Taylor Frankie Paul isn’t afraid to speak up when it comes to her canceled season of “The Bachelorette.”
Season 22, which was scrapped by ABC days before its scheduled premiere in March, has been the topic of conversation for Bachelor Nation, including Paul who didn’t shy away from the comment section when a former “Bachelor” star questioned her “standards.”
On May 21, ‘Bachelor’ insider Reality Steve shared a clip on Instagram of an interview with Blake Horstmann, who appeared on season 14 of “The Bachelorette” and season 6 of “Bachelor in Paradise,” and his fiancée, “Love Is Blind” alum Giannina Gibelli.
The latter didn’t mince words when it came to Paul’s casting as “The Bachelorette” lead.
‘Bachelor’ Franchise Is ‘Completely Different’ Now, Alum Says
In the Reality Steve interview, Horstmann opened up about the “completely different” direction the franchise has taken since he appeared on Becca Kufrin’s “Bachelorette” season in 2018. He was the runner-up; Kufrin ultimately gave her final rose to Garrett Yrigoyen.
“I saw all the OG producers who started from the very beginning of ‘The Bachelor.’ And now it’s completely different,” Horstmann said. “I mean … I think there’s only, like, three or four producers who were there when I was there. … There’s been so much turnover and it’s just completely different at the very top.”
Horstmann appeared to be pointing to the behind-the-scenes turnover that has reshaped Bachelor Nation in recent years. The franchise’s longtime creator, Mike Fleiss, exited in 2023 after more than two decades with the series. ABC and Warner Bros. then handed the franchise to a new leadership team, but that era also saw more changes at the top.
Horstmann did not name a specific executive, but his comments line up with a period of major turnover behind the scenes at the franchise.
“I think the core is still there,” Horstmann continued. “Obviously, there’s still the roses, there’s still the dates, there’s still the two-on-ones, things like that. But I mean, I think just the fact that they picked Taylor Frankie Paul shows you just how different it is from when I was [there], because they would have never done something like that.”
Giannina Gibelli Questions ‘Bachelor’ Franchise’s ‘Standards’ in Casting Taylor Frankie Paul
Following Horstmann’s explanation of how “completely different” the “Bachelor” franchise looks today, Gibelli shared some opinions of her own.
“So they slapped every single lead in the face,” she said, referring to ABC’s decision to cast Paul as the lead.
“Like all the standards of, like, doing it for the right reasons,” she added with an eye roll.
ABC executive Rob Mills defended the original decision to cast Paul in a Variety interview from last month.
“Her motives were really very sincere,” Mills told Variety. “Walking into that, that was a really exciting story to tell through the lens of ‘The Bachelorette.’”
Taylor Frankie Paul Defends Her Unaired ‘Bachelorette’ Season
ABCPaul entered the comments of the Reality Steve clip on Instagram and defended her season, which is still reportedly in limbo despite ABC’s announcement that it would not air back in March.
“They did it differently and if it airs I’d bet it’ll be their most watched season so ‘standards’ aren’t always what people want to see❤️,” she wrote.
Paul’s choice of words—”if it airs”—aligns with recent reports that the season could still air, even though the network pulled the plug early on when a video showing a physical altercation between Paul and her ex Dakota Mortensen was leaked.
“In light of the newly released video just surfaced today, we have made the decision to not move forward with the new season of ‘The Bachelorette’ at this time, and our focus is on supporting the family,” a Disney spokesperson told People at the time.
“At this time” has become important as new updates surface.
Reality Steve said the season will air, and it won’t be on streaming—it’ll air on ABC. He said in the May 4 video that he’s expecting the network to make an announcement in the coming weeks.
It should be noted that ABC has not made any announcement at the time of publication.
In an April 22 interview with Variety, Mills described the situation as “one day at a time,” although he said there was “nothing new to report” on the status of “The Bachelorette.”
Mills gave another update to Deadline that same day. He said Disney’s first concern was Paul, her family and everyone involved.
He left room for the season to be seen someday.
