Bachelor Nation Is Exploding After ABC Pulls Taylor Frankie Paul’s ‘Bachelorette’ Season

No one is getting a rose for “The Bachelorette” Season 22 — and no one from Bachelor Nation is happy about it.

In less than 24 hours since ABC pulled Taylor Frankie Paul’s upcoming — and heavily promoted — season of “The Bachelorette,” former readers of the hit show and its sister show, “The Bachelor,” erupted in shock, disbelief and anger.

“This is bad for Disney. This is bad for Hulu,” said Rachel Lindsay, who was 2017’s top Black actress. “This is bad for Hulu because someone will have to blame for not checking this.”

The decision to pull the season comes amid reports that the “Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” star and his ex-wife, Dakota Mortensen, are involved in an ongoing domestic violence investigation. On Thursday afternoon, TMZ published a video showing Paul attacking Mortensen in front of his young daughter during the 2023 incident.

Paul was charged with assault, criminal mischief and domestic violence in the presence of a child in the 2023 incident. Court records show Paul pleaded guilty to aggravated assault in August 2025, and four other charges were dismissed with prejudice.

“How did this cross the threshold?” Lindsay, who said she was taping Thursday’s “Bachelor Party” podcast episode when the news broke, added. “Because I just thought it was okay.”

The podcast episode was titled “The End of The Bachelorette.”

On Thursday, Arie Luyendyk, the 22nd “Bachelor” of the series, announced the following on Instagram: “What a mess.”

“I feel for the entire production and the contestants who put their lives on the line. There’s a lot that goes into this you don’t know,” he wrote. “I don’t support him one way or another and I think it’s the right decision. Looking back, he wasn’t the right choice for this role.”

At least one reader who left the series was disappointed that he didn’t get to see the “chaos” playing out on the screen.

Kelley Flanagan, a contestant on the 24th season of “The Bachelor,” said in a video posted on Instagram Thursday that she felt bad for Paul, Mortensen and their children, but admitted that she was “bad” because “it was going to be fun.”

“I wanted to watch this train wreck. I wanted to watch this mess,” he said. “I think it would have been something different from what I’ve seen in the past.”

A number of contestants in this canceled season released statements on social media following the news.

The West Jordan Police Department in Utah confirmed to NBC News on Wednesday that the department had received a domestic violence call involving Paul, but declined to provide details about the allegations or any charges. They also do not know the exact date or time of the reported incident.

The spokesperson of the police department said that the detectives are busy to find out the facts of this case.

The Draper Police Department in Utah told People magazine earlier this week that there is an open “domestic assault investigation” into Paul and Mortensen and that “allegations have been made on both sides.” A police spokesperson said: “Those involved are being contacted [Feb] 24 and 25.”

Contestant Clayton Johnson wrote on his Instagram page Thursday that he “can honestly say this was one of the best men’s teams I’ve ever been a part of.”

“Any woman would be lucky to have one of these guys. True integrity,” she wrote. ‘True respect. Real men. I love you guys.”

Contestant Doug Mason urged his Instagram followers on Friday to “stay positive.”

“Because of everything that’s happened, I’m sending prayers to Taylor, because I was her time and her time was blocked,” she wrote.

Some alumni of the series questioned why Paul was cast in the first place, citing his criminal history.

“As a former contestant on The Bachelor, I can tell you that ABC scrutinizes every part of your personal history,” Jillian Anderson King, a contestant on season 19 of “The Bachelor,” wrote on X. “Given that Frankie Taylor Paul already had a public profile, it’s hard to believe they didn’t know exactly who he was getting into this season.”

Paul’s arrest in 2023 played in the first episode of Hulu’s “Secret Lives of Mormon Wives,” a series that follows a group of young Mormon mothers in Utah who are famous for the Internet subculture known as “MomTok.” The episode ends with police body camera footage showing authorities handcuffing Paul in front of his home. Paul and Mortensen’s son, Ever, was born a year after his arrest.

In a brief call with NBC News on Thursday, following the release of the TMZ video but before ABC announced it would pull his season of “The Bachelor,” Paul said, “I’m going to have my truth.”

There are currently no public charges against Mortensen. But a spokeswoman for Paul said he is “recognizing the power to confront the accuser and take steps to ensure he and his children are protected from any further harm.”

The final season of “The Bachelorette” aired in 2024. Paul’s upcoming season was scheduled to premiere on Sunday.

“And we don’t know all the details,” Lindsay said at the taping of “Bachelor Party.” “But what I’m going to say is bad.”