\u201cThis is bad for Disney. This is bad for Hulu,\u201d said Rachel Lindsay, who was the show\u2019s first Black lead in 2017. \u201cThis is bad for Hulu because somebody is going to have to take the blame for not vetting this out.\u201d<\/p>\n
The decision to pull the season came amid reports that the \u201cSecret Lives of Mormon Wives\u201d star and her ex-boyfriend, Dakota Mortensen, are involved in an ongoing domestic violence investigation. On Thursday afternoon, TMZ published a video<\/a> showing Paul attacking Mortensen in front of her young daughter during a 2023 incident.<\/p>\n Paul was charged <\/a>with assault, criminal mischief and domestic violence in the presence of a child for the 2023 incident. Court records indicate that she pleaded guilty in abeyance to an aggravated assault charge in August 2025, and the other four charges were dismissed with prejudice. <\/p>\n “How did this pass the threshold?” added Lindsay, who said she was recording a podcast episode of \u201cBachelor Party\u201d on Thursday when the news broke. \u201cBecause I would just assume that it was okay.\u201d<\/p>\n The podcast episode was titled \u201cThe End of The Bachelorette.\u201d<\/p>\n While the news has garnered national attention, Bachelor Nation is no stranger to controversy.<\/p>\n In 2017, \u201cBachelor in Paradise\u201d temporarily stopped filming<\/a> due to sexual misconduct allegations made against one of its contestants. In 2021, photos of Rachael Kirkconnell \u2014 who received the final rose from the first Black “Bachelor” Matt James \u2014 surfaced, showing her at an antebellum plantation-themed fraternity party in 2018. Colton Underwood, the “Bachelor” for the show’s 23rd season, came out as gay later that year<\/a>. <\/p>\n But a season has never been fully pulled from airing \u2014 until now.<\/p>\n On Thursday, Arie Luyendyk, the star of season 22 of “The Bachelor,” wrote on Instagram, “What a mess.”<\/p>\n “I feel for the entire production and the contestants that put their lives on hold,” he added. “So much goes into this you have no idea,” he wrote. “I\u2019m in no way supporting her and I feel it\u2019s the right decision. In hindsight she wasn\u2019t the right choice for the role.”<\/p>\n At least one alumnus was disappointed she didn’t get to see the “mess” play out on screen.<\/p>\n Kelley Flanagan, a contestant on the 24th season of “The Bachelor,” said in a video she posted on Instagram<\/a> on Thursday that she felt bad for Paul, Mortensen and the children, but confessed that she “a little bit bummed” because “it would have been entertaining.”<\/p>\n “I wanted to watch this train wreck. I wanted to watch this mess,” she said. “I think it would have been something different from what I\u2019ve seen in the past.”<\/p>\n The West Jordan Police Department in Utah confirmed to NBC News on Wednesday that it received a domestic violence allegation via phone call involving Paul, but declined to give details about the allegation or any potential charges. It also did not know the exact date or time of the reported incident.<\/p>\n A police department spokesperson said detectives are working on establishing the facts of the case.<\/p>\n The Draper Police Department in Utah told People magazine<\/a> earlier this week that there is an open \u201cdomestic assault investigation\u201d regarding Paul and Mortensen and that \u201callegations have been made in both directions.\u201d The police spokesperson said that \u201ccontact was made with involved parties on [Feb] 24th and 25th.\u201d<\/p>\n Several contestants from the canceled season have put out statements on social media in the wake of the news.<\/p>\n Contestant Clayton Johnson wrote on his Instagram story <\/a>on Thursday that he “can honestly say this was one of the best groups of men I\u2019ve ever been around.”<\/p>\n “Any woman would be lucky to be with any of these guys. Real integrity,” he wrote. ‘Real respect. Real men. Love you boys.”<\/p>\n Contestant Doug Mason urged his Instagram followers Friday<\/a> to “stay positive.”<\/p>\n “In light of everything that\u2019s happened, I\u2019m just sending out prayers to Taylor, because I was her moment and her moment was blocked,” he wrote.<\/p>\n Some alumni of the series questioned why Paul was cast in the first place, citing her criminal past. <\/p>\n \u201cAs a former Bachelor contestant, I can tell you that ABC thoroughly vets every part of your personal history,\u201d Jillian Anderson King, a contestant on the 19th season of \u201cThe Bachelor,\u201d wrote on X<\/a>. \u201cGiven that Frankie Taylor Paul already had a public profile, it\u2019s hard to believe they didn\u2019t know exactly who she was going in to this season.\u201d<\/p>\n Paul’s 2023 arrest played out in the first episode of Hulu’s “Secret Lives of Mormon Wives,” a series that follows a group of Mormon mothers in Utah who popularized the online subculture known as “MomTok.” The episode ends with police bodycam footage showing authorities putting Paul in handcuffs in front of her home. Ever, Paul and Mortensen’s son, was born about a year after her arrest.<\/p>\n In a brief phone call with NBC News on Thursday, following the release of the TMZ video but before ABC announced it was pulling her “Bachelor” season, Paul said, “I will have my truth.”<\/p>\n There are currently no public allegations against Mortensen. But a spokesperson for Paul said she\u2019s “gaining strength to face her accuser and taking steps to ensure that she and her children are protected from any further harm.”<\/p>\n The last season of “The Bachelorette” aired in 2024. Paul’s upcoming season was scheduled to premiere Sunday.<\/p>\n “We also don\u2019t know all the details,” Lindsay said in the recording of “Bachelor Party.” “But what I will say is this is bad.”<\/p>\n![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1774025136548_tdy_news_7a_kreutz_abc_cancel_bachelorette_260320_S3_1920x1080-24drmx.jpg\")
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