Rachel Lindsay’s live reaction to the cancellation of Taylor Frankie Paul’s Bachelorette season was captured on a podcast recording.
Rachel, 40, sat down for an episode of the “Bachelor Party” podcast — released on Thursday, March 19 — with cohosts Juliet Litman and Callie Curry when she was notified that ABC had pulled the plug.
“They canceled it. I’m sorry,” Rachel said, apologizing for interrupting her cohosts. “Why do I have chills?”
Rachel explained that when the video of Taylor’s 2023 altercation with ex-boyfriend Dakota Mortensen was released earlier on Thursday, her first thought was, “It’s over.” It turned out she was right.
“There’s no way, under any brand, but particularly Disney, that you can proceed when this video comes out,” Rachel said.
Taylor, 31, has been making headlines in the days leading up to her Bachelorette season — which was set to premiere on Sunday, March 22 — regarding her on-again, off-again relationship with Dakota, 33.
Us Weekly confirmed on Monday, March 16, that there was an open “domestic assault investigation” regarding the former couple, who have made allegations against each other. Both Taylor and Dakota addressed the situation as the week went on.
By Thursday, TMZ had obtained video footage of the 2023 incident which led to Taylor’s arrest, as shown during the Secret Lives of Mormon Wives premiere in September 2024. (Taylor pleaded guilty to felony aggravated assault in August 2023 as part of a plea deal.)
Hours after the video was released, ABC announced that Taylor’s Bachelorette season would not be making it to air.
“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 Entertainment Television spokesperson told Us in a statement.
Rachel wondered on Thursday’s podcast episode whether Taylor had gone through all the normal steps to become the Bachelorette lead ahead of her season.
“We know that the typical Bachelorette — and I’m assuming they did this for her — goes through an STD background test, a psychological test and a criminal background test,” Rachel said. “I would imagine that they would have done that for her.”
The podcast included a discussion about whether Taylor would have been exempt because of her history on reality TV.
“Even though we saw episode 1 of season 1 [of Mormon Wives], that this domestic violence dispute happened, we didn’t see what we saw today that was released by TMZ,” Rachel continued. “I didn’t do more research, and this is where I’m going to blame myself. I couldn’t have explained it to you the way I can explain things now. I knew that there was an issue. I thought they both were at fault. I thought I knew there was a child present. I thought it had been concluded that the child was not struck.”
She added, “I took that and I just left it there, and I didn’t really do any research.”
Rachel’s “main thing” for accepting Taylor as the new Bachelorette was what she saw during Mormon Wives season 3.
“She was kind of the voice of reason for season 3. And I thought that is what we were getting coming into The Bachelorette,” Rachel recalled. “Did I think she was going to find love? No, I’ve been very vocal that I’m there to watch it for entertainment purposes.”
After everything that’s been released, Rachel said she’s “worried” about Taylor. Elsewhere in the episode, the former reality star shared what she thinks is the best move for Taylor going forward.
“Her identity is wrapped up in [social media] and then in getting approval and back and forth with people who are not in the reality,” Rachel explained. “I think that she should — no sit-down interviews. Nothing. Just go get help, and in two years, sit down and talk about your recovery.”
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