If you have a Hulu subscription or have run into MomTok on TikTok, odds are you know about Secret Lives of Mormon Wives and the women who lead the reality show. However, on the 2025 TV schedule, a bunch of new people are going to learn about them as Jen Affleck and Whitney Leavitt compete on Dancing with the Stars. However, now another ABC reality competition has cast a SLOMW star as Taylor Frankie Paul is set to be the next Bachelorette. And after that news broke, let's just say reactions were all over the place.
Typically, the next Bachelor or Bachelorette is a former suitor from a previous season. However, that doesn’t happen all the time – in fact, the next Golden Bachelor, Mel Owens, was not on The Golden Bachelorette. But an established and very famous reality star from another franchise leading a season was unexpected.
@callherdaddy INTRODUCING YOUR NEXT BACHELORETTE!!! 👏🌹
♬ original sound - Call Her Daddy
It’s uncharted waters here, and fans are excited, as they commented on the Call Her Daddy post announcing Taylor Frankie Paul's news:
- okay bachelor franchise you have reeled me back in -hannah
- ABC knows what they’re doing 😂 first Whitney and Jen on DWTS and now Taylor on the Bach … I’ll be watching both for the first time -TwoHotDawggs
- man i've avoided that show like the plague, i might have just been sucked in -jordan.leiner
A big question going into this season of The Bachelorette is how Taylor’s relationship with her ex, Dakota Mortensen, will play into this. They share a child, and they’ve had a turbulent on-again, off-again relationship, as she described on Call Her Daddy. She also shares two kids with her ex, Tate Paul, and both of them were involved in the TikTok scandal that involved talk about “soft swinging.”
Along with all that, she made headlines when she was arrested in 2023 and faced misdemeanor charges of assault, criminal mischief and commission of domestic violence in the presence of a child, per People. Those charges were all dropped, and the situation was shown in the first season of Secret Lives of Mormon Wives.
All this is to say, she’s been through a lot, and a lot of it has happened on TV. So, there is a group of concerned viewers who were commenting things like:
- I loved that the Bachelor & Bachelorette was full of just regular people.. this isn’t what I want for that show 😭 love TFP in SLOMW, but not for the bachelor franchise. Ugh. It’s def gonna bring in views tho. -Kayla Kurtz
- Love her but can she just.. fully heal first? Because diving into another emotionally tolling thing? -Nikki
- i like her and slmw but i don’t think this is a good idea -cait
Meanwhile, a lot of fans are just curious to see how chaotic this new season will be. The Bachelor and Bachelorette are known for bringing the drama. However, making the bachelorette someone who already leads a very dramatic reality series turns the volume on this vibe up to eleven. As some fans commented:
- It’s gonna be like a car crash I can’t look away -dannydevitosuperfan
- THIS IS ACTUALLY INSANE -carleigh eileen
- This is about to be the messiest season -lynreality
As someone who has only watched Secret Lives of Mormon Wives here and there, I agree with this final camp of people. The women bring the drama on that show, and Paul’s romantic life has always been a turbulent part of the series. So, it will be interesting to see how that energy transfers over to The Bachelorette.
Hopefully, she becomes a bachelorette who stays with whoever she ends up with. However, time will tell, and in the meantime, we’ll be able to watch her journey to find love when her season of The Bachelorette premieres next year.
