Former Bachelor contestant Sydney Warner has criticised the casting of Taylor Frankie Paul on the upcoming season of The Bachelorette, citing Paul's ongoing domestic assault investigation and alleged lack of respect for the show's values.
Paul, 31, star of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, is set to appear as the lead on The Bachelorette, premiering Sunday. However, her ex-partner Dakota Mortensen, with whom she shares a one-year-old son, claimed on a recent episode of her show that they had slept together the night before she left to film the dating series.
Warner, who appeared on The Bachelor in 2020 as Sydney Hightower, posted a clip of the scene on Instagram Stories, accusing Paul of disrespecting the male contestants. 'What has happened to morals and values?' Warner wrote, adding that ABC was casting 'someone like this just to get views.'
The controversy comes as Draper City police confirmed an open domestic assault investigation involving Paul and Mortensen. Production on The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives has been paused, with a source telling People that the cast is 'terrified to film with Taylor right now' and view her as a 'major liability.'
Paul and Mortensen have reportedly been ordered to undergo psychological evaluations, according to TMZ. In 2023, Paul was arrested for domestic violence after allegedly throwing chairs at Mortensen, accidentally hitting her five-year-old daughter.
Warner, now married to NFL player Fred Warner, concluded her criticism by saying: 'I know this is a dying franchise but why not let the show die out with class and dignity and not stoop down & claw and scrape just to get views.'
