'SLOMW' Star Taylor Frankie Paul Is the Next Bachelorette

Taylor Frankie Paul, the loud-mouthed star of Hulu's hit reality TV show The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives was announced as the latest Bachelorette on today's episode of Call Her Daddy, hosted by Alex Cooper. The appointment is notable for various reasons, first among them being that Paul is a frequent source of extreme drama on the show, primarily via her love life. In just two seasons, she gave birth, exposed a Mormon swinging scandal amongst her friends and was arrested following an altercation with her ex-boyfriend.

Prior to the announcement, Cooper teased Paul as the newest Bachelorette with the below TikTok. Other names floated in the comments included Huda from Love Island, a similarly chaotic choice for the network.

In a statement following the announcement, the network said the "Utah native is ready to trade headline-making heartbreak for hometown dates as she begins making her mark on Bachelor Nation.” As members of the Bachelor Nation have already pointed out, Paul is only the second star of the show to have children prior to filming. Emily Maynard was the first back during her season in 2012.

The statement continued: “[Paul] is the breakout star of ‘The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives,’ captivating millions with her raw, unapologetic storytelling. Off-screen, she’s a TikTok powerhouse whose comedic, heartwarming and bitingly honest content has earned her a massive following.” The press release from the network also made sure to highlight her onscreen dramatics, summarizing that "With humor, resilience and a fearless openness, she inspires others to embrace life’s chaos and own their story.”

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The appointment of Paul to the upper echelons of Bachelor Nation also reveals a more interesting truth the entertainment conglomerate's reality television designs. Hulu is a subsidiary of Disney, which also owns ABC. It makes the selection a strong showing of confidence in Hulu's overall strategy at building up a reality TV business that can compete with other industry heavyweights — primarily Bravo, seeing as The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives heavily draws from The Real Housewives franchise and format.

Elsewhere at the network, co-stars Whitney Leavitt and Jen Affleck were cast on the most recent season of Dancing With the Stars, also on ABC. If The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City were the heralds of the coming Mormon takeover, it seems that Hollywood has been officially occupied by celebrities in those big white church garments.

Paul has much simpler goals on mind, going into a house full of men who want to get famous by dating her. On Call Her Daddy, she revealed that while her dream man doesn't have to be Mormon, he does need to believe in God and live in Utah. “I do preferably want someone that does believe in God, because when you’re raising children it can be confusing when one does and one doesn’t."

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