‘The Bachelorette’ Season 22: Cast, Plot and News

MomTok may not survive its latest shakeup.

Taylor Frankie Paul — who has been part of Hulu’s The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives since 2024 — announced in a Sept. 10 interview on Call Her Daddy that she was set to star in the upcoming season of ABC’s The Bachelorette. The TikTok star told host Alex Cooper that the news still felt “surreal.”

“It has not hit me right now in this moment,” she said. “I’m just thinking about it, and it’s not real. And it’s not going to be until I think the limo is pulling up, you know? And meeting the people.”

Her casting comes months after ABC confirmed that The Bachelorette wouldn’t air in July as it has for the past three seasons. Though fans expected The Bachelor to start filming next (as it typically runs in the spring and the winter), Paul teased that a silly, viral TikTok may have switched the lineup.

After her public divorce from Tate Paul in 2022 and on-and-off relationship with Dakota Mortensen, her followers suggested that she apply for the hit reality dating competition show. Rather than do that, Paul made a TikTok video in June 2025 with a viral Lindsay Lohan sound that poked fun at her own similar scandalous past.

She wrote on top of the video: “Sending this in for my chance as the next bachelorette.”

Here’s everything to know about season 22 of The Bachelorette, starring Taylor Frankie Paul.

Who is season 22’s Bachelorette?

Paul is about to be the one handing out roses. Her involvement on The Bachelorette was initially a joke on TikTok — one that she’s not sure if the producers ever saw — and she was shocked when she got the invitation.

“I don’t know if that got their attention,” Paul told Cooper on Call Her Daddy. “It was mainly a joke to me … Then we had a meeting. I still didn’t believe it until I got the invitation, ‘Will you be our Bachelorette?’ Same reaction, shaking, pacing back and forth. There’s no way, no way.”

Since 2024, Paul has starred in the hit Hulu reality series The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives alongside her fellow MomTok group, who rose to fame on TikTok for their infamous soft-swinging scandal. She shares two kids, Indy May Paul and Ocean Paul, with her ex-husband, Tate Paul, and a son with Mortensen named Ever True Mortensen.

Who is the host of The Bachelorette?

The host of season 22 of The Bachelorette has not been announced. Former Bachelor star Jesse Palmer has hosted the series since 2021 and will likely continue his role.

However, after Cooper exclusively announced the casting news, fans started to wonder whether there might be a switch-up — and the podcast star might be the host herself. ABC has not yet commented.

Where is it being filmed?

ABC has not announced the filming location for The Bachelorette season 22. However, regardless of where the show takes place, Paul said on Call Her Daddy that her reservations about saying yes were tied to being away from her home in Utah.

“I’m a co-parent,” she told Cooper, while also confirming that she would still be a part of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives. “I have two baby daddies not one, so I’m dealing with two different people, my children, my home base is here. Can I travel that long? Can I be gone that long?”

The reality star noted that while her costars Jen Affleck and Whitney Leavitt are competing on Dancing with the Stars, they have their husbands to lean on for help. “Is this possible for me to do as a single mom?” Paul said she asked herself. “Can I make it work realistically no matter how much I want this? And I was like, I can.”

She continued, “If you want to, you can, and it comes down to that, so I was just like, I will make it work … I can ask for help more.”

Who are the contestants?

The contestants for Paul’s season haven’t been announced yet, but she did say what she’s looking for in a partner.

“How you treat people is my no. 1,” she said during an interview with Good Morning America. “Down to things like, someone in passing by, your neighbor or your server.”

Paul also noted that her future husband doesn’t have to be Mormon and said she’s open to dating outside of her religion. She added that “learning about new religions and trying them” is something she’s “always wanted to do.”

As for dealbreakers, Paul told GMA that “kids are important” to her and that she needs someone who’s “ready” to be involved with her three kids. And, seeing how social media is her “livelihood,” she’s not interested in a man who doesn’t want to be in her videos.

When will The Bachelorette season 22 be released?

ABC hasn’t announced an official release date for season 22 of The Bachelorette. However, Deadline reported that Paul’s season will replace The Bachelor season slated for early 2026.

Where can I watch The Bachelorette?

The Bachelorette airs on ABC with new episodes available to stream on Hulu the following day.