Taylor Frankie Paul's Bachelorette Season May Still Air, Reportedly

The Bachelorette was set to break major Bachelor Nation tradition with Season 22, and in some ways, it did. For the first time, the woman handing out roses was not going to be someone who was previously on The Bachelor. But she wasn’t entering the mansion without any reality TV experience. Quite the contrary — this season’s leading lady was set to be Taylor Frankie Paul, whose love life had been thoroughly explored on four seasons of Hulu’s The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives. But in an unexpected twist, Paul won’t get to hand out her roses after all — at least, not yet.

In all previous 21 seasons of The Bachelorette, the star had been plucked from a prior season of The Bachelor. However, ABC changed things up this time around by broadening its pool to include its sister streaming service Hulu.

Paul’s casting came after the second season of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives confirmed that she had ended her relationship with Dakota Mortensen. Shortly after the season aired, Paul posted a TikTok jokingly auditioning for The Bachelorette. During her Sept. 10 appearance on Call Her Daddy, where she announced her new role, Paul admitted she isn’t sure if the tongue-in-cheek TikTok played a part in her casting.

“I don't know if that got their attention,” Paul said. “It was mainly a joke to me.”

However, the manifestation didn’t exactly pan out how Paul planned. Just three days before her season premiere, ABC decided to pull the whole season from air. The reason for the abrupt cancelation were newly reported assault charges between Paul and her ex Dakota Mortensen, as well as a resurfaced 2023 video of one of their fights.

With Season 22 now being Bachelor Nation’s first official missing season, here’s everything that led up to this unique situation.

The Cancelation Was Sudden

On March 19, a Disney Entertainment Television spokesperson announced that Paul’s season was being shelved, even though it had already been filmed.

“In light of the newly released video just surfaced today, we have made the decision to not move forward with the new season of The Bachelorette at this time, and our focus is on supporting the family,” the statement read, per The Hollywood Reporter.

Taylor Released A Statement

Following ABC’s decision, a spokesperson for Paul addressed the scrapped Bachelorette season in a statement obtained by People. "Taylor is very grateful for ABC’s support as she prioritizes her family’s safety and security,” the statement read. “After years of silently suffering extensive mental and physical abuse as well as threats of retaliation, Taylor is finally gaining the strength to face her accuser and taking steps to ensure that she and her children are protected from any further harm."

It continued: "There are too many women who are suffering in silence as they survive aggressive, jealous ex-partners who refuse to let them move on with their lives. Taylor has remained silent out of fear of further abuse, retaliation and public shaming. She is currently exploring all of her options, seeking support, and preparing to own and share her story."

The Season May Air In The Future

Though Season 22 was held from its planned premiere date, it’s still likely that ABC could air Paul’s search for love down the line. The main reason to believe this will happen is financial, as the network reportedly stands to lose “tens of millions” of dollars by witholding the season, an insider told Page Six.

“ABC left a window in their statement to bring [the show] back. They haven’t canceled it — they simply paused it,” the source said in a March 24 report. “ABC has got to figure out how to get this show on the air, and if you’re [Paul], you’re trying to rehab yourself.”

“I really feel that American loves a comeback story,” another source added. “If Taylor has got the right desire to fix this situation. We’ve been reading about toxic relationships all our lives, and this seems to be a very toxic relationship she has to figure out and so does [Mortensen].”

Before Getting Axed, The Trailer & Poster Teased A New Kind Of Bachelorette

ABC shared the trailer for Paul’s season on Feb. 9. In it, they leaned into her polarizing past on Mormon Wives, including messy clips from the show (like Paul processing Mortensen’s infidelity) and several headlines about her viral swinging scandal.

As Taylor Swift’s “Look What You Made You Do” played, Paul questioned what her journey would look like: “Am I worthy of love? Is it even possible? As a single mom I want to better myself… Maybe all I need to do is be my own true self and have a little faith.” Then, Paul kicked her way off a phone screen, ditching her red gown for her go-to uniform: a crop top, sweats, and crocs.

The season’s poster reiterated the same theme, featuring Paul stepping out of a Barbie-style box with an inspirational quote overhead: “If you don’t fit the mold, break it”