By Michaela Gordoni
In the last year and a half, THE BACHELOR franchise has had two showrunners leave over toxic workplace allegations and cancelled its latest season of THE BACHELORETTE due to allegations against its star, Taylor Frankie Paul.
Disney Vice President of Unscripted Rob Mills said, “THE BACHELOR is almost a perfect format and it is really powerful. It’s over two decades old, and it’s seen really good days and really bad days. But it’s always had a lot of resilience, especially when the people making it really, really care about it, because that fan base also really cares about it.”
“However THE BACHELOR comes back next year, it will be done with a lot of thoughtfulness and care. I do think better days are ahead for the franchise,” he said.
THE BACHELOR Season 30 will air next year with BACHELOR IN PARADISE’s Scott Teti as showrunner.
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“This is a very different type of thing than just waning ratings or being in a creative rut. These shows all have ups and downs,” Mills said.
“DANCING [WITH THE STARS] had a great year but a few years ago we were worried about just keeping the show on the air. I do think we’re going to take that care [with THE BACHELOR] but I’m very hopeful for the next cycle.”
Season 22 of THE BACHELORETTE was cancelled after Paul, who starred in THE SECRET LIVES OF MORMAN WIVES, was accused of domestic violence around her ex and children. A court in Utah recently ruled that she is not allowed to have unsupervised visits with her 2-year-old son, due to evidence of this.
However, the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office recently declined to file charges against Paul.
“The day all of that stuff happened, really our first sort of concern was really for Taylor and the family and everyone involved in that, it was really more on a human level,” Mills said.
“Now, we’re sort of taking it a day at a time. I think her season is a wonderful season, by BACHELOR standards. If it gets seen, I’m sure people will absolutely enjoy it,” he said.
It is possible that the season could air eventually, but as for now, that is completely uncertain.
Paul is known for drama. On SECRET LIVES OF MORMAN WIVES, she claimed she and her prior husband were swingers, per Parade. This eventually led to their divorce.
Like many reality series, THE BACHELOR thrives on scandal and drama. Could there be brighter days? Who knows.
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