What Caused ABC&x27;s "Bachelorette" Blunder? Sara Levine, Lifestyle and Culture Editor Fri, March 20, 2026 at 6:53 PM UTC 0 What Caused ABC's "Bachelorette" Blunder? They finally did it. The Bachelorette had its most dramatic season ever — and it'll never even air. When ABC cast The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives's Taylor Frankie Paul as its next Bachelorette, the network had to know they were making a ballsy move.
What Caused ABC's "Bachelorette" Blunder?
Sara Levine, Lifestyle and Culture Editor Fri, March 20, 2026 at 6:53 PM UTC
0
What Caused ABC's "Bachelorette" Blunder?
They finally did it.
The Bachelorette had its most dramatic season ever — and it'll never even air.
When ABC cast The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives's Taylor Frankie Paul as its next Bachelorette, the network had to know they were making a ballsy move. Paul was a big departure from the squeaky-clean Christian leads of most seasons' past: She was already a reality star in her own right outside of Bachelor Nation, she has three young children from two different fathers, and she's a divorcée. (Not to mention, she's a whopping 31 years old, which is practically elderly as far as non-Golden Bachelorettes go.)
Even the way Paul was announced as the lead was unconventional. Usually, ABC makes these kinds of updates through their own channels, but they chose to share the news on an episode of the podcast Call Her Daddy.
Paul did not fit the typical formula, which is notable in itself, because ABC has historically white-knuckled any kind of diversity — they didn't cast a Black lead until Rachel Lindsay became the Bachelorette in season 21, for example. But for Paul, for some reason, her unconventionality seems to be a selling point. (It probably goes without saying that Paul is white.)
"As a single mother of three, Paul shares the highs and lows of her life with unfiltered candor," Disney said in a press release when the announcement was made. "With humor, resilience and a fearless openness, she inspires others to embrace life's chaos and own their story." ABC chose her knowing she would not play by the rules. In a teaser for the season that will never air, Paul is heard telling the cameras that she wants to get rid of all the roses.
ABC cast Paul with far more information than they would have when casting most leads (often runners-up from previous seasons), including multiple seasons' worth of data on how she behaves when the cameras are rolling. That means that they also knew about Paul's domestic violence charge from 2023, because the world knew about it. The incident was used as a cliffhanger at the end of the very first episode of Mormon Wives.
In the lead-up to Paul's premiere as the Bachelorette, a bombshell dropped that Paul and her on-again, off-again partner, Dakota Mortensen, were facing an investigation for domestic violence that allegedly occurred in mid- to late-February. That news broke March 14, when it was revealed that Mormon Wives was pausing filming amid the investigation. ABC, however, continued to promote The Bachelorette at events, in press, and on social media.
The network probably saw Paul and the chaos that followed her as a calculated risk, figuring that ratings would be worth whatever controversy her season could create. They made the mistake networks seem to make again and again when it comes to dating shows: thinking viewers care more about the drama than about what the show's ostensibly about — finding love.
It's not the first time they let drama drive the "journey." Back in September, shortly before his season began filming, Golden Bachelor Mel Owens came under fire for going on a podcast and saying he would eliminate any woman over 60 from the show. He said this after being chosen as the face of a TV show about dating in your 60s and 70s. (Owens was 66 at the time, by the way.)
Advertisement
Fans called for ABC to replace Owens, and there were rumors that the network was considering it. Ultimately, they doubled down. Owens stayed on as the lead and spent multiple episodes on an apology tour. As a result, the rest of the season was a total snooze. The Golden Bachelor came in fighting an uphill battle with both the ladies and the viewers, and he also just so happened to have the personality and emotional engagement of a dried-out Lysol wipe. He could have overcome one of those obstacles, but not both. Adding insult to injury for the fans, the season ended with Owens making it clear that he was not willing to get engaged at the end of the show, which, as we've said before, is kind of the whole point.
Contrast that with season 1 of The Golden Bachelor, which had record-high ratings thanks in no small part to its sweet-seeming lead, Gerry Turner; wholesome representation of older adults; and heartwarming love story. Owens's premiere got 2.5 million viewers, compared to Turner's record-breaking 4.4 million. ABC likely bet on a more dramatic season for Golden Bachelor season 2 and lost.
It's not just ABC. On the most recent season of Love is Blind, the show's most stable and genuine couple, Vic St. John and Christine Elham, almost didn't make it onto our screens. They did not join the six other engaged couples on what is now a LIB institution: the post-pods trip to Mexico. Instead, production cobbled together a trip to Malibu, which Elham and St. John documented themselves on their phones. The show's creator, Chris Coelen, told PEOPLE that it was because they had "fewer intersecting relationships with the other remaining couples." In other words? Fewer opportunities for drama.
Thankfully, production realized soon after Mexico that they'd royally messed up and got a camera crew on them, and thank god they did — otherwise we would've missed out on the only successful marriage of season 10. But even their beautiful love story couldn't save the season from being widely criticized as "bleak" and "completely broken." And if you're wondering why that is, it's because Netflix cast a crew of aggressive red flags, including an Andrew Tate wannabe, a Tinder swindler, and a sentient cardboard cutout who couldn't even tell his fiancée she was pretty. The season had plenty of fights, but the actual love was in short supply.
Viewers and critics have been screaming into the void that they do, in fact, want to see real love stories on their reality dating shows. Slate reviewed the second season of The Golden Bachelor as follows: "How can a series about finding love basically never feature the word love?" Go on the Love is Blind subreddit, and you'll see post after post about how the show's experiment is a failure because it produces maybe one genuine couple per season. And still, networks and streamers choose to prioritize chaos instead of connection, toxicity over true feelings.
I can understand why they keep falling into the same trap. We live in an attention economy. Netflix hasn't released its viewership numbers for season 10, but Love is Blind was a trending topic on social media for weeks. Season 8 broke a Nielsen streaming record, racking up 1.2B minutes viewed in one week, making it the top unscripted streaming show of all time. This comes even as the show is repeatedly criticized for casting toxic men and faces lawsuits for everything from labor violations to sexual assault and false imprisonment.
Meanwhile, The Bachelor and its spin-offs continue to draw audiences year after year, no matter how much fans complain about the lack of diversity, the emphasis on Christianity, or the commitment to casting women young enough to date Leonardo DiCaprio. It's also survived its fair share of scandals so far: putting a man with openly racist tweets on the first Black Bachelorette's season, casting another guy with a previous indecent assault and battery conviction for the next season, to name just two.
It's not inconceivable that ABC thought they could weather another publicity storm. The Bachelorette may have had a plan to address Paul's charges and toxic relationship with Mortensen. What they probably didn't count on was the disturbing video being released from the 2023 altercation, depicting Paul throwing chairs at her child's father and hurting her daughter in the process. As with many abusive situations that play out in the court of public opinion, we probably don't have the full story — and it's highly possible that Paul is a victim and was reacting to Mortensen's abuse. Paul and Mortensen are both facing another domestic violence investigation. They sleep together twice shortly before she leaves to film The Bachelorette, which we see play out on the season of Mormon Wives that was just released. It's evident she's not healed from this relationship, but ABC chose to look past it.
Now they've learned their lesson in the hardest possible way. ABC has canceled the season of The Bachelorette after the whole thing's already been filmed. The network could lose tens of millions of dollars if it doesn't eventually air the show, and, according to former reality TV producer Ilya Yasmeen, crew members might not get paid. Least importantly, but still inconveniently, 30 men put their lives on hold to film for what has been proven to be an expensive farce.
ABC gambled and lost, big time. Maybe now they — and other networks and streamers — will reassess their toxic behaviors in returning to damaged contestant after damaged contestant. One day, we might actually get the love stories we were promised in the first place, instead of continued attempts to produce "the most dramatic season ever."
The post What Caused ABC's "Bachelorette" Blunder? appeared first on Katie Couric Media.
Source: "AOL Entertainment"
Source: Entertainment
Published: March 20, 2026 at 03:01PM on Source: PRIME TIME
#ShowBiz#Sports#Celebrities#Lifestyle