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UPDATE: Although Disney executives haven’t ruled anything out, TMZ reports that Taylor Frankie Paul’s season is not on ABC’s summer schedule.
Read on for our continuing coverage of reality TV’s hottest question: Will we ever see Taylor’s search for love?
Get excited, problematic reality TV fans!
There is reason to believe that Taylor Frankie Paul’s season The bachelorette party could eventually see the light of day.
In a new interview, Rob Mills, Disney’s executive vice president of unscripted television, revealed that ABC is still open to the possibility of eventually airing Taylor’s episodes.
“Everything about this is one day at a time. There’s really nothing new to report at this time.” Mills said Variety when asked about the possibility that the season, which has already been filmed in its entirety, could eventually air.
Recent court decisions may have influenced Disney’s decision-making process. We now know that Paul will not face any additional charges following an investigation into additional allegations of domestic violence.
Taylor pleaded guilty to assaulting her then-boyfriend Dakota Mortensen in February 2023. But it wasn’t until ABC executives saw footage of the incident that they decided not to air her season.
Still, Mills stands by the decision to cast her as the Bachelorette.
“I had met with Taylor. She told me, ‘Look, I’m raising three kids with different fathers; one I have a phenomenal co-parenting relationship with. The other is a challenge, but I’m really looking for a partner and someone who can help me,'” he shared.
“His motives were actually very sincere,” he continued.
“Going into that, it was a really exciting story to tell through the lens of The Bachelorette. Obviously, with everything that’s happened and everything that everyone is going through, that’s the hard part. Everything Taylor has had to go through has been really difficult. The season itself is really fantastic. It was a great journey for her.”
Mills also confirmed that Paul’s other reality show, The secret lives of Mormon wiveshas resumed production.
“There’s not much to say, other than that we are clear that we will return to production,” he said.
“That doesn’t mean we’re filming tomorrow. It just means production is resuming and we’re trying to see what that’s going to look like.”
Mills added that the producers’ top priority is Taylor and that they are working to ensure that “as a human being, on a personal level, she is being taken care of.”
“The appearance of the shoot will be decided later,” he continued.
“Everything is still day to day; this was just an announcement that we’re getting back into production. That’s a process. Because we’ve been down for so long, we have to figure out what this season is going to be like. What are the stories?”
Mills refuted rumors that Disney was holding off on making a production decision until it knew whether Paul would be charged with felony assault.
“It was just about making sure that we were really careful and thoughtful and worked with the entire cast, as well as the producers, and making sure that everyone felt like this was the right decision,” he said.
There are rumors on social media that ABC has already set a premiere date for Taylor’s season of The bachelorette partybut they seem to have no basis.
We will have more updates on this developing story as new information becomes available.
