ABC Pulls Plug on ‘Bachelorette’ Season Days Before Premiere Due to Video

ABC has canceled an entire season of 'The Bachelorette' starring Taylor Frankie Paul just days before its scheduled premiere after a 2023 video surfaced. The network cited the newly released footage in their decision to scrap the already-filmed season.

LOS ANGELES — In an unprecedented move, ABC has pulled the plug on an entire season of “The Bachelorette” featuring Taylor Frankie Paul just days before its Sunday premiere, following the emergence of a 2023 video.

The network made the extraordinary decision to cancel the reality show season that had already completed filming, marking an unusual last-minute reversal for the long-running series.

“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,” Disney Entertainment Television announced in a statement.

The network’s decision appears connected to footage of a confrontation between Paul and Dakota Mortensen from 2023 that TMZ published Thursday. Paul faced arrest in 2023 on charges including aggravated assault and domestic violence in the presence of a child. She entered a guilty plea that August to a reduced misdemeanor aggravated assault charge, while other charges were dropped.

According to People magazine, a Draper City, Utah police representative confirmed an ongoing domestic violence investigation involving Paul and her former partner Mortensen, with accusations coming from both parties. Mortensen is the father of one of Paul’s three children.

Neither Paul nor Mortensen’s representatives responded to requests for comment. ABC has not revealed plans for filling the show’s time slot.

Paul had been actively promoting Season 22 as recently as Wednesday, appearing on ABC’s “Good Morning America” and walking the red carpet at Sunday’s Oscars ceremony. The 31-year-old represented an unconventional choice for the show’s lead role, breaking from tradition by not having previously appeared on the “Bachelor” franchise — which typically selects leads from past season contestants.

Her casting did create corporate synergy, as Paul also appears on Hulu’s “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” reality series. Disney owns both networks. ABC’s October casting announcement praised Paul for “igniting ‘MomTok’ and going viral for pulling back the curtain on Salt Lake’s soft-swinging scene.”

Paul gained prominence as a social media influencer within the #MomTok movement, where members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints share their experiences on TikTok. She generated headlines in 2022 when she revealed she had violated an agreement with her husband regarding relationships with other couples, leading to their divorce.

“The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” debuted in 2024. Although Season 4 launched last week, production on Season 5 had already been suspended due to the investigation.

“It was a decision that all of us girls came up with,” co-star Mikayla Matthews explained Wednesday on Instagram when asked about the production halt. “We didn’t feel comfortable filming with everything that was happening.”

Paul announced on Instagram in December that “The Bachelorette” filming had concluded. Jesse Palmer serves as the show’s host.

Television industry expert Kate Casey, a former crisis communications professional who hosts the “Reality Life with Kate Casey” podcast, described Paul’s casting as “essentially an experiment gone wrong by Disney.”

“I think they were trying to shake things up, and it makes sense because the ecosystem is saturated with dating shows like ‘F-Boy Island’ and ‘Love Island’ that push the boundaries and ‘The Bachelor’ and ‘The Bachelorette’ historically have been saccharine,” explained Casey, who has produced over 1,500 podcast episodes.

Casey believes network executives likely hoped Paul’s casting would attract both “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” viewers and her 6.1 million TikTok followers.

“The thinking was probably, ‘We’re going to get a new audience’ and the new audience is really the most coveted in all of entertainment,” she noted.