{"id":545425,"date":"2026-03-26T01:19:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T01:19:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/545425\/"},"modified":"2026-03-26T01:19:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T01:19:10","slug":"taylor-frankie-paul-bachelorette-contestant-has-wild-backstory-with-ex-rep-madison-cawthorn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/545425\/","title":{"rendered":"Taylor Frankie Paul ‘Bachelorette’ contestant has wild backstory with ex-Rep. Madison Cawthorn"},"content":{"rendered":"

A candidate on Taylor Frankie Paul\u2019s now-axed season of ABC\u2019s \u201cThe Bachelorette\u201d<\/a> was behind a fiery car crash that left ex-GOP Rep. Madison Cawthorn paralyzed as a teenager.\u00a0<\/p>\n

More than a decade before he set out to win Paul\u2019s heart on the reality dating show, Brad Ledford fell asleep at the wheel of a car while Cawthorn was in the passenger seat, according to reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Cawthorn, then 18, was left partially paralyzed after the vehicle crashed into a concrete barricade. He has used a wheelchair ever since.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ledford\u2019s presence on the show adds one more piece of infamy to the season \u2014 which ABC was forced to pull at the last minute<\/a> over video of Paul throwing a stool at her baby daddy.<\/p>\n

Brad Ledford was a candidate on Taylor Frankie Paul\u2019s now-axed season of ABC\u2019s \u201cThe Bachelorette.\u201d Disney<\/p>\n

It\u2019s unknown whether the season will ever see the light of day, and contestants are reportedly considering suing for missing their shot at the limelight.<\/p>\n

Ledford, who was 17 at the time of the 2014 crash, disputed Cawthorn\u2019s version of events in the years that followed the infamous crash.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy brother\u2026my best friend, he leaves me in a car to die in a fiery tomb,\u201d Cawthorn said in a 2017 speech.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat statement he made was false,\u201d Ledford later responded.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt hurt very badly that he would say something as false as that. That is not at all what happened. I pulled him out of the car the second that I was able to get out of the car.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ledford told The Post that the crash was a \u201cterrible accident\u201d and said he and his childhood pal \u201cwant the best for each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s apologized to me, and that\u2019s all that matters \u2026 none of us are perfect and we all make mistakes,\u201d he said Wednesday, adding that he hasn\u2019t seen Cawthorn in many years.<\/p>\n

Former Republican North Carolina Congressman Madison Cawthorn was paralyzed in the fiery April 2014 car crash, where Ledford was behind the wheel, according to reports. CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Ledford\u2019s dreams to be the mane attraction came to a screeching halt, however, when ABC abruptly pulled the plug on the \u201cSecret Lives of Mormon Wives\u201d star\u2019s season days before it aired. \u00a0 Disney<\/p>\n

Ledford, now 29, was described in his \u201cBachelorette\u201d bio as a \u201chandsome California boy\u201d who was \u201classoing for love.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis best friend is his horse, Gus, whom he partners with on all his cowboy jobs,\u201d ABC said of the wrangler. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen he\u2019s not on the ranch, Brad enjoys swing dancing, hanging at the beach, and listening to Adele.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis fearless romantic is ready to start a family and prides himself on being a generous, loving partner. We can\u2019t wait to see if he can giddy up his way into our Bachelorette\u2019s heart.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ledford\u2019s dreams to be the mane attraction came to a screeching halt, however, when ABC abruptly pulled the plug on the \u201cSecret Lives of Mormon Wives\u201d star\u2019s<\/a> season on March 19.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The startling decision \u2014 made just three days before the first episode was set to air \u2014 came after a shocking video emerged, allegedly showing Paul physically abusing her baby daddy, Dakota Mortensen.\u00a0<\/p>\n

ABC abruptly pulled the plug on the \u201cSecret Lives of Mormon Wives\u201d star\u2019s season on March 19.\u00a0 WireImage<\/p>\n

Paul, 31, has since been slapped with a restraining order by Mortensen, her on-and-off-again ex-boyfriend, lost custody of their shared son and become the subject of two additional domestic abuse investigations.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The \u201cMomTok\u201d influencer has since claimed<\/a> that she\u2019s been \u201csilently suffering extensive mental and physical abuse\u201d for years.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Addressing the show\u2019s cancellation, Ledford later said he \u201ccould care less about a TV show not airing right now\u201d in an Instagram story.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s real kids involved, real family involved, and I want the best for them. I want the best for Taylor\u2019s kids. I want the best for Taylor,\u201d he wrote.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Cawthorn did not return messages. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A candidate on Taylor Frankie Paul\u2019s now-axed season of ABC\u2019s \u201cThe Bachelorette\u201d was behind a fiery car crash…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":545426,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[1855,2356,1340,88,604,64613,92,194],"class_list":["post-545425","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-abc","tag-california","tag-congress","tag-entertainment","tag-reality-tv","tag-the-bachelorette","tag-tv","tag-us-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/545425","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=545425"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/545425\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/545426"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=545425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=545425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=545425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}