Taylor Frankie Paul's The Bachelorette & the 14 Biggest Reality TV Scandals

Taylor Frankie Paul, who you may know from The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, was supposed to be the star of Season 22 of The Bachelorette. However, just three days before the series was meant to begin airing, ABC dropped it from its schedule. 

This followed mounting allegations of domestic abuse by Paul’s ex-boyfriend, Dakota Mortensen, which reached its peak when a video filmed in 2023 surfaced online, seemingly depicting Paul attacking Mortensen in the presence of her daughter. 

Following this, as reported by the BBC, the former couple both released statements, and Mortensen was also granted protective custody of the son they share. Paul has had her fair share of scandals throughout her reality TV career, but when it comes to the world of reality TV, it is barely a drop in the ocean. 

So, we’ve rounded up some of the biggest reality TV scandals of all time from across the UK and the US. Unfortunately, and perhaps unsurprisingly, this will include discussion of sensitive and offensive topics, so please proceed with care.

1. When a Bachelor Contestant Romanced a Crew Member

While Jake Pavelka was the focus of The Bachelor Season 14, Rozlyn Papa, one of the contestants, had a wandering eye. Explosively, it was revealed that she was having an affair with one of the crew members, and while she denied it, presenter Chris Harrison seemed pretty sure that the pair had a “physical relationship.”

He also claimed that the pair were apparently seen by other contestants, too. She was subsequently booted off the show. 

2. Cheryl Getting Fired From The X Factor US Three Weeks In

At one point in time, The X Factor was a pop culture behemoth — so much so that Simon Cowell launched a US version of the talent show and placed widely popular UK judge Cheryl on the US judging panel. However, three weeks after the judging panel was announced, the former pop singer was dropped. 

According to TMZ, this was because of concerns that viewers wouldn’t understand her Geordie accent and that she didn’t have enough “chemistry” with the other judges. Pretty embarrassing for everyone involved, really.

3. The Great British Bake Off’s Mexico Episode

Back in 2022, The Great British Bake Off garnered controversy for its ‘Mexico Week’ — a themed challenge where bakers were tasked with making Mexican cuisine. However, many found the episode offensive. It opened with hosts Noel Fielding and Matt Lucas wearing sombreros and serapes, and from there, it went further downhill. 

From mispronouncing food names to the presenters asking if Mexico was a “real place,” the whole episode was widely viewed as cultural appropriation. It was so out of touch and stereotype-based that one of the dishes was literally tacos. The presenters also spoke with accents. Unsurprisingly, national-themed weeks were later scrapped. 

4. Strictly Come Dancing Professionals ‘Bullying’ Contestants

Ballroom dancing competition show Strictly Come Dancing is known for its glitz and glamour, but beneath all of that was a worrying dark side. Bullying allegations were levied against multiple professional dancers, who are usually paired with celebrity contestants. One contestant, Amanda Abbington, withdrew from the show and branded Giovanni Pernice "unnecessary, abusive, cruel and mean.” 

Fellow pro Graziano Di Prima, who was paired with Zara McDermott that same year in 2023, was sacked for gross misconduct after rehearsal footage allegedly showed him “kicking” McDermott.

5. Matt Hancock’s Inclusion on I’m A Celeb

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Matt Hancock was the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care. This made him largely responsible for guiding the nation during an instrumental and unprecedented time. Needless to say, he did a pretty poor job of it. Delayed lockdowns, PPE shortages, giving ‘Test and Trace’ contracts to friends, and placing those with COVID in care homes made the pandemic a lot worse than it needed to be. 

So, much of the UK was shocked when Hancock showed up on the 2022 series of I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! His inclusion caused such a backlash that nearly 2,000 people complained to Ofcom.

6. Rachel Frederickson’s Extreme Weight Loss on The Biggest Loser

As the name implies, The Biggest Loser was a reality show in which people who might be considered overweight competed to lose the most weight for a cash prize (yikes). Based on the premise alone, it’s clear why the show was controversial, but one of its most shocking moments was when 2014 winner Rachel Frederickson won by losing 60% of her body weight in just seven months. 

While she made show history for the amount of weight she dropped, her BMI was just 18, which was considered underweight. As TODAY reported, viewers and fellow contestants expressed concern over this extreme change, with one contestant calling her "shockingly skinny." At the time, executive producer David Broome released a statement saying, “Rachel passed all the required medical tests ensuring she was healthy."

7. Phil Robertson Getting Suspended From Duck Dynasty

Duck Dynasty was a reality show about the Robertson family, who run a successful duck hunting product business. No, we didn’t realise that was a niche either. Phil Robertson, the family patriarch, amassed controversy when, in a GQ interview, he classified “homosexual behaviour” as sinful and compared it to bestiality. 

A&E, the TV network behind Duck Dynasty, suspended him and said it was “extremely disappointed” by the comments — but after the level of backlash the network received, it completely rolled back on this decision.

8. Gregg Wallace’s MasterChef Allegations and Firing

For years, along with John Torode, Gregg Wallace was the face of the cooking competition show MasterChef. However, in November 2024, it was announced that Wallace was stepping away from the show while the BBC investigated complaints made against him. A total of 83 complaints were levied, with many of them being sexual in nature. 

Allegations included sexual comments, groping, and Wallace purportedly taking his trousers down in front of people. In the end, 45 of 83 complaints were upheld, and Wallace was permanently fired from MasterChef. Co-host Torode soon followed after facing an allegation of racism.

9. Roxanne Pallett’s False Allegations On Celebrity Big Brother

In 2018, Celebrity Big Brother contestant Ryan Thomas playfully pretended to punch fellow contestant Roxanne Pallett. However, things took a turn when she accused him of actually punching her. She told the other housemates and Big Brother that he did this, despite footage of the incident suggesting otherwise. It was a bizarre situation where people on the outside knew the truth, but the other housemates didn’t. 

Soon after, Pallett exited and had an excruciating interview with presenter Emma Willis, who probed her on the lie. Her career has never recovered.

10. Love Island’s Zara Holland Losing Her Miss Great Britain Title

In the second series of Love Island, a dating reality show set in a sunny villa, Zara Holland, who held the title of Miss Great Britain, was a contestant. Like all of them, she was looking for love and found a spark with contestant Alex Bowen. 

The pair later had sex in The Hideaway, which was broadcast on TV. This led to Holland being stripped of her Miss Great Britain title, with the organisation saying in an X post that it “can’t condone what happened on national TV.”

11. The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives Swingers Revelation

In 2020, #MomTok really blew up. In particular, three Mormon women — Taylor Frankie Paul, Camille Munday and Miranda McWhorter — were the “sister wives” at the forefront of this. They were also the stars of the reality show The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives. However, this illusion began to shatter when Paul announced that she was getting a divorce. Later, in a live stream, she made a startling admission: she and her husband engaged in “soft swinging” with their friendship group. This is when couples swap partners but don’t have sex unless the spouse is in the room. 

However, Paul and another person in the group broke this agreement, with the TikToker claiming that while she and this person had feelings for each other, it only happened once. Still, Paul said that it caused the breakdown of her marriage. 

12. The Tristan Thompson & Jordyn Woods Scandal

While this wasn’t the first time that philandering Tristan Thompson had cheated on Khloe Kardashian, the family empire was left shellshocked by the revelation that he had been caught with someone a little too close to home: namely, Jordyn Woods, Kylie’s best friend. 

The fallout of this revelation, including the moment when Kim found out, was documented on the 16th season of Keeping Up With The Kardashians. Since then, Kylie and Jordyn seem to have squashed their beef.

13. Here Comes Honey Boo Boo’s Cancellation

After wowing audiences in Toddlers & Tiaras, Alanna ‘Honey Boo Boo’ Thompson and her family became the face of TLC reality show Here Comes Honey Boo Boo. 

In 2014, the show was cancelled after Mama June publicly spent time with registered sex offender Mark McDaniel, who had recently been released from prison after a 10-year sentence for child molestation. To make matters worse, Mama June’s eldest daughter, Anna ‘Chickadee’ Cardwell, claimed that McDaniel molested her when she was aged eight. 

14. 19 Kids and Counting’s Josh Duggar’s String of Misdeeds

Back in 2015, 19 Kids and Counting, which focused on the Duggar family, was cancelled after it had emerged that Josh Duggar, the eldest son, had molested two teenage girls in 2002 and 2003. His sisters, Jessa and Jill, later came forward and confirmed that they were the victims in question. 

After that, a Duggar family spin-off show, Counting On, started airing. However, in 2021, this series was also cancelled after Josh was arrested for receiving and possessing CSAM.