"This is so upsetting," Sydney Warner said of Paul's casting as the season 22 lead of 'The Bachelorette'
Credit: Aaron J. Thornton/Getty; JC Olivera/Variety via Getty
NEED TO KNOW
- Former Bachelor contestant Sydney Warner criticized Taylor Frankie Paul’s casting as the season 22 lead of The Bachelorette
- On her Instagram Stories, Warner shared an image of herself watching The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives
- Warner further expressed her view that it was “horrible” to see Paul “completely disrespect” the men competing in her season, which is set to premiere this Sunday, March 22
Sydney Warner is expressing her disapproval of Taylor Frankie Paul leading the new season of The Bachelorette.
Warner, who appeared on season 24 of The Bachelor, took to her Instagram Stories on Sunday, March 15, to share her thoughts on Paul’s behavior leading up to her time as the Bachelorette.
The lengthy message was written over a photo of a scene from The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, in which Paul’s sendoff to film the ABC dating show took a turn after her costars learned that her ex-boyfriend Dakota Mortensen claimed he had slept with her the night before.
“This is so upsetting,” Warner wrote. “I am a result of being on The Bachelor, I owe a lot to that franchise. The Bachelor is one of the most iconic shows of all time & was so highly respected because they held the contestants to such a standard. It was such an honor to be on the cast, let alone be casted as the LEAD. That’s life changing.”
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“To watch this and see the soon to be lead completely disrespect the stage that she has been given, the men who put their entire lives on hold to come and meet her is horrible,” she continued. “What has happened to morals and values?”
Calling the series “a dying franchise,” Warner went on to slam the network for casting Paul.
“Why not let the show die out with class and dignity and not stoop down & claw and scrape just to get views,” she added. “I feel so bad for those guys. Seriously this is hard to watch someone completely not care about something so prestigious that so many girls would do anything to be given. What is going on???”
The rocky relationship between Paul and Mortensen, with whom she shares 1-year-old son Ever, has been a main arc on Mormon Wives since it began. In the recently released season 4, Paul’s friends and family grew concerned about her following through with The Bachelorette when she failed to show up to the airport to start filming.
When word got back that Dakota claimed he had sex with Paul the night prior, MomTok went over to Paul’s house, where she claims she felt sick and was up all night with her kids. She further shared frustration that "no one will leave me alone.”
She eventually left for The Bachelorette and called Mortensen when she landed in Los Angeles, where he asked her to “save a rose for him.”
Credit: Disney/Fred Hayes
On Monday, March 16, multiple sources confirmed to PEOPLE that production for season 5 of Mormon Wives was paused. One source told PEOPLE, "Taylor has some pretty serious stuff happening regarding her past, and they will see what happens. Until that resolves, they are off."
That same day, a spokesperson for the Draper City Police Department told PEOPLE that there is an open "domestic assault investigation" regarding Paul and Mortensen. The spokesperson confirmed "allegations have been made in both directions" and "contact was made with involved parties on [Feb] 24th and 25th." The spokesperson declined to share more about the ongoing investigation.
There is no indication that Warner's post was related to the new allegations involving Paul.
PEOPLE reached out to reps for Paul and for The Bachelorette for comment.
Another source close to the Mormon Wives cast told PEOPLE that members of MomTok are distancing themselves from Paul as the situation unfolds. "None of the women want to be associated with her," the source claimed.
Season 22 of The Bachelorette is set to premiere this Sunday, March 22, on ABC.
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