Bachelor Franchise Broke Rules for Taylor Frankie Paul. It Backfired

The Bachelor franchise broke unspoken rules by casting Taylor Frankie Paul, a decision that backfired when ABC made the recent decision to scrap her season three days before it was set to premiere. 

When news of Paul’s casting was revealed back in September, it was met with fan excitement. It marked a major first for the franchise: She was to be the first lead who had never appeared on a prior cycle in the franchise, but who was known by a different reality TV audience. It was a casting first to name the already-controversial star of Hulu’s The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives to lead the veteran franchise.

Contestants who go on The Bachelor or The Bachelorette are supposed to be cast because they want to find love. Influencer archetypes have been cast across the franchise before, of course, but never so largely with someone like Paul who starred on another hit reality show and who came in with more than 7 million followers on her combined social media platforms.

Paul is also the first Bachelorette lead to have a criminal background.

She has prior charges stemming from a 2023 arrest, in which she ended up pleading guilty to one count of aggravated assault, per the local Salt Lake City Fox affiliate. She took a plea agreement, which dismissed two counts of domestic violence in the presence of a child, a class-A misdemeanor charge of child abuse and a misdemeanor charge of criminal mischief. 

That 2023 incident kickstarted her Mormon Wives career, as it was chronicled on the very first episode of Hulu’s reality hit. But then it resurfaced in the news cycle last week via a leaked video, which sparked The Bachelorette cancellation. That combined with the production pause of Mormon Wives season five, which halted over a new incident.

A spokesperson for the Draper City Police Department confirmed last week to People that there is an ongoing “domestic assault investigation” between Paul and her on-again, off-again boyfriend Dakota Mortensen. THR confirmed that Mormon Wives production launched their own investigation into the conflicting claims; that investigation remains ongoing, and Mormon Wives filming is on pause until it concludes. Then on Wednesday, NBC News reported that Paul is under investigation for an alleged third domestic violence incident. All of the incidents have involved Paul and her ex, Dakota Mortensen, with whom she shares a son, Ever True.  

Paul was still on probation stemming from the 2023 incident, which also involved Mortensen, during Bachelorette filming, leaving most of her season to be shot in the United States. 

But it was video published last week, on Thursday, of the 2023 domestic incident leading to her arrest that was the tipping point for ABC to pull the season. Executives knew of her charges, of which the fallout was depicted in detail on Mormon Wives, but had not seen the footage until it was leaked Thursday, THR was told. 

Aside from Paul’s criminal history (which should have been enough to raise eyebrows for the network), her Bachelorette installment was slated to feature other major changes to the long-standing franchise. 

Ringing true to its Disney roots, The Bachelor and its spinoffs have long idolized the fairytale story that the people on the franchise are there for the right reasons — to find love. But gone are the days where The Bachelor and Bachelorette dominated the reality dating pool. Programs like Love Island USA, which rewards raunchiness, or Love Is Blind, which is a more unique social experiment, have captivated audiences, luring viewers away from ABC’s less risqué slate of shows. 

To shake things up with Paul, however, they bent their usual rules to engage the large Mormon Wives audience. Throughout taping of The Bachelorette season 22, the reality star frequently posted on social media, which has historically been frowned upon by the franchise so as to limit spoilers (even though each season is typically spoiled online). 

This rule was thrown out the door when the official Bachelorette Instagram account shared an early teaser of their leading lady and host Jesse Palmer catching up in November, a few weeks after shooting started. “I think you’re doing things that no other Bachelorette has ever done before,” Palmer said in the clip.

The contents of her contract as The Bachelorette lead have been questioned online with her frequent posting during filming. Even now, amid the show being pulled and its future perhaps uncertain (there’s specualtion that it could be revived on Hulu), Paul is still flooding social media with her reactions on the whole situation. 

Under a video shared by a TikTok user noting that the video of Paul and Mortensen’s 2023 domestic violence incident was leaked last week on their son’s birthday, the reality star took to the comments, writing, “Worst part is my daughter having to relive and see it all over again years later after extensive work with her and apologies to her about that night and my baby boy birthday was taken from him.” 

In another TikTok, pop culture creator Holden Smith screenshotted a comment Paul left on a separate video. “I’m kind of surprised she is on her phone right now,” one user wrote, to which The Bachelorette star replied, “always on .. it’s my job .. and yes I still have work.” Smith shared his own take on the matter, asking her directly, “Why are you commenting back to people, and reposting TikToks? Her world literally just blew up. I would say her team should take her phone away from her.”

“Want me to stare at the wall instead?” Paul wrote directly in the comments of Smith’s video. 

Paul has also been reposting content on TikTok amid the news, resharing one video that reiterates the claim that Mortensen allegedly leaked the 2023 video leading up to her arrest. Another video that she reshared simply has text reading, “I would rather sit with sinners who admit their mistakes than hang out with people who pretend to be good people.” 

THR has reached out to reps for Paul for comment, but did not hear back by the time of publication. ABC and Hulu have also not commented on the speculation around the status of The Bachelorette.

Of her social media activity mid-filming, Paul told THR that “posting throughout [filming] was just something new that they were allowing,” but she didn’t have unlimited access. “I wasn’t on my phone at all — it was more just to film and post. So I still was in the bubble.”

“I didn’t talk to anyone, but my kids and, like, co-parenting,” Paul added. 

With season 22 of The Bachelorette, the Bachelor franchise had finally planned on leaning into the messiness — until things went too far. But that willingness may have sent the series as we know it down the drain for good.