It’s official: ABC has pulled the plug on the latest season of The Bachelorette, amid Taylor Frankie Paul’s ongoing domestic violence investigation.
Paul, a TikTok influencer and star of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives known for her “soft-swinging” lifestyle, was a controversial choice to lead the latest season of The Bachelorette, particularly when it was revealed that there was an ongoing domestic-violence investigation launched by Utah police involving Paul and her ex-boyfriend, Dakota Mortensen. Production on the fifth season of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives has also been paused.
“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,” a Disney Entertainment Television spokesperson said in a statement to Rolling Stone.
In 2023, Paul was arrested after allegedly choking and throwing stools at Mortensen, with one of the stools allegedly hitting her daughter from a previous relationship. “Your daughter just got hit in the head by a metal chair,” Mortensen says in the video.
Paul pleaded guilty to a count of aggravated assault, while other charges were dismissed. Her relationship and pregnancy was captured on Season One of Mormon Wives, and alleged footage of the incident was leaked on Thursday. Paul and Mortensen have one child together — Ever True, born in March 2024 — while she has two children from her first marriage.
Addressing the headlines on Tuesday, Paul told People, “My heart hurts to see it, to go through it, especially at this time. Just the timing is hard, and it’s a big deal. I feel like every premiere that I’ve experienced, I’ve never enjoyed fully, so this is another one … it’s extremely hard, and it took everything to get me here today.”
From Rolling Stone US
Love Music?
Get your daily dose of everything happening in Australian/New Zealand music and globally.
