ABC Cancels The Bachelorette Hours Before Premiere — The Taylor Frankie Paul Scandal Explained

ABC Cancels The Bachelorette Hours Before Premiere — The Taylor Frankie Paul Scandal Explained

Tonight was supposed to be the night. The roses. The drama. The limos. The tears.

Instead, ABC pulled the plug on Season 22 of The Bachelorette — and the story behind why is one of the most dramatic reality TV scandals in years.

Season 22 of The Bachelorette has been canceled amid a police investigation involving its lead, reality TV star Taylor Frankie Paul. On March 19, just three days before the reality dating show was set to premiere on ABC, the network's parent company Disney announced the show's fate. (CNBC)

The show that was supposed to air tonight will not air at all. And the woman at the center of it is one of the most polarizing figures in social media history.

Who Is Taylor Frankie Paul?

If you don't know the name, you know the world she created.

Paul popularized the online subculture known as "MomTok" — a group of Utah-based Mormon moms who post dance trends, beauty routines, skits, and lifestyle videos on TikTok, promoting a more modern side of Mormonism and challenging its traditional gender roles. (Al Jazeera)

She has 6.1 million followers on TikTok and 2.3 million on Instagram. (Al Jazeera) Her life became the subject of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives on Hulu — a show that documented her messy, dramatic, and deeply compelling personal story in real time.

She was cast as the lead of The Bachelorette last September — a bold, unconventional choice that was supposed to revitalize a franchise that had been losing viewers for years. It seemed like a brilliant move. Until it wasn't.

The Video That Changed Everything

The decision to shelve the show's 22nd season came on Thursday, after TMZ published a video it says shows would-be bachelorette Taylor Frankie Paul physically attacking her then-boyfriend, Dakota Mortensen, in 2023. (Syndicated News)

The video shows Paul seemingly attacking Mortensen and throwing multiple chairs at him — and her daughter from her first marriage was present in the room during the incident. (TRADING ECONOMICS)

Disney's response was immediate and absolute. "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. (Al Jazeera)

Disney even yanked the first episode off its press screening site around midday Thursday as the internal decision was made to pause this season's rollout. (U.S. News & World Report)

What Happened in 2023?

This wasn't new information — at least not entirely.

In 2023, Paul was arrested for alleged domestic violence after an argument with Mortensen during which her daughter was in the room. At the time, the TikTok star pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated assault. Charges of child abuse, criminal mischief, and domestic violence in the presence of a child were all dismissed. (TRADING ECONOMICS)

The arrest had actually aired in Season 1 of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives. ABC knew about it when they cast her. Her casting drew significant backlash because of her past domestic violence arrest (Syndicated News) — but the network pressed forward anyway, betting that her massive social media following would bring in new viewers.

The bet didn't pay off.

The Investigation Gets Worse

Paul and Mortensen are currently part of an ongoing investigation. On March 19, Mortensen filed a petition for a protective order against Paul in Salt Lake County. The filing was sent back for a correction and an amended petition was requested. (CNBC)

Mortensen's representative said he categorically denies any wrongdoing and that his number one priority is protecting their two-year-old son.

Meanwhile, Paul's team pushed back hard. Her spokesperson called the video "the latest installment of Mortensen's never-ending, desperate, attention-seeking, destructive campaign to harm Taylor without any regard for the consequences for their child." (Syndicated News)

Paul herself spoke out publicly after the cancellation, saying: "Too many women are suffering in silence." (TRADING ECONOMICS)

The Fallout Is Everywhere

The cancellation didn't just kill the show — it created a shockwave across everything connected to Taylor Frankie Paul.

Production on Season 5 of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives has been halted amid the investigation. A source told People that the cast is distancing themselves from Paul: "None of the women want to be associated with her." (SSBCrack)

Former Bachelorette Rachel Lindsay declared the franchise is "over," asking publicly: "How do you move forward past that?" (TRADING ECONOMICS)

ABC plans to air a rerun of American Idol in the show's place on Sunday. It's not clear if Paul's season of The Bachelorette will ever air. (Syndicated News)

What Does This Mean for The Bachelorette?

The franchise was already struggling. Viewership had been declining for years. Casting Taylor Frankie Paul was supposed to be the bold reinvention that saved it.

Instead, it may have accelerated the end.

The choice to bring in an existing influencer-slash-reality star was seen as a move to revitalize the Bachelorette, which has seen a sharp decline in viewership in recent years. Part of that is, ironically, due to casting controversies including unexpected post-season revelations about contestants on both sides of the rose. (Syndicated News)

Whether Disney gives the franchise another chance — with a new lead, a clean slate, and a much more thorough vetting process — remains to be seen.

What is certain is this: the season that was supposed to premiere tonight will not air. A woman with millions of followers is at the center of a domestic violence investigation. And one of America's most iconic reality franchises is in serious trouble.

Stay with PopScope USA for every update as this story develops.

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