ABC pulled The Bachelorette 2026 just days before it was set to premiere on March 22, after a video surfaced online showing Taylor Frankie Paul in an altercation with her ex-partner, Dakota Mortensen. Disney Entertainment said it would not move forward with the new season at this time and that its focus was on supporting the family.
Paul had signed up to be the newest Bachelorette, making the move a sudden reversal for a franchise that had already put a date on the calendar. The decision came after the video emerged and before the season could air, a timing that turned a planned launch into a public cancellation scare for one of ABC’s biggest reality properties.
The network’s pullback is now tied to a legal and production trail that has only grown more complicated. The Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office said it declined to file charges against Paul after reviewing reports and evidence submitted to the Draper Police Department and West Jordan Police Department. Paul was also granted a temporary protective order against Mortensen, even as the two continue fighting over custody of their son, Ever, 2.
That custody battle matters because the fallout is not limited to one dating show. Paul is also a star of Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, where filming for the upcoming season was halted as well, and TMZ reported there has been “zero movement” on her Bachelorette season until the future of that series is ironed out. ABC licenses the show from Warner Bros., and the pause leaves the network exposed to a potential $70-million loss if the season never airs.
The wording from ABC left a narrow opening, and that may be the only thing keeping the season alive. An industry insider said the statement “left a window to bring [the show] back. They haven’t cancelled it - they simply paused it,” while a source close to Paul said the move had “closed the door on anything professionally, especially SLOMW” and that her “sole priority right now is resolving the custody of her son.” For now, ABC has made the decision not to move ahead, but the real answer is that the show is on hold, not gone.