complain about the mishap.

One fan vented his spleen on the M-Net website: "Wake up guys - the outcome of season 12 has also been revealed - on the final of The Bachelorette - after the rose programme - they featured this guy from season 11 and the girl he became engaged to on the series - they have also been on The Ellen Show - so we already know it all.

"You guys should screen things better at M-Net. However, being a die-hard fan, I will watch anyway, although the outcome is ruined for me."

The dating show, which has been on air since 2004 on M-Net Series, hosted by Chris Harrison, revolves around a bachelor who chooses a potential wife from 25 women.

He wines and dines them in the hopes of finding his perfect match to propose marriage to on the last episode of the show.

Now M-Net has changed the scheduling of the show and is showing season 12 instead.

M-Net must also consider rescheduling season 12.

M-Net Series channel manager Khosi Khanyile said the error had occurred because the broadcaster did not know that the revelation would be made in The Bachelorette.

"The Bachelor has such a loyal audience and we want to apologise to all the viewers following the storyline from episode to episode.

"We apologise profusely to our audience that had watched The Bachelorette when they gave away the season 11 and 12 finales.

"Those who still want to see the dropped season 11 of The Bachelor will be able to watch it as an omnibus over the December holidays," she said.