The drama surrounding Taylor Frankie Paul continues one week after a disturbing video related to the MomTok leader’s 2023 arrest was leaked, prompting ABC to pull Paul’s season of The Bachelorette from the 2026 TV schedule. Rumors have swirled that the network is looking for a quick replacement in hopes of providing Bachelor Nation with something more than AFV reruns, and according to one source, there’s still the possibility that the already-filmed Season 22 could see the light of day.
ABC executives knew about Taylor Frankie Paul’s 2023 arrest for domestic violence against her then-boyfriend, Dakota Mortensen, when she was chosen to lead The Bachelorette. The incident was featured on The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives’ very first episode (streaming with a Hulu subscription). However, the video showing Paul throwing metal chairs at Mortensen — one of which reportedly hit her daughter — proved to be too much, and her Bachelorette season was scrapped … for now. An industry 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.
It’s true that the network seemed to choose its words carefully in the statement released March 19 — just three days before The Bachelorette Season 22 was set to premiere. ABC said:
Article continues belowIn 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.
“At this time” is the key phrase here, seemingly indicating that a time could come when they feel OK with airing Taylor Frankie Paul’s supposed love story. It all comes down to money, which puts ABC in quite a pickle. The network is estimated to be out tens of millions of dollars if these Bachelorette episodes never air, not to mention possible lawsuits from the season’s contestants. The insider said:
Execs are under pressure to deliver ratings. The bottom line is money and [stars who have] the ability to make money.
Will there ever be a time when airing the season would be appropriate? The video leak happened as production of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives Season 5 shut down due to new domestic violence allegations from both Taylor Frankie Paul and Dakota Mortensen from late February 2026. On March 25, reports of a third incident came out, which apparently occurred in 2024.
In the meantime, rumors are circulating that ABC is looking at Love Island cast member Maura Higgins — also part of The Traitors Season 4 cast — to lead a season of The Bachelorette that would allegedly air practically live.
However, a second source for the Daily Mail seemed reluctant to write Taylor Frankie Paul off so quickly, saying:
I really feel that American [sic] loves a comeback story … 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]. 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.
We’ll have to wait to see what the future holds for The Bachelor franchise, but in the meantime, you can watch what transpired between Taylor Frankie Paul and Dakota Mortensen in the weeks before she left to film the dating show on The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives Season 4 on Hulu.
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