Taylor Frankie Paul is “hopeful” her season of The Bachelorette will eventually air, a source exclusively tells Us Weekly.
“Viewers would get to see another side to her,” the insider adds as the future of Taylor’s season remains up in the air.
ABC announced in March, days before The Bachelorette was scheduled to premiere, that Taylor’s season was being pulled from the air amid domestic violence allegations between the reality star and ex-boyfriend Dakota Mortensen.
“She has been doing the work behind the scenes, taken accountability and is focused on moving forward in a more positive way,” the same insider tells Us. “The hope is that viewers would connect with that growth and see a different side of her, making this season feel like a true redemption moment rather than just a return to TV, but right now her priority is her family and her mental health.”
News broke in March that Taylor, 31, and Dakota, 33, had been involved in an alleged domestic violence dispute the month prior. Utah’s Draper City Police Department confirmed to Us at the time that there was an open domestic violence investigation involving the former couple. Production on The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives season 5 came to a halt amid the investigation. Authorities ultimately revealed in mid-April that Taylor would not be charged, and production on Mormon Wives has since resumed.
As Taylor was being investigated for the alleged incident from February, a video from 2023 resurfaced showing her throwing a chair at Dakota while her now-8-year-old daughter, Indy, was nearby. (Taylor pleaded guilty to felony aggravated assault over the incident in exchange for other criminal charges against her being dropped.)
What to Know About Taylor Frankie Paul and Ex Dakota’s Custody Battle
The video’s release ultimately led to ABC’s decision to cancel her season.
“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,” a spokesperson for Disney Entertainment Television told Us in March.
ABC executive Rob Mills has since discussed the network’s future plans to potentially air the footage.
“Everything with that is one day at a time,” he told Variety in an interview published on April 22. “The day all of that stuff happened, really our first sort of concern was really for Taylor and the family and everyone involved in that … it was really more on a human level.”
He added, “Now, we’re sort of taking it a day at a time.”
Mills noted that Taylor’s season was “wonderful,” adding, “If it gets seen, I’m sure people will absolutely enjoy it.”
