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The Bachelor franchise has faced its most eventful season yet—before it even had a chance to hit the screens.
On the heels of a whirlwind of controversy and unfortunate circumstances, ABC has chosen to cancel the airing of Taylor Frankie Paul’s contentious Bachelorette Season 22. The premiere was originally scheduled for Sunday, March 22.
“In response to the recently surfaced video today, we’ve decided not to proceed with the upcoming season of The Bachelorette at this time. Our priority is to support the family,” stated a spokesperson from Disney Entertainment Television in a message to DECIDER on Thursday.
This move comes after a week of mounting pressure from fans of the Bachelor series and followers of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, urging ABC to halt the season. The uproar was fueled by revelations of Paul’s involvement in a domestic violence incident, which reportedly disrupted filming for Season 5 of Secret Lives of Mormon Wives. Previously, Paul had been arrested in 2023 on similar charges, which she claimed on a Call Her Daddy podcast appearance had been dismissed. However, on March 19, TMZ released a video of the incident, recorded by Paul’s former partner Dakota Mortensen, intensifying the predicament faced by The Bachelorette.
Following the leak, Paul’s representative issued a statement to Entertainment Weekly, expressing, “It’s disheartening to witness this latest chapter in his relentless, attention-seeking, and destructive efforts to damage Taylor, with no regard for their child. Releasing an outdated video, devoid of context, on their son’s birthday, is a deplorable attempt to deflect from his own actions. Fortunately, the public has seen these tactics before and understands his motives. Sadly, many will recognize this pattern of manipulation, both from his behavior on the show and from personal experiences.”
As DECIDER’s Secret Lives of Mormon Wives expert Sam Nungesser noted in another piece, “While the video is new, fans of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives and the general public have known about the incident since the show’s debut season, which included police body-cam footage from the night of the arrest. At the time, Paul claimed to police that Mortensen had thrown her to the ground before he started recording the video. Still, the two reconciled and, in March 2024, Paul gave birth to their son, Ever. The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives has since documented their turbulent co-parenting relationship, with Mortensen repeatedly getting caught for lying, cheating, and riling Paul up by sleeping with other women within their community.”
In the days leading up to ABC’s decision, franchise alum like Sydney Warren publicly questioned the “morals and values” of The Bachelorette, Bachelor Nation’s go-to spoiler Reality Steve called for Paul to get professional help, and fans of the franchise urged the network to pull the plug and take the loss. While the domestic violence incidents are dominating the new cycle, DECIDER explained why the issues with Paul as lead ran far deeper than her premiere week news cycle. The Bachelorette Season 22 was doomed from the start, because Paul was cast for the wrong reasons.
With considerable chaos to work through in her own life, a toxic situationship with Mortensen, and complex unresolved feelings, Paul shouldn’t have accepted The Bachelorette offer. But at the end of the day, she’s a person who was offered an incredible opportunity, and she’s not solely to blame. She’s not the only contributor to her toxic relationship, nor should she shoulder all of this scrutiny herself, because she shouldn’t have been offered the gig in the first place. The reality is, Paul was cast, in part, because of her controversies and past. The franchise purposefully chose her to give Season 22 an edge and shake things up, and the team wanted so badly for Bachelor Nation to be onboard with the unconventional casting that they even assembled Bachelorette leads past to lift her up in a post-Oscars special.
In recent seasons, the Bachelor franchise has come under fire for epically failing Bachelorette Jen Trann in her disastrous finale, casting several Golden Bachelorette contestants with orders of protection filed against them, proudly championing a Golden Guy who said he didn’t want to date women over 60, and so much more. The Bachelorette Season 22’s nightmarish, downright irresponsible saga is yet another disturbing reminder that the franchise has no problem putting its leads in precarious positions and setting stars up for failure in pursuit of shock value and ratings. But this time, the backlash was too big to ignore.
For years, Bachelor Nation has been begging for the franchise to aspire to higher standards in vetting, casting, diversity, and accountability departments. And they’re tired of repeatedly getting let down. While many believe that pulling the season was the right thing to do, Paul never should have been put in this situation to begin with and the franchise’s most dramatic season ever may prove to be the final nail in its coffin.
Stay tuned for more Bachelorette Season 22 updates from DECIDER.