The Bachelorette In Crisis: Why Taylor Frankie Paul's Season Ended Before It Even Started

[Editor's note: This commentary has been updated to reflect the news that ABC decided to scrap Taylor Frankie Paul's season of "The Bachelorette."]

ABC took a big swing casting Taylor Frankie Paul as the new star of "The Bachelorette"... but that big swing turned out to be a big miss.

When ABC announced Taylor as the new Bachelorette last September, I commended them for thinking outside the box, casting somebody outside the Bachelor Nation universe for once. Taylor also brings with her a built-in fan base (and a nice bit of corporate synergy) as a main cast member on the Hulu reality series "The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives." I did worry a bit, though, that her volatile relationship with ex-boyfriend Dakota, documented extensively on "Mormon Wives," would be an issue — and sure enough, it became an issue, and at the worst possible time.

Earlier this week, "Mormon Wives" reportedly stopped filming after a police investigation was launched into allegations of domestic assault between Taylor and Dakota. Both parties are accusing the other of being at fault, and I'm not here to choose sides or assign blame in what is a very sad situation. (Taylor and Dakota share a 2-year-old son.) But the incident cast an unfortunate pall over Taylor's season of "The Bachelorette," which has already finished filming and was set to premiere this Sunday at 8 p.m. on ABC — but has now been scrapped entirely.

Fans who know Taylor from "Mormon Wives" know that her relationship with Dakota has been rocky from the start. She accused him of lying to her about previous relationships, he admitted to it, they broke up and then got back together — there was even a previous run-in with police, where Taylor was accused of throwing a metal chair at Dakota and accidentally hitting her daughter. (Taylor later pled guilty to aggravated assault.) But there are signs that her relationship with Dakota may not be over. On the latest season of "Mormon Wives," Dakota tells Taylor to "save a rose for me" (!) before she leaves to film "The Bachelorette"... and her fellow "Mormon Wives" castmates say that Taylor actually slept with Dakota the night before she left to film "The Bachelorette."

We knew about Taylor and Dakota's history going into "The Bachelorette," and so did ABC and the show's producers. But they proceeded with casting Taylor anyway. Yes, she makes a perfect reality TV star: She's fun, she's honest, and she's messy. But that mess can get too messy at times, and that's what ABC has on their hands now. Taylor claims she has now gone "no contact" with Dakota following the latest police investigation, but it's hard to believe that her relationship with him is truly over — and that presented a big problem for "The Bachelorette." How are we supposed to buy into Taylor's journey to find a new man when we know she's still enmeshed with her ex back at home?

Granted, "The Bachelor" and its spin-offs have a spotty record of producing couples that actually last. (Although "The Bachelorette" is markedly better at it than "The Bachelor.") But it's a different story when we already know going into the season that Taylor and her ex still have unresolved issues. It's fair to question whether Taylor was even ready to be the Bachelorette and give these men an honest shot — and it's fair for these men to question what they even signed up for when Dakota is still intimately involved in Taylor's life. (Even her "Mormon Wives" co-stars have said she's not ready to be the Bachelorette.)

Taylor's own words have cast doubt on the validity of her season, too. She says "The Bachelorette" has given her "an opportunity to get away from" Dakota and showed her "that there are great men out there." But she hasn't indicated that she actually fell in love or found a man that she could potentially marry. It's nice that the men this season helped give Taylor a self-esteem boost. But as corny as it sounds, we still watch shows like this to see people fall in love and imagine that they might actually find a happily-ever-after together. Unfortunately, this time, with all that we know about Taylor and Dakota, that seemed incredibly unlikely — before her season even got started.

Bachelor Nation, give us your take on Taylor's scrapped "Bachelorette" season in a comment below.