ABC just ripped up its own playbook. The network has tapped Taylor Frankie Paul—the outspoken TikTok creator and breakout of Hulu’s Emmy-nominated The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives—to front The Bachelorette Season 22, making her the first lead in franchise history who hasn’t previously appeared on The Bachelor or Bachelor in Paradise. She’s also the first Bachelorette from Utah.
A first for the franchise—and why it matters
Paul, 31, revealed the news on Alex Cooper’s Call Her Daddy, calling the moment “surreal” and admitting that group dating will be brand-new territory. A single mom of three whose online life toggles between chaos and candor, she built a massive following by narrating the highs and lows of motherhood and messy breakups in real time. That same unfiltered voice now becomes the heartbeat of ABC’s longest-running dating show.
The casting is a sharp pivot for The Bachelorette, which has almost always promoted leads from its own alumni. Bringing in a cultural lightning rod from outside the franchise suggests ABC wants more than a standard love story—it wants a conversation starter. The move doubles as corporate synergy too: ABC and Hulu both sit under Disney, and Mormon Wives has already delivered heat (and headlines) for the streaming side.
What’s confirmed so far:
- Paul announced her role on Call Her Daddy during a Wednesday episode.
- She is the first Bachelorette lead who never appeared on The Bachelor franchise.
- ABC praised her “fearless openness” and how she pulled back the curtain on Salt Lake City’s “soft-swinging” scene.
- The Bachelorette Season 22 is slated for 2026, with an exact premiere date to be announced.
- Paul will appear on Season 3 of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, premiering November 13, 2025.
- The Bachelorette is produced by Warner Horizon Unscripted Television, with Scott Teti as executive producer.
Paul’s reach stretches far beyond a single series. She rose through TikTok’s MomTok orbit alongside castmates Jennifer Affleck, Mayci Neeley, Whitney Leavitt, Layla Taylor, Demi Engemann, Jessi Ngatikaura, and Mikayla Matthews—then brought that ecosystem to Hulu, where Mormon Wives turned Utah influencer culture into appointment viewing. The show’s July nod for Outstanding Unstructured Reality Program signaled what ABC may be betting on: audience curiosity and a built-in social fan base.
On the podcast, Paul didn’t sugarcoat the challenge ahead. She said she married young, divorced, and quickly moved into another relationship—so the idea of simultaneously dating multiple people on-camera is new. Asked what the biggest adjustment will be, she said, “All of it,” and pointed to co-parenting logistics as a real concern while filming.
That practical hurdle is not small. Bachelorette shoots are demanding: weeks of travel, long days, and a parade of dates, ceremonies, and hometowns. Past leads have juggled careers and families, but leads who are parents are rare. Emily Maynard carried Season 8 as a single mom; Jason Mesnick did so on the Bachelor side. Productions have made accommodations in the past, but each situation is unique. With Paul’s three young kids, scheduling, custody coordination, and on- or near-set support will be critical.
ABC’s statement framed the choice as intentional and forward-looking, highlighting Paul’s ability to “ignite MomTok” and turn personal upheaval into a relatable storyline. In corporate speak, that reads like a vote of confidence that an audience used to following her on their phones will show up on linear TV and streaming next-day. It also hints at how ABC sees the franchise evolving—less alumni recycling, more culture-anchored booking.
Inside the calculation: risk, reward, and a very online lead
Paul’s story is complicated—and that’s part of the draw. She became a household name beyond TikTok after the social circle she moved in, and her own love life, became the center of a “soft-swinging” scandal that spilled from local gossip to national think pieces. Hulu’s Mormon Wives leans straight into that fallout, following the women as they patch friendships, raise kids, and manage careers under a spotlight they didn’t always want but rarely look away from.
There’s also the legal history. Paul was previously arrested and charged, including aggravated assault and domestic violence in the presence of a child, after a dispute with a boyfriend. In August 2023, she pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of aggravated assault, and other charges were dismissed. ABC didn’t ignore her past; instead, it framed her as resilient and self-aware—language networks tend to use when they want to be transparent without letting a single chapter define the whole story.
This is where the franchise context matters. The Bachelor and The Bachelorette have spent years trying to modernize without losing their core. Casting older leads, experimenting with formats, and leaning into real-life complications have all been part of that. An influencer mother navigating co-parenting while looking for a partner? That’s squarely 2020s television—messy, relatable, and built for social conversation in between episodes.
For Disney, the portfolio play is obvious. The Bachelorette lives on ABC. Mormon Wives lives on Hulu. Dancing With the Stars, another ABC tentpole, is already welcoming two of Paul’s current castmates this cycle. Cross-pollination keeps talent in-house and audiences bouncing across platforms: watch the docu-reality on Hulu, flip to a live competition on ABC, then meet the headline maker leading one of TV’s most enduring dating shows.
The 2026 timetable gives producers breathing room. Casting 25-plus suitors who fit Paul’s life stage—and can handle high-profile scrutiny—takes time. So does building a season arc that feels fresh. Expect producers to weigh:
- Age mix and life experience of contestants, likely skewing a bit older than recent seasons.
- Readiness to date someone with kids, which often becomes a filter question on night one.
- Travel and hometown logistics that consider co-parenting schedules.
- How much to address Utah and Mormon influencer culture on-air without turning the season into a spinoff of her Hulu show.
One question hovering over the season: will it film any portion in or near Salt Lake City? The franchise often camps at its Los Angeles home base and then hops to destination dates, but hometown segments and family intros will be high-stakes TV here. Fold in Paul’s digital footprint and you’ve got a season where off-camera life—IG Stories, TikTok lives, podcast recaps—could shape the narrative in real time.
That’s not a small production challenge. Reality TV editors prefer to lead the story, not chase it. With Paul, the story has already been told in chapters across multiple platforms, and the audience comes in with opinions. Expect tighter control over spoilers, careful messaging from the cast, and more coordination between ABC’s PR team and the talent’s own channels.
Paul’s own comments hint at the personal arc producers will lean into. She says she hasn’t “done the whole meeting new people out, like dating at the same time.” That’s the show’s central battery: vulnerable firsts, mistakes in front of millions, and the crossroads between real life and reality TV expectations. If she leans into the openness that made her a star, the season can feel honest without being performative. If it tilts too produced, her base may balk.
There’s a brand calculus here too. The franchise has learned the hard way that controversy without payoff turns viewers off, but a grounded, self-possessed lead can carry even noisy seasons. Paul’s reputation for biting humor and straight talk could balance the inevitable fireworks. Meanwhile, ABC’s nod to her “inspiring others to embrace life’s chaos and own their story” is a mission statement for the edit: show growth, not just gossip.
For longtime Bachelor Nation fans, the outsider pick raises the stakes for casting the men. Will producers bring in more fathers? Professionals with flexible careers? Contestants from the creator economy who understand life on-camera? The right mix can make or break a lead’s season. The wrong mix can sink it before hometowns.
Timeline-wise, viewers should watch for rolling announcements in 2025: contestant applications and casting calls early in the year, production windows in late spring or summer, and first-look teasers once Mormon Wives Season 3 lands in November. That sequencing lets Disney stack attention: Hulu premiere, DWTS crossovers, then the ABC marketing drumbeat into 2026.
If you’re keeping score at home, here’s the basic roadmap as it stands:
- Now: Paul announced as Season 22 lead via Call Her Daddy.
- 2025: Casting and pre-production; Mormon Wives Season 3 premieres November 13 on Hulu.
- 2026: The Bachelorette Season 22 premieres on ABC; official date TBD.
All of this comes at a moment when reality TV is redefining “authentic.” Highly produced formats still win, but audiences reward vulnerability they recognize from their own feeds. Paul’s feed is her superpower. It might also be her biggest challenge. Can she let the show breathe without trying to narrate every moment herself? Can producers step back enough to let her be the person people follow, not a character built in the edit?
That tension—that’s the season. And it’s why ABC made the call. The franchise needed a jolt. Paul brings a ready-made audience, a stack of real-life stakes, and a story that won’t fade when the final rose is handed out. Now comes the hard part: turning viral moments into a lasting chapter that feels like a love story, not just a headline machine.