By Arushi Jacob, Payton Turkeltaub, Kennedy French
ABC / Getty From Stagecoach Gate to fence jumps — and now the recent Taylor Frankie Paul “Bachelorette” debacle — Bachelor Nation is no stranger to drama and controversies. But when you put a group of good-looking, love-hungry singles in a mansion and tell them the last one standing wins a proposal, things are bound to go sideways. Sometimes that means a happily ever after. Sometimes it means a restraining order.
“The Bachelor” premiered on ABC in 2002, and over the past 20-plus years the franchise has grown into a reality TV empire, with spinoffs like “The Bachelorette,” “Bachelor in Paradise” and “The Golden Bachelor” that have collectively produced far more headlines than they have engagements (and not all of them are good). While some are classic reality TV tales of heartbreak and love triangles, the franchise has at times taken a much darker turn.
The ABC behemoth finds itself at yet another crossroads following the indefinite pause of “The Bachelorette” Season 22 of, which was pulled from the air before it ever premiered amid a domestic violence scandal involving star Paul. Over the years, Bachelor Nation has navigated racism controversies, sexual misconduct allegations, a hit-and-run, a host forced out after nearly two decades and at least one contestant who threatened to dismember his castmates.
Below are the franchise’s most controversial moments.
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Taylor Frankie Paul’s ‘Bachelorette’ Season Pulled After Domestic Violence Video Surfaces
Image Credit: Disney Before a single rose was handed out on screen, ABC yanked Taylor Frankie Paul’s season of “The Bachelorette” entirely — a franchise first. The “Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” star and #MomTok personality was already fielding uncomfortable questions heading into premiere week, with an active domestic assault investigation out of Draper City, Utah, involving her on-again, off-again ex Dakota Mortensen, with whom she shares a toddler son.
The final blow came when TMZ published video from a 2023 incident showing Paul putting Mortensen in a headlock, kicking him and hurling multiple chairs at him, all while her young daughter sat nearby. Paul had previously pleaded guilty to felony aggravated assault for the incident, with remaining charges dismissed.
Paul had spent the week doing press in New York, appearing on “Good Morning America” and “Live With Kelly and Mark,” telling reporters the timing was “extremely hard.” Within hours of the video’s release, ABC pulled the plug.
“In light of the newly released video just surfaced today, we have made the decision to not move forward with the new season of ‘The Bachelorette’ at this time, and our focus is on supporting the family,” the statement from a Disney Entertainment Television spokesperson read.
The season will no longer air on March 22.
