With controversial “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” star Taylor Frankie Paul set to lead the next “Bachelorette,” Disney and ABC were playing with a live grenade. On Thursday, it exploded.
Disney said today that it had pulled “The Bachelorette,” which was set to premiere Sunday, following the release of a graphic video ridden with domestic violence.
(Warning: The clip shows disturbing scenes)
“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 spokesperson from Disney Entertainment Television wrote.
The abrupt cancellation marked an unprecedented move for “The Bachelor” franchise, which was already plagued with scandal after scandal in recent years. The outlook for its female-led spinoff seemed sunny after ABC announced that Paul would take the lead for the 22nd season, with hopes that the stunt casting would revive the series.
Those hopes crashed on Thursday, with the cancellation leaving the “Bachelor” franchise picking up the pieces and throwing into limbo the status of “Mormon Wives,” a ratings juggernaut for Hulu and the centerpiece of the company’s evolving connections between its reality TV shows. The whole affair is a lesson on the risks that come with betting the fate of not just a single show, but a budding reality TV universe, on a controversial figure — all in the pursuit of ratings and buzz.
“Disney’s cancellation of the new season of ‘The Bachelorette’ is not remotely surprising,” entertainment attorney Jordan Matthews said in a statement. “The recent release of the video documenting the domestic violence incident involving Taylor Frankie Paul is horrifying, especially given the fact that the video makes it clear that she was out of control and seemingly physically harmed her own daughter. Disney is a family brand, and they cannot associate with any incident of violence against a child, as it completely cuts against their brand, and the incident is just wrong as a matter of principle.”
A representative for Hulu confirmed that production was paused on “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives,” but did not reveal what potential next steps could be ahead for it to move forward.
The final straw
It all came down to a single video.
The footage, leaked by TMZ, showed the reality star repeatedly beating her then-boyfriend Dakota Mortensen, and throwing three metal barstools at him, with one chair inadvertently hitting her daughter. The video comes from a 2023 domestic violence incident that was first addressed on the series premiere of Hulu’s hit series “Mormon Wives.”
The decision to pull the plug on “The Bachelorette,” which was set to debut on Sunday and came hours after the video surfaced online, came from newly appointed TV Chair Debra OConnell, Disney Television Group president Craig Erwich and unscripted and alternative entertainment head Rob Mills, who is largely credited with building “The Bachelor” franchise, according to an individual with knowledge of the situation.
Things had already been rocky leading into the premiere of “The Bachelorette,” with reports on Monday revealing that production on Season 5 of “Mormon Wives” was paused amid allegations of a new domestic incident between Paul and Mortensen.
Disney and ABC were well aware of Paul’s history when she was tapped with the high-stakes gig — she was at the center of the swinging scandal that kickstarted “Mormon Wives,” after all — but the video’s graphic nature was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
For now, Disney’s relationship with Paul remains intact, with the reality star applauding ABC’s support in her own response to the season’s cancellation.
“Taylor is very grateful for ABC’s support as she prioritizes her family’s safety and security,” the representative said in a statement to People. “After years of silently suffering extensive mental and physical abuse, as well as threats of retaliation, Taylor is finally gaining the strength to face her accuser and taking steps to ensure that she and her children are protected from any further harm.”
A representative for Paul did not respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.
Disney’s reality TV universe in disarray
The near-term financial hit from scrapping the season won’t be significant, with episodes each costing $2 million and with only one episode fully in the can, according to a top agent. A typical scripted drama would cost ABC between $4-$6 million per episode. But ABC does have to cash out on a licensing fee for the show to studio Warner Bros. Unscripted TV, along with marketing fees and other losses.
And there are larger ramifications to consider. Not only was Paul’s season of “The Bachelorette” intended to revive the franchise, but it was also a crucial cog in Disney’s reality TV universe, which the entertainment giant has invested more significantly in the past three years.
As “The Bachelor” franchise faced declining ratings over its 20-plus-year run on ABC, Disney struck gold with “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives,” which turned the online sensation of MomTok — a group of Mormon housewives with a massive TikTok following — into the next big reality show, catching the group in the aftermath of a swinging scandal, of which Paul was at the center.
After the show became Hulu’s most-watched unscripted season premiere of 2024, the Disney-owned streamer renewed the series, and has released four seasons since its 2024 debut. The series first started colliding with the Disney reality TV universe when the women visited Hulu’s “Vanderpump Villa” in Season 2. Fellow MomTokers Whitney Leavitt and Jen Affleck also competed on the latest season of ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars” — which was chronicled on “Mormon Wives” along with Paul gearing up to film her turn on “The Bachelorette.”
The plan — before the season got axed — was that “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” Season 4, which came out last week, would see Paul up to her journey on “The Bachelorette” before it aired on March 22, and, after the season aired, Season 5 would see the aftermath of Paul’s time on “The Bachelorette.”
“If everything shakes out editorially as all of us envision, you’ll again see Taylor preparing for the experience, and then you’ll see her return from the experience,” EP Jeff Jenkins told TheWrap in an interview before the scandal broke. “I don’t think it’s ever been done in this way, where you really get a very rich, thorough journey along with her to see what happens before and what happens afterwards.”
“If we can thread that needle correctly, it’s going to be great … one of those things where one plus one will equal three for both franchises,” Mills told TheWrap on Monday, prior to reports that production had paused in the midst of a domestic violence incident between Paul and Mortensen.
A risky bet
The influencer-turned-reality star was never a choice without controversy. The first episode of the Hulu reality series, which premiered in September 2024, opened with police body-cam footage of Paul, sobbing after cops were called to her house for reports of domestic violence. She was then arrested and pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and later put on a 3-year probation, which is set to end this August.
“The thing that’s so wild is SOMEONE at Disney knew how S4 of ‘Mormon Wives’ ended and still was like ‘yes let’s shoot an entire season of The Bachelorette, traditionally a show that presents its leads as total catches, role models, following this absolute s–tshow,’” Carina Adly Mackenzie wrote on X Thursday.
Paul’s casting was a bold effort for the network to revive a once fruitful franchise, after “The Bachelorette” skipped a production cycle in 2025 as several other spinoffs took similar retooling breaks. “The Bachelorette” also went out of its usual pool of previous “Bachelor” contestants in casting Paul, in an attempt to capitalize on the “Mormon Wives” popularity.
The news comes as “The Bachelor” franchise attempted to push past other controversies, including incidents of racism and leadership changes. Last year, “‘The Bachelor” cut showrunners Claire Freeland and Bennett Graebner, who were reported to foster a “toxic” and “hostile” work environment.
Even the successful launch of “The Golden Bachelor” found itself in conflict. The spinoff franchise, focused on seniors looking for love, was met with big ratings and positive response for Gerry Turner’s turn in the leading role. That momentum didn’t last long, with Turner filing for divorce from winner Theresa Nist just months after getting married live on ABC. The franchise returned with “The Golden Bachelorette” in fall 2024 with less mainstream fanfare, and the second season of “The Golden Bachelor” started on a controversial tone of its own, when NFL veteran Mel Owens lamented having to date women his own age on the show.
Paul was supposed to usher a new era for this bruised franchise, but ended up leaving its future in even murkier ground.
Umberto Gonzalez contributed to this story.
