Taylor Frankie Paul says she joined The Bachelorette to get away from a cycle of toxicity at home and to focus on herself and dating. The 31-year-old reality star \u2014 who has more than 7 million followers across social platforms \u2014 spoke in her first interview since production wrapped about why she took the lead on season 22. <\/p>\n
Why Paul Says She Took The Bachelorette Role<\/p>\n
Paul framed the opportunity as a personal reset rather than a bid for clout or a quick engagement. She said there was no other reason for her to do the show other than wanting to \u201cget outside of Utah and the toxicity that I\u2019m in and venture off and really do something for myself. \u201d She added that the chance to focus on dating and herself as a single mom was \u201ca once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. \u201c\n<\/p>\n
She acknowledged that viewers will question her motives but dismissed that scrutiny, saying, \u201cI don\u2019t really care\u2026 I didn\u2019t have to do this. \u201d Paul also described her season as less structured than usual, calling it \u201cfun, unexpected\u201d and \u201cvery unpredictable. \u201c\n<\/p>\n
Background: Social Reach, Personal History and Public Scrutiny<\/p>\n
Paul rose to national attention after a 2022 divorce from her ex-husband Tate Paul, who is the father of her daughter Indy, 8, and son Ocean, 5. In 2023 she faced legal trouble tied to an altercation with then-boyfriend Dakota Mortensen; the incident led to an arrest on assault and other charges. Her youngest son, Ever, 2, is Mortensen\u2019s child.\n<\/p>\n
Her ensemble show, The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, vaulted Paul further into the spotlight: the program was the most-watched premiere on the streaming service this year and outperformed even a major reality franchise. The trailer for that series shows Paul and Mortensen together in the weeks before she left to film the dating series, a detail she says reflects the cycle she was trying to break. <\/p>\n
Timing, Stakes and What Viewers Can Expect<\/p>\n
Mormon Wives returns March 12, and Paul\u2019s run as the lead on season 22 of The Bachelorette begins March 22 at 8: 00 pm ET on ABC. The casting marks a franchise first: she was not chosen from a prior season of the companion show, a twist producers hope will draw new viewers and re-engage lapsed fans.\n<\/p>\n
Paul has said she addressed questions about her status with Mortensen, her past relationships and what fans can expect when she hands out roses. Beyond pledging candor and unpredictability, she framed the season as a personal bet on herself and a chance to break long-standing patterns.\n<\/p>\n
The series will test whether audiences respond to a lead whose backstory diverges from past choices and whose motivations are explicitly framed as personal renewal rather than traditional franchise trajectories. Viewers will see the results beginning with the March 22 premiere. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Taylor Frankie Paul says she joined The Bachelorette to get away from a cycle of toxicity at home…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":348246,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[158684,29724,22033,93,158686,710,61,60,158687,86730,30915,9315,7479,331,68733,282,158685],"class_list":["post-348245","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-mormon","tag-bachelorette","tag-break","tag-entertainment","tag-frankie","tag-free","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-joined","tag-paul","tag-relationship","tag-star","tag-taylor","tag-the","tag-toxic","tag-tv","tag-wives"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/348245","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=348245"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/348245\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/348246"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=348245"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=348245"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=348245"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}