On Tuesday night, Hulu announced “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” was gearing up to resume production over a month after pausing in the midst of a domestic violence scandal involving star Taylor Frankie Paul and her ex-boyfriend Dakota Mortensen.
But that doesn’t quite mean cameras are back up for the Hulu reality series, with Rob Mills, Walt Disney Television’s EVP of unscripted and alternative entertainment, saying it was more in the pre-production phase. “We now have to look and say, ‘OK, what are the stories we’re focusing on? What are we shooting?’”
Given the setbacks the season has seen so far, Mills said Disney is “happy” to “take those steps.”
“In terms of what it took to get everyone back up, it was more just making sure everybody, from the producers and obviously the stars, who are also producers, and … just making sure everybody felt good about this and was in a good place to go,” Mills told TheWrap ahead of Wednesday’s Get Real reality showcase. “It really was just checking on everybody and making sure we didn’t do anything until everybody was in a good place.”
Mills refrained from discussing how much of the new season would address Paul’s domestic violence incidents and her season of “The Bachelorette,” which was pulled from ABC days before its debut following video footage of an alleged incident coming to light. “Remember, this is an ensemble cast, so I think it’s about the stories of everyone [and] where they are in their lives,” Mills said.
While Mills confirmed the “full cast” is back on board to resume production, he declined to comment on Mortensen’s involvement — who was notably cut from an appearance on Hulu’s “Vanderpump Villa.” “We’re really just figuring out what this next season looks like,” he said. “We’re really taking everything a day at a time.”
The release date for the season is also up in the air, with Mills saying “we’re sort of starting from scratch, then we will figure out when is the best time for us to … air the show.”
It’s also too soon to say whether Paul’s season of “The Bachelorette” will ever see the light of day, with Mills noting, “We take everything a day at a time.”
“We’re sort of really still processing everything and figuring out … planning for the next cycles of ‘The Bachelor’ franchise, and really just kind of looking at everything, and first and foremost, honestly, just making sure that Taylor, her family, everyone is being taken care of, just on a personal and human front,” Mills said.
With plans for “The Bachelorette” on pause, Mills revealed ABC is planning for a new season of “The Bachelor” to air midseason in the 2026-27 TV schedule, and for “Bachelor in Paradise” to take the rains next summer following “The Bachelor,” marking renewals for both shows.
It’s unknown if the next lead for “The Bachelor” will be pulled from Paul’s season or from a different pool of talent entirely. “We’re open to anything,” Mills said. “I think you saw with ‘Golden Bachelor,’ this is a phenomenal format that you can tell all different types of stories, so I don’t think …. we’re open or not open to anything — I think the most important thing is just telling somebody’s story who has a great journey ahead of them.”
While the next iteration of “The Golden Bachelor” isn’t slotted on ABC’s schedule, Mills said the network is “in a perpetual state of casting with ‘Golden Bachelor.’ ” “When we find somebody with a great story, and is right, I think it’s something we’ll always want to revisit,” Mills said. “That’s a … really special one.”
Mills also didn’t shut down whispers about “The Traitors” and “Love Island” star Maura Higgins potentially being lined up as the next celebrity “Bachelorette,” which became more of a possibility with her casting on “Dancing With the Stars” this fall, which was also announced Wednesday. “Right now, we’re just going to focus on her journey with ‘Dancing with the Stars,’ and having her in the family, whatever … presents itself, I think we’d be open to,” Mills said. “We’re just excited to have her on ‘Dancing.’ “
Wednesday’s Get Real Event saw a slew of announcements across Disney’s unscripted slate, including a “Mormon Wives” spinoff in Orange County, an expansion of the “Dancing With the Stars” franchise and Disney’s take on “The Traitors.” Mills breaks it all down below. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
TheWrap: Today marks a month since Taylor’s season of “The Bachelorette” was intended to premiere. What lessons did you and the team take away from the fallout?
Mills: We’re really still processing everything and and figuring out … planning for the next cycles of “The Bachelor” franchise, and really just kind of looking at everything. And first and foremost, honestly, just making sure that Taylor, her family, everyone is being taken care of, just on a personal and human front.
We’re excited about the “Mormon Wives” OC spinoff. Why was that an area that interested you and what went into putting together the cast?
We had heard Select management who handles a lot of the girls from the Utah cast … they had known about this sort of California contingency, and really, right from the jump of the success of the original “Mormon Wives” we had talked about, “OK, what does this spinoff look like?” Is it other, different … “Secret Lives” of different things, is it other Mormon contingencies. And as we’ve spent the last sort of 18 months developing this, we had heard about these girls here who had a great story to tell, very similar to how we felt when we saw the original cast. So the time just felt right, and I’m really, really excited about this cast and this chapter.
“The Mob” seems to be an answer to “The Traitors.” Why did you want to embrace another all-star show like this?
“Traitors” was sort of born out of the game mafia, so it was exciting to do something that has its roots in that, and I think “Traitors” has shown that … putting all-stars in a game like this is really just great TV, so we’re really, really excited to to get into that space. It’s something we’ve been trying to get into for a while, and this was the perfect format. And obviously it’s a privilege to be able to work with Stephen Lambert, who was sort of the literal godfather of all of this stuff.
How did you land Parker Posey as host for “The Mob?”
We were incredibly lucky that I think Alan Cumming definitely … was the trailblazer in really, really great actors who also love this space and can do this and can bring their own flair to it. So I think Alan showed that you can do this, and nobody’s going to book you differently. So Parker … we heard that she really was looking to get into this space, and I think it had to be the right thing, and we’re incredibly lucky that this was the one that she felt was the right format.
You’ve doubled down on “Dancing With the Stars” with “The Next Pro.” Why was this an area you saw more growth potential in?
We were incredibly excited with the resurgence of “Dancing” this season … I like the fact that “Dancing” still is once a year, because I think that keeps it really special. But it was also, how do you keep sort of a pulse going? And this is a show that they had done in other territories, and it worked. It was really great that you could tell the story of what it takes to be a pro, and there will be investment in this dancer now going into the season, so this was a really, really unique opportunity to kind of do a baton hand off this summer into the next season of “Dancing with the Stars.”
You’re also pulling in some “Dancing” talent into “Project Runway,” which didn’t make too much noise last season. What went into that decision?
I think that just we were looking for what are some really great, synergistic opportunities — we have so many properties in the Walt Disney Co. that lend itself to “Project Runway” and fashion itself — so as we looked at this, we were really excited about the relaunch of “Project Runway.” And it was great having Heidi [Klum] come back, but then also the emergence of new stars with that show, like Law Roach, so we really looked at how can we now supersize it, and using our assets as part of that really felt like a great, unique opportunity.
How would you describe this iteration of the reality TV universe expansion? What is your biggest focus in this chapter?
I love the fact that we have different vehicles to put our stars in, and they’re all kind of different journeys for them, and I think it’s talking to them and finding what’s exciting for them. I think for Whitney [Leavitt] and Jen [Affleck] last year, their dream was to be on “Dancing with the Stars,” and you see how spectacularly that worked out. We’ve talked to some of them — some of them are interested in hosting, so we’re looking … are there vehicles that are right for them? If somebody is interested in “Project Runway” … if somebody can sing, we’ll talk about them auditioning for “American Idol.” It’s just looking for ways that are the right fit. But I certainly love when we can cross pollinate in a purposeful way.
The Sports Illustrated special is an interesting focus on events. Are you hoping to pursue similar projects?
That’s really a very meaningful collaboration. I had dinner with Hillary Drezner who runs the SI swimsuit business there, and it really felt like this was a great place where we can celebrate and emphasize our talent … In addition to the special, we’re also going to talk about doing different digital covers throughout the year … Hillary is a really strong female leader, and I think that what’s great is this is going to feel really great and empowering, and something where we can really highlight all of our talents.
We see a renewed commitment to the Kardashians with “The Girls” and the Travis Barker documentary. Why is that a relationship you want to continue to invest in?
We’re really privileged to be the home of the Kardashians. I mean … you don’t just buy a show when you do that … you’re working with an empire. What’s so great is that the Kardashian show itself sort of touches the entire family, and we get to tell all their stories, but then they all have so many unique things that they are passionate about. Travis personally called about this doc to say, “I want to tell this story … I was in this plane crash that I walked away from, and it fundamentally changed me.” And then when Khloe comes and says, “I want to tell the stories about my inner circle with friends,” that’s amazing. The fact we have the privilege of doing that is fantastic … there’s even stuff that we’re talking about that we haven’t even been able to announce yet. They’re all incredible, both of the whole and individually, they’re incredible family.
Where does “Love Overboard” stand?
It just launched, so I don’t think we’re ready to discuss anything yet, but we’re excited — it definitely got some traction. We’re excited how it launched. We’re excited that the fan engagement has been really strong, so definitely excited to discuss it. But it’s still early days, so there’s nothing for us to say about Season 2.
