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It\u2019s been just over a week since the decision was made to cancel \u2014 or at least pause \u2014<\/a> Taylor Frankie Paul\u2019s season of The Bachelorette following the leak of a disturbing video from her 2023 domestic violence arrest. Lots of people are speaking out about if ABC made the right decision<\/a>, if someone with a violent past should have been made the lead in the first place and what this could mean for The Bachelor franchise overall. Now the very first Bachelorette Trista Sutter has weighed in.<\/p>\n Trista Sutter, who led the first season of The Bachelorette in 2003 after finishing as the runner-up on The Bachelor Season 1, attended the iHeartRadio Music Awards, where PauseRewind<\/a> asked about her reaction to news of Taylor Frankie Paul\u2019s season being pulled from the 2026 TV schedule<\/a>. Sutter said:<\/p>\n I was very sad. It is a show that has given me so much, and it felt like it could be the end. I\u2019m gonna hope that it\u2019s not, but I was very sad. There have been some mistakes made, and I\u2019m just trying to show grace.<\/p>\n Trista Sutter chose not to call out any of those \u201cmistakes\u201d specifically, but I\u2019m a little surprised at how candid she was about feeling like this could be the end of The Bachelor franchise. She\u2019s not the only alumna from the show to say as much, as Season 13 lead Rachel Lindsay didn\u2019t mince words<\/a> when saying, \u201cthe name Bachelorette, Bachelor is tainted at this point.\u201d<\/p>\n Trista Sutter suggested she has been in touch with Taylor Frankie Paul since the news broke, saying that she wrote in The Bachelorette group text that, \u201cI\u2019m here for you,\u201d and as for the fans, she hopes Bachelor Nation will continue to weather this storm, saying:<\/p>\n To The Bachelor fans, thank you for your support over the years, and I hope you stick with us.<\/p>\n The Season 1 Bachelorette \u2014 who is one of The Bachelor\u2019s most famous contestants<\/a>, having also competed on Dancing with the Stars, Fear Factor and Special Forces: World\u2019s Toughest Test \u2014 got the chance to meet Taylor Frankie Paul recently. Trista Sutter and most of the other Bachelorette leads reunited<\/a> in support of the Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star for a \u201cBefore the First Rose\u201d special that aired a week before what would have been Paul\u2019s premiere.<\/p>\n Trista Sutter had nothing but nice things to say about the MomTok leader, as she continued:<\/p>\n She was wonderful. She was so genuine and invested, and really, truly just wanted to hear the advice of everybody there \u2014 and that was a lot of advice, because there was a lot of people there. But she was wonderful.<\/p>\n Four days after their reunion special aired, ABC decided to pull the plug on The Bachelorette Season 22, following the release of a video from the 2023 incident involving Taylor Frankie Paul and her then-boyfriend Dakota Mortensen that led to Paul’s arrest.<\/p>\n The leaked viral video<\/a> came on the heels of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives halting production<\/a> on Season 5 amid new domestic violence allegations between Paul and Mortensen from February of this year. Since then, a third incident<\/a> between the former couple \u2014 this one from 2024 \u2014 has come to light.<\/p>\n There are a lot of questions surrounding the ABC dating franchise, with the network reportedly losing tens of millions of dollars<\/a>, and I agree with Trista Sutter that this is a \u201cvery sad\u201d situation from all angles.<\/p>\n