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The new season of dating show The Bachelorette has been canceled following domestic violence allegations against that season’s star, ABC announced.
The network said it had “made the decision not to move forward with the new season” after footage of Taylor Frankie Paul emerged on Thursday appearing to show her in an altercation with ex-partner Dakota Mortensen in 2023.
Paul, a TikTok influencer who also stars in Hulu’s The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, was arrested in connection with the 2023 incident. She pleaded guilty to aggravated assault, US media reports.
Paul’s spokeswoman said she was prioritizing her family’s safety and was “preparing to own and share her story.”
In a statement, Mortensen, the father of Paul’s third child, said his “focus is on our son and his safety.”
A spokesperson for Disney, which owns ABC, said it made the decision to cancel the season “in light of the new video that was just released today,” referring to footage published by TMZ.
The new season of The Bachelorette was set to premiere on Sunday.
ABC did not provide details on what the network planned to air during the show’s allotted time slot.
Before the cancellation announcement, Paul appeared on ABC’s Good Morning America on Wednesday to promote the series, during which she addressed the allegations against her.
“Honestly, it’s been a tough time being in the news, especially now that ‘The Bachelorette’ is coming out,” she said.
“It was supposed to be a really exciting time.”
Paul also confirmed that production has been suspended on the upcoming fifth season of Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, which premieres in 2024.
“This is a decision that all of us girls made,” Paul’s co-star Mikayla Matthews said on social media Wednesday.
“We didn’t feel comfortable filming everything that was happening.”
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Paul rose to prominence on social media as an influencer for #MomTok, a group of young mothers from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Utah, who created dance videos and shared parenting clips on TikTok.
She made headlines in 2022 when she announced that she and her husband were going through a divorce and had had relationships with other couples during their marriage. Her story was featured on the Hulu show, Secret Lives of Mormon Wives.
After her divorce, she began a relationship with Mortensen, who appeared on the show.
