ABC to Finally Air New Season of The Bachelorette After Shelving It Over Controversial Video Involving Show’s Star

(Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)

ABC reportedly plans to air the latest season of The Bachelorette after the initial premiere was derailed due to the controversy around Taylor Frankie Paul.

Paul, who rose to fame on the reality TV show The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, was set to star on the new season of the long-running dating show. In March, TMZ released a video of a violent dispute involving Paul and her partner, Dakota Mortensen. In the video — which was recorded by Mortensen — Paul could be seen repeatedly hitting him and even throwing chairs at him. As this was going on, Paul’s daughter was in the room watching it all unfold.

Hours after the video came to light, Disney announced it would not air the upcoming season.

Three months later, however, the company seemed to have changed course. A Wednesday report from TMZ read:

“The Bachelorette” season starring Taylor Frankie Paul is almost out of Hollywood jail … and there’s an excellent chance it’ll air on ABC next month … TMZ has learned.

Production sources tell TMZ … the current discussion behind the scenes is for the season to premiere in mid-July — though final plans are not yet locked.

According to the report, the show’s editors “never stopped cutting episodes” even when it was announced the season wouldn’t run.

Since that announcement in March, TMZ added, Paul has worked to repair her public image on social media. Those efforts have gotten the attention of the network executives.

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