Following the recent cancellation of the hit reality television show, The Bachelorette, fans have expressed their opinions on the sudden cancellation and the incident leading up to the show’s premiere. Upcoming Bachelorette, Taylor Frankie Paul was no stranger to the public eye, but a recently released video has taken her out of Bachelor nation spotlight. Let’s take a look into this reality show cancellation, the life of Taylor Frankie Paul, what this means for reality television for further seasons to come, and why I believe that cancel culture leads to public figures not taking accountability.
Who is Taylor Frankie Paul?
Most popularly known for her role on the hit show, The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, Taylor Frankie Paul is a 31 year-old social media influencer, mother of three children, and was announced as the upcoming Bachelorette in September 2025. She gained her initial fame from posting on TikTok and being a founder of the #MomTok community on the app.
In 2023, Taylor Frankie Paul was arrested for felony aggravated assault, two counts of felony domestic violence in the presence of a child, and misdemeanor chargers of child abuse and criminal mischief. These charges were found after a violent altercation between Paul and her ex-boyfriend and father to Paul’s youngest child, Dakota Mortensen. Police reports claims Paul threw heavy metal chairs at Mortensen while her 5 year-old daughter was present and appeared to be struck by one of those chairs sometime during the altercation. Despite the incident, Taylor Frankie Paul was still given the platform to continue with The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives show and be casted for the upcoming Bachelorette season.
Why was the Bachelorette Season Cancelled?
Although the incident that occurred in 2023 was known by the public, Taylor Frankie Paul was still casted as the Bachelorette. In the history of the show, there hasn’t been a highly public figure casted as the lead role, so that became the initial shock to Bachelor nation. Just a few days prior to the premiere of the show, TMZ released recording footage of the incident from 2023 showing the attack.
The new attention to this video footage forced Disney to pull the upcoming season from ABC and all related promotional media. Temporary custody of their shared child has been given to Mortensen until a court hearing for Paul is set for early April.
Cancel Culture vs. Taking Accountability
There’s a very common term used in social media to celebrities following their actions that are controversial, criminal, etc. to limit public support and ‘shame’ their actions. This term is labeled as cancel culture or cancelled. Labeling a celebrity as cancelled attempts to strip their platform and popularity. Many celebrities take a break from social media and barely address the situation, which lacks taking accountability of their actions. Accountability requires taking action in publicly addressing the situation and making a change, cancel culture shouldn’t cause the disappearance of a celebrity for a few days, weeks, or months to avoid the situation and hope the Internet forgets.
What Does This Mean for Reality TV Moving Forward?
One thing is for sure. The Bachelorette and Bachelor series will never be the same again. Ratings for the shows have been decreasing for the past few years lately, but many fans believe the initial Taylor Frankie Paul casting was to boost those ratings due to her social media presence and popularity in the reality television world. Prior to this season, there hadn’t been this popular of a public figure casted as the lead, so why was this season supposed to be any different. Was it to boost Bachelor nation views? Possibly.
A thought did cross my mind when first hearing this news. Two members of the Secret Lives of Mormon Wives appeared in the show, Dancing With The Stars last year, which increased their following and popularity, and even landed Whitney Leavitt on Broadway. So, was this entire Bachelorette casting to gain media attention? Also, possibly. But what they didn’t expect was the recent releasing of the Taylor Frankie Paul video.
Moving forward reality television might not go through the most dramatic change, since the point of this type of television is drama, but there will definitely be changes. There should be more extensive background checks for casted individuals, no matter their role in the show. Reality TV isn’t going anywhere, but the increased pressure to take accountability for their controversial actions would be placed on many production companies and their respective teams. The loss of sponsorships and publicity will decrease for the Bachelor series, since brands don’t want to align themselves with a domestic violence situation with the lead Bachelorette.
Overall, this entire fallout has been very present in social media for the past few weeks, and taking accountability needs to be the next steps moving forward. Cancel culture never works, because action is hardly ever done.
I think cancel culture is huge today and they need to do more background checks before hiring TV individuals. It’s crazy how they do this as a stunt rather than for our enjoyment. Really good job!
To answer your question, yeah I honestly think the casting was for media attention. There’s no way they didn’t already know about Taylor Frankie Paul’s past. It just doesn’t make sense that they’d pick her and somehow miss that. It feels like they knew it would bring more views and drama. I think it was more about ratings and money, even if it made her look bad. At the end of the day, that’s what reality TV does, it profits off drama.