Life Uncut - The Bachelor Is Cancelled & Laura Turns 40

Episode Date: March 24, 2026

Hey Lifers!! Welcome to Laura’s 40th birthday party! She’s got another party coming but her friends have taken over party planning and it’s becoming an extravaganza! Britt’s been tasked with finding a magician and we’re all on the hunt for Laura’s birth time for her birth chart.We have a nice sentimental moment when we get to share some of the ways that Laura has impacted your lives. Some are heartfelt and beautiful, some are absolutely hilarious.Laura also gets a personalised surprise performance by the incredible Hannah Conda  We need to talk about Taylor Frankie Paul and the cancellation of the bachelorette in the US. ABC pulled the season three days before it was supposed to air. They pulled the season after WE saw the violent video, not because they became aware of the past behaviour of the person they chose to cast!We speak about: Whether Taylor was cast because of controversy or in spite of it? The courts vs the court of public opinion How far the ‘line’ is being pushed by casting someone with criminal charges ABC's culpability Britt and Laura’s lived experience with the bachelor and why certain people are cast The background checks that they do You can watch us on Youtube Find us on Instagram Join us on tiktok Or join the Facebook Discussion Group Hosted by Britt Hockley & Laura Byrne Produced by Keeshia Pettit Video Produced by Vanessa Beckford & Lachy Pugsley Tell your mum, tell your dad, tell your dog, tell your friend and share the love because WE LOVE LOVE! XxSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hello, everybody. Sorry, I'm just trying to get a magician. I haven't been given much time to get a magician. I don't want to shit one, though. Oh, okay. Four days before your 30th. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you for that. Thank you. That felt good. Four days before your 40th. I'm trying to find an emergency magician in Bondi that's free, and you're telling me it better be a good one. At this point, I'm going to do the card tricks. I actually know a couple of card tricks.

Brittany, you can only come to my birthday party if you learn this magic trick. Oi, I actually know some. I can make men disappear real quick. Hi guys, and welcome back to another episode of Life Uncut. I'm Laura. I'm Brittany. Laura's 40. I'm chatting party, everyone.

Can you do not begrudge me of my last two days of my 20s. One day. It's 24 hours. Well, no. For the listener. Sorry. Sorry. I apologize.

What time were you born, Liz? Do your birth chart. I asked my mom and she doesn't know. You know, we did the birth chart Tony May event. Did you not get your own birth chart? No, no. Mine was a lie. Sorry.

When I was in India a couple of years back, I went to this like incredible horoscope person who like does all your whatever it is. Obviously I'm super into it. So I know all the details. Anyway, she's like famous in India. And she was like, I need to know the exact time and location of your birth. And I messaged my mom and she said, oh, you were born in Maitland. I don't remember when. And I was like, surely you could have a punt mom. It's true middle child vibes. Like she knows my brother's time and she knows my sister's time, which mom speaks volumes actually. I didn't know mine until you made me ask for my 40th i would like some therapy oh my god so lucky that's what we got you

flora is so hard to buy for we booked into a year of therapy to be fair wouldn't be mad about it practical i wouldn't go no you'd be like i don't have the time for this so yes look i mean as of time of if you're listening to this on wednesday thursday's my birthday everyone so i turned 40 and i know we talked about a little bit before and i put something up on socials yesterday i think for a long time i felt terrified at this number like i had it in my head that 40 because it really does cement you in the midlife someone kindly messaged me yesterday and she said no no sweetheart midlife isn't till 45 and fuck if i make it to 90 that's great but i don't think it is i think that's that's midlife if you're born now but we've already been here 40 years

so we're not of that generation we haven't had the same health care because that life expectancy when you're born now is longer so your midlife gets pushed back but we were born too early oh got you we've also drunk too many plastics like there's so much plastic in my body like drinking plastic well no just we're all drinking plastic micro plastics that we've absorbed at this point like i thought we were playing goon of fortune laura's drinking plastic that explains so much i was born in woolagong we were also sniffing petrol too you were born in maitland oh yeah i can say this because i'm from around there that would be on brand oh that's a joke sorry to everyone it is a joke but it's an in-house joke yeah and also my niece and nephew live in Maitland

I take it back I love Maitland fuck you all for anyone who doesn't know Maitland is like half an hour outside of Newcastle it's a great little country town yeah it was a great time my life anyway look I was saying it's midlife someone was very kind and said I still had five more years but I was terrified I thought that it was going to be a really big deal and like I said the other week I'm just feel really excited about it I think it's going to be really fun and I'm also going to be back on the Botox train. So like everything's good in the world of life. I love that for you. That really excites me. Does it? The Botox part.

We are planning, or I say we are planning, I am involved in it now. Laura's 40th this weekend. Big party, big things. And you're all invited. We're having a Life Uncut meetup! At Laura's house. So the big thing that I guess I have been pushing against in terms of 40, it's not the age. Like, I don't care about turning 40 I'm quite happy to have a four at the beginning of my number it's organizing things I think my life and the admin of life at the moment has been a lot and because work is quite crazy and also having a baby it's just kind of been a lot in every respect and

so this weekend I'm having a 40th birthday party which I had pushed against for a really long time like I was the one that was saying let's not do anything we'll just go out for dinner and it was Matt who was really saying like no let's organize something it's a big one let's make it special Yeah, you need to let your strands of hair down. You need to let your postpartum regrowth wisp in the wind. She knows I'm joking. Oh, you can only say that if you're a true friend and you don't really mean it.

It's called comedy. Look it up. Just want to keep you humble in your 40s. Also, let those wrinkles out. Fucking enjoy it, y'all bag. Yesterday we were with, yesterday, sidestep, We were with a friend of ours, a guy, and he was saying, oh, I'm going to get a hair transplant.

And Laura's like, oh, can I come with you? She's like, maybe they'll do two for one. I was like, I've also got a bald spot. We could do a three for one deal. We can go two for one. I would love a holiday to Turkey. Anyway, so, okay, I was not wanting to have a party. I felt like the admin of it was too much.

And Matt and my amazing friend, Falcon, and also another girlfriend, Lulu, have all taken over it and they have done all the organizing. And it's gone from being like a little like nothing catch-up where I was like, Let's just, you know, have like a small thing at the house. They just don't do anything in halves. And so- Falcon and Lulu were South American, different parts of South America, but their energy is the highest of energies.

They are two of the most fun people I've ever met in my life. I spent New Year's with them. Yeah. So, okay. Which was also random because I think that that just came about spontaneously, right? But Falcon, I've spoken about him once or twice before, and this is the biggest shout out to him, which he will fucking love because he listens to every episode. He's the bear.

But he does not do things by half and he is the most generous person I have ever met. Like he just will, for no reason at all, there'll be scrolls at the front door or donuts one day, or if it's a kid's birthday, he rocks up like he's Santa Claus. Like he's just crazy generous. Not in a creep way. And not to random birthdays. He knows them to our children's birthday. But he was actually Matt's minder on The Bachelor and that's how we met.

So when Matt was in The Bachelorette on Georgia Love Season, Falcon was his minder. he took care of him and then when he became the bachelor falcon then was the minder on that i feel like people might need a little refresher of what a minder is because i wouldn't have known okay so a minder is like your dad in reality tv well i had mums i had two women a minder is what they do is you're never in the bachelor mansion alone you have to have people that look after you so if you are the bachelor or the bachelorette you have someone that's with you 24 7 that they live with you and if you're a contestant and there's 30 of you in a house there's usually two they sleep there they live there with you they are there if you need anything but they're also there to keep

an eye on you they monitor a phone when you get one phone call home every two weeks they monitor it to make sure you're not saying anything and they're just there to like mind you it's literally what it sounds they're literally your mom or your dad they do your grocery shopping for you they help you with everything they they chauffeur you around they wipe your ass they caught me my mind caught me taking an illegal photo with a selfie with the alpaca because I smuggled a camera in she's like Brittany, did you just take a selfie with an alpaca? And I was like, what? No.

Why would I do that? She's like, I saw you holding your hand up like a selfie. And I was like, I was just, I just miss it. I miss the action. I'm just getting prepared for my career post-batch. They kind of, from what I understand, from what you guys have told me, they're almost like an in-between step between production. As in like, they will advocate for you, but they will also discuss with producers

and kind of make sure everyone is happy in the middle, right? Let's call it advocating. They take care of you and then they also report back to production so they can weaponise your inner thoughts. I wouldn't use the word advocate, but they're just there. The problem is, though, I don't think Falcon ever would do such a thing. He was always on the side of the participants and protecting us. He was amazing.

Anyway, they've taken over party planning. It's turned from being an almost nothing 40th to being an extravaganza at my house, which I am so excited by because I don't have to do anything. If I can just rock up to an event and everything is done for me, I will be there. i will be there in a sparkly dress i fucking cannot wait what i've realized is that it's the admin of life that's too much for me and the other part of this sounds so dumb and i know it's like the most nothing thing to be frustrated about and i i apologize to both of you because i realize like

we talked about i'm a particularly hard person to buy presents hence why i'm always like don't get me anything that's why we didn't get you anything totally don't buy me anything which is i'm happy about like don't buy me a single thing but everyone being like what do you want And I'm like, I don't have time for the admin to figure out what I want, to tell you what I want. Don't get me anything. Just say there's a wishing well. I felt like Noah in the notebook being like, what do you want?

What do you want? So my mum, my poor mum, she called me last night at 10.30. Do you know what you can say to her? I want my time of birth. Please end. Give me a new fucking birth certificate. All I want is to get my horoscope done, mum. Accurately.

Give me my time of birth. How am I going to know what my 40s are like without it? I want some reassurance. Yeah, so she called me at 10.30 last night. She was like, what do you want for your birthday? And I was like, I want to not do the mental admin of figuring out what the fuck I want for my birthday. Don't ask me.

I don't know. I get that. Like, I would just prefer not to do things, which is probably the reason why I removed myself from group chats. I just would prefer not to do things than have to plan it myself. But that's what I said when we were looking for your birthday present. And I was ruling out all the things we couldn't get you. And I was like, Laura doesn't like to do things.

Like that was literally that statement was what I said. Although I will be honest, every so often I do get sad. I don't get invited to anything anymore. And I'm like, I've done it to myself. I'm a victim of my own choices. Because you're like, I'm not writing back. Don't call me. Exit group chat.

And you're like, how come I wasn't invited? I was like, you guys look like you're having a lot of fun. Or the funnier thing is when she has been invited, but she hasn't read the text. Not yet. But one thing that you did forget to say on your invitation was that you didn't want anyone else's children there because your children are not going to be there. Yeah, look, I made a mistake. So I did do the invitation and this does sort of just go to show how bad I am at planning

things. I made the invitation. Everyone else is doing everything else. I just had to send the invitations to people, which I did. And I was like, job done. Nailed it. Anyway, it's only a couple of days away now because it's this Saturday and I was at my sister-in-law's house and she was like, oh, okay, we're all arriving at this time.

And I was like, okay. And she goes, she goes, oh, have you got some activities for the kids planned? And I was like, what do you mean? And she was like, for the kids. And she has three kids of her own. And I was like, no, why would I have it? I was like, my kids are not going to be there. I don't have activities for the kids.

I was like, don't bring your kids. Don't bring them. I don't want them. I'm also not planning activities. I haven't even planned the party. And she was like, oh, it's no kids. And I was like, yeah. I was like, why would you assume that children are invited to a 40th?

I was like, that's crazy. And she was like, Laura, I just want you to know that people will assume that a day event at your house when you have three children would mean that they can bring their children. I have to say I'm on her side. I am too, sorry. So now I've had to awkwardly message everyone and say love you. There's no magician. Don't come. Don't bring your kids.

I just want to have some kid free time. I have got a few messages coming through. The one job I have been tasked with, as of course this morning. Were you tasked with it or did you choose to take it on? No, well, I mean, Laura had a meltdown because her magician disappeared. No, no, no. It came up in just casual conversation. I was like, casual conversation?

It's turned into an extravaganza. Now we have like activities. I mean, Matt organized a musician and I said, the reason why we have a musician is because we were going to have a magician, but the magician can't do it. And Brit then spontaneously said, firstly, a magician at a 40th, weird, but she goes also even weirder. I met four separate magicians on the weekend no on the weekend I went to dinner with a friend who brought his friend a random I'd never met and somehow in that discussion he said how strange

that I know four magicians in Bondi like that itself is such a weird statement and then a day later Laura said how do I find a magician in Bondi and I'm like I know let me find anyway he's just messaged he said he knows a great magician we all need a magician in our lives and I'm gonna link Thank you. Can I ask you guys, honestly, though, is it a bit weird to have a 40th birthday party at your house, have a magician and a musician come? I might also get a tarot card reader. I don't know why. I feel like everyone needs activities. I feel like you need to stay in the M theme. What other occupation starts with an M? We need a musician, a magician and masturbation. Orgy. It's an orgy. Surprise, orgy. You don't have people have surprise

engagements. Take your clothes off. I've turned my bedroom actually into a masturbation den. for my 40th. Leave your keys and your clothes at the door. The magician will take your clothes. Sanitize it to the right. Downstairs is for when anyone brings their kids and upstairs it's a masturbation room. It's going to be great fun. Anyway, I'm excited. Like I said. What is the dress code? You haven't really told us. Wear whatever you like. I haven't figured it out yet, but I will. I will figure that out in the next few days. Speaking of dress code, did you notice anything today? I got into work this morning and both Keish and Britt are wearing the exact same shirt yes yes i did what about anything else and the same pants well the whole team dressed as

laura today what i didn't even notice wait you wouldn't notice it on me because i kind of dress like you wearing a t-shirt and baggy pants baggy shirt and baggy am i that predictable that i thought you actually accidentally wore the same thing we did we didn't plan on wearing the same t-shirt no i just wore my normal outfit wait is vanessa dressed like me yes no we'll bring him me and we'll show you later but we were like let's dress as Laura and then we're like that's hard you just wear you just wear your pajamas to work we're like what's it yeah and then a slick bun okay guys and also like just sit with your legs spread so that everyone can see your crotch yeah perfect I love this yeah guys I didn't even realize that you were theme dressing I thought

you just accidentally you look great Laura was like I did best you've ever looked do you know why I would I just thought of this right now not to make it about me I would love to one day no love that's the wrong word but no okay i'd love it one day we should have a big party where everyone can dress as one of my hairstyles i've had so many hairstyles it's like britney's hairstyle we'll do that for your 40th maybe it's a maybe it's a life off well i said that you should do that for your hen's party that was my hen's suggestion is that we should have all come as a different different britney era because there's been so many of them which is gonna make a great time for your 40s whereas i've just been consistently the same for the past 10 years i

I don't have enough friends. Slick back bun, loose pants t-shirt. But then this is the one day you didn't wear. A t-shirt or an appropriate bra, apparently. I'm really leaning into my 40s. No, I like the bra thing. That's more me. It's just that I thought my nipples are a bit big these days.

But anyway, whatever. Well, Loz, we did want to wish you a happy birthday. So we put a call out to the lifers to get them to write in some really cute things for you. the things that they've you've helped them with over the years or why they love you and some of them we had to exclude this is so cute some of them were like you've inspired me to get a labia can i can i say yesterday when we were trying to like prep what we've got to do for content keisha was like what do you want to talk about for your 40th and i was like i don't know and i was like hey brit i was like do you have anything planned and she goes not just whatever

you want to talk about it was a bit of a decoy that story had already been up for like 30 hours But I banned you. I specifically said to you, look, can you please not go into the Life Uncut account because I've muted you from seeing the stories from your own page. Did you block me from stories? Actually, I haven't unmuted you yet. But I also should have blocked the Tony May account,

the Shedter account, like all of your accounts. Yeah, except Laura just went into our DMs this morning and she goes, oh, my God, guys, someone's written something so nice to me. And we were all like, get out. Well, we did get a significant amount of DMs. Sorry to Sherry who had to go through all of them. We're going to give this to you afterwards so you can read through it.

We literally would be here for over an hour if we read all of them. There were so many beautiful messages, but Britt and I have picked some of our favorite ones. I definitely left out the ones where people said they liked you better. I'll start with one of the longer ones. Laura's been in my ears weekly for, is it six years now? I'm super introverted and can go for a stupidly long time without seeing friends. I get completely lost in my work and working from home in the past 10 years. I really miss those everyday girly chats with like-minded women.

having Laura in my ears through the day-to-day isolation of motherhood and running a one-woman business has honestly helped my sanity her vulnerability as a mother a woman and as a human has made me feel less alone she's so unapologetically herself and the kind of person who makes you feel like it's okay to be yourself too I've cried with her over our shared experience of her stepdad going through terminal cancer felt seen while trying to navigate the challenges of balancing motherhood and business and even questioned if maybe I'm more normal than I thought all because she is so vulnerable and generous with what she shares her perspective is balanced and open-minded and she's such a joy to listen to oh it's so nice well save those tears

because i'm coming in with a good one compliments make me feel weird okay this one this one actually was really emotional her feet i am 100 the same and i also hate my toes cramped up in shoes and I love having a parasocial mate who understands. Oh, I'm here for you, babe. I've got your back and your feet. Listening to Laura speak about grief and her grandparents really resonated with me. And I'm very thankful. It helped me during a really tough time when my mother was very sick after losing her own mother. Happy birthday, Laura. For the last seven years, every listen, she's picked me up. Our stories have collided with parenting and pregnancy loss, and she's very relatable and very, very funny. Also wearing my Tony May gives me so much joy and meeting her

at the playground was the best ever they say not to meet your heroes but she's exceeded what I would have expected so kind and so great I love that we just snuck a life on cut 20 Tony May and also Tony May everyone there's a new launch drum tomorrow 20% off life on cut 20 a favorite moment of mine is definitely the incorrect lyrics with I shot the sheriff still laugh about it regularly making pissing my pants absolutely normal I'm not alone We do like to make people feel Wait, what's the word? We do like to

Make them feel less alone No Galvanize No Triangulated Deeply De-stigmatize And if I can bring the de-stigmatization of pissing your pants to this podcast

I'm so here for it Okay, this one Laura's perspective on life and people genuinely makes me a better person Listening to her answer life uncuts each week with honest advice But always with empathy and understanding She has a gift for finding the best in people and has helped me to look at many things in my life with a different, kinder, and more compassionate perspective.

Just because it's different doesn't mean it's wrong. Oh, guys. I actually want to cry. This is so nice. I can't wait for you guys to do this for me. This is a nice – no one's ever said such nice things about me. I think about the fact that she called her vagina a wizard's sleeve an unhealthy amount, and it just makes me laugh to myself.

The estrogen has left my body. it's less wizard sleepy now it's just it's more pruney fucking it's more like it's more like shriveled ham hearing her vows to maddie j helped me realize that one day i might want to get married when i thought it would never be on the cards for me oh that's nice that's so cute the fact that she washes her feet in the sink before bed makes me feel super seen and not alone who wrote that can we get that person's handle i love them i also hate going to bed with dirty feet but I'm often also too lazy for a shower. Thank you.

I just feel so seen. I knew I had my people. I'm so glad I built this community around me. No, this is a really nice one. As much as we take the piss. My acceptance and vulnerability with my miscarriage. Brave to talk openly about it and connect with other women. And she gave light to a really dark time.

Oh, guys. We actually got a lot of messages about miscarriage specifically. Yeah, I mean, I feel emotional even saying it, But, like, I get so many messages from women still every week. And the episodes we did around miscarriage are from years and years ago for us. But, like, every single week I have people message me and it is such a fucking privilege that in a time

when you're going through something that has been so immense and enormous and, you know, that you're dealing with the grief of it, that you reach out, I feel forever grateful. I love – we're so lucky that we get to do what we do. I do. Just as the last one, I do want to finish off with one big lesson. This is super random. Laura has taught me a lot, but mainly she taught me about Buster

needing to get his anal glands expressed. I didn't realise that dogs needed that and I finally figured out why my dog's arsehole stunk all the time. Thanks, Laura. Oh, if you're going to leave them with anything. 40 years on this planet and I'm so happy that that is the wisdom that I have imparted. Oh, no.

Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to Laura. Yay! Happy birthday to you. Oh, my God. Hooray! Guys, it's so nice. Hooray!

It's not even one of those next day deliveries. There's so much organizing. It's tiramisu. It's my favorite. Tiramisu because you love tiramisu. Oh, now I feel a little emotional. We had to set off the smoke alarms in the studio, guys, and we're going to have to evacuate the entire building.

and we also planned some 40th balloons that I'm not sure if you can see they are behind you I am quite obnoxiously large I'm going home now I'm back to bed guys happy 40th to me that's the whole episode so I really wanted to say look guys thank you firstly for doing that and pulling that together but I feel so grateful I think one of the reasons why I'm going into this next decade of life and not being anxious about the fact that I'm 40 or a feeling as though I need more to feel happy or satisfied isn't because I've come to this place of being like oh I'm so content with what I have in my life it's because I'm so fucking grateful for what we have and a huge part of that is you guys like the listeners our community that we've built over the past seven years and

thank you so much like that just means the absolute world to me because sometimes it does feel like we're sitting in a room just talking into a voice there's so many that we will send you we know that you're all there and yeah you mean the world to us so thank you another one was I didn't see that one. Her reaction to Brit's engagement. Not my engagement, but your reaction. We love you guys. You guys are the best.

What are we doing now? Am I getting a lap dance? What are you doing? What are you doing? What are you doing? No! Please give it up for your private performance. For anybody only audio listening, this might be a little confusing for you,

but what is happening right now is that Laura is being surprised surprised with an incredible performance from the phenomenal drag queen Hannah It's like 9 o'clock in the morning! I know! Woo! Where in the night falls, my lonely heart calls Oh, I wanna dance with somebody I wanna feel the heat with somebody

Yeah, I wanna dance with somebody With somebody who loves me I wanna dance with somebody Of the girls I wanna feel the beat with somebody Yeah, I wanna dance with somebody With somebody who loves me Woo!

Yay! Happy birthday! Guys, we need to talk about why the U.S. Bachelorette has just been cancelled two days before it was supposed to be released. Like two days is wild to have filmed an entire series. You've promoted it. You're two days out from releasing it and you can the whole series. Have they canned it or have they just put it on pause at the moment? It is cancelled, baby.

That is down the gurgler. Well, they've said they've paused it. Let's see. Let's see. Okay, I agree. I don't think that they're ever going to air it because I don't think they're ever going to be able to. for reasons we'll get into. However, at the moment, they're just saying that they put it on pause because that's a lot to cancel. All right, let's catch up to speed. The

bachelorette in the US, her name is Taylor Frankie Paul. If you have never heard of her before, you would have this past week because of a video that has been circulating. Now, we're going to talk about the video in a second, but to set up who she is, Taylor was the ground zero of Mum Talk. So back in 2020, Mum Talk was a group of Mormon wives who went viral for like, I guess, bringing Mormonism into the forefront and making it cool and fashionable and popular and flipping the idea of what we think Mormons are on its head. Well, it certainly did that. It really did. It definitely gave us a new outlook. But because that mum talk blew up so much,

they ended up creating a series called The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives. And Taylor was one of the leads of that for four years. She was an integral part of that TV series. Now, I do want to say I have not seen that series. I didn't get sucked into The Secret Lives of mormon wives keisha watched a little bit laura also hasn't been sucked in no i've seen one okay i'm a i was a one episode galley and i didn't quite get as hooked as what other people have but i know that it is i mean it's really been a bit of a cultural phenomenon the whole secret lives of mormon wives but one thing that if you are someone like us who hasn't been entrenched in the series and for anyone who has watched it this is going to be not news to you but the reason

why the series came about is because taylor exposed something that was going on in this mum talk community so these mormon couples who are all friends who are influencers were doing something that is called soft swinging so here they are presenting this traditional wholesome front really idealized version of what a mormon life is on tiktok supposed to be monogamous yeah a contemporary mormon life is on tiktok but actually they were all fucking each other and they had all these different rules for it right like they were able to sleep with each other's partners but only if they were in the room together and the reason why it blew up was because taylor and another person's partner ended up getting drunk and having sex together and

having some feelings for each other which broke the rules and she's since come out and she was kind of celebrated for being so honest about it on a live stream where she was talking about how this is what happened and the reason why the friendship breakdown happened this way but she was like it is a very i guess hypocritical situation where i'm being framed as this house wrecker but you and her quote-unquote said but you were sucking my husband's dick that's literally how she framed it so people have applauded her for always being incredibly honest vulnerable transparent this concept of like taylor can't lie she'll say it as it is no filter and that's where this really unhinged quite volatile tv series came from the secret lives of mormon wives and

because it was and has garnered such popularity she was cast as the bachelorette for this current season? Well, the show's huge. And Taylor also has 6 million TikTok followers. She's the first person in the Bachelorette season in the US ever to be cast outside of the Bachelor franchise. So like it's different over in the US. Here in Australia, we use anyone for the Bachelor and Bachelorette. Like if we think they're great and interesting and worthy of that position, we cast them. But in the US, they always try to use somebody that has come from the season. So someone from the Bachelorette would become the Bachelor and vice versa. We've done it a few times here and it really, I mean, obviously like Matt, for example, my husband, you know,

he was on Georgia love season and then he was cast as the bachelor. There is a bit of a storyline that happens with that, where you're invested in the heartbreak that you've seen play out on the season before. And it's that person's opportunity to have their happy ever after or their redemption story or whatever it looks like. Look, there's many reasons why Taylor was chosen to be this year's bachelorette. I think statistically across the world, the bachelor franchise has had a huge dip in viewership. It happened in Australia, hence why it's been completely parked here. And Channel 9 is now doing The Golden Bachelor, which is a reimagined version of The Bachelor. Well, Taylor's on season 22. So for 22 years, they have dropped the same

franchise. It's pretty normal to get over something and want some kind of a new format. Yeah. And to shake it up. And I guess the reality is, is that The Bachelor still being entrenched in reality TV. You can't do the same thing in reality TV and still get the net outcome of having immense viewers and engagement. The thing with reality TV is that we want more controversial. There's a saying, if it bleeds, it leads, which means if there's drama, you'll get the views. Look at Maths in Australia. It's the most dramatic show. It's also the most watched free-to-air show that has been created within Australia. It's going to be the same in the States. And The Bachelor is now competing against so many other reality TV shows that are so

controversial. So although it was a deviation choosing her to be on this series, they did it knowing that it was going to be pushing the boundaries and garnering a hell of a lot of views. I don't have a problem with what the ABC did by saying, hey, let's try something new. Let's cross promote with two shows. We know that's a big show, The Mormon Wives. We know that we need more viewers on The Bachelorette. Let's take somebody that's great from that and bring them over. There's nothing wrong with that. And importantly, they are actually owned by the same people. Exactly. So Disney owns it all. Yeah, it's a cross promotion. That's the whole point, right? You're keeping it within the family. Now, where they went wrong is the person that they

cast. So the reason that The Bachelorette has been cancelled two days before was a video that was released by TMZ. Now, in 2023, and this isn't a secret, this has been out on the Mormon Wives TV show, Taylor Frankie Paul herself has done multiple interviews surrounding it. Basically, she talks about a domestic violence assault where she was charged and that was against her on again off again on-screen partner and the father of one of her children so she has a two-year-old with this man called Dakota now they've had a very volatile on-off relationship for years so in this video what you see is it's filmed from Dakota's perspective he's obviously got his iPhone out because Taylor is having an absolute meltdown like and so he for whatever reason has thought

I need to film this, which makes me think it is a repeat incident on Taylor's behalf. And he has said that he said that it was volatile all the time. So basically it's at nighttime. It looks like they've come home. She's intoxicated and she's verbally and physically abusing him. She's throwing steel metal bar stools at him. And I mean, throwing, we're going to put the video on our YouTube. If you want to go and have a look, if you haven't seen it, but you can, you know, the video is everywhere. If you guys want to go and have a look. So she's throwing these bar stools at him and she's physically comes up to assault him with her own body she's hitting him she also had him in a chokehold at the start of the video she had him in a chokehold and the worst part

about this i don't even know if it's the worst part it's just another part but her daughter is on the couch in the same room and allegedly she was hit by one of the stools at one point like she was involved in this incident the thing is is this incident is not something that was private it's not something that no one didn't know about it actually was part of the storyline of the tv show, The Mormon Wives. So like, it is something that has been very well known and she is actually on probation still for this incident. This is what she was charged for in 2023 for that incident. She was charged with aggravated assault, criminal mischief, two counts of domestic violence in the presence of a child, child abuse. However, she pled guilty to aggravated assault in exchange

for the dismissal of all other charges. Now this information has been available. It was available to the abc it has played into the storyline there's a few different things we want to talk about here because two things can be true at the same time and taylor has come out and said that she was in an abusive relationship and she was the victim of abuse also but it's very confronting to see assault rather than just read the charges i think anyone who watches that video would be absolutely like had the wind taken out of them it is absolutely revolting behavior that cannot be excused and cannot be minimized by saying, oh, but she also experienced assault or she also experienced violence.

What I think when I say two things can be true at the same time, I do think that Taylor can be a victim and also be a perpetrator in the same relationship and in the same situation. Well, the question here is why did the ABC cast her? Did they cast her because of the drama or in spite of the drama? No, they cast her because of the drama. I think they cast her. I think both. I think the controversy was the strategy.

and now i think that they have realized that the public's reaction to seeing the video like you said we all knew about it we all knew that these things were very very public it was a part of a a storyline of mormon wives but seeing it does make you feel different and i also think hearing it there is a particular aspect for anyone who's experienced violence that i think it and i know the word triggering is really thrown around a lot but hearing the movement of the people in that video hearing the child cry after they were allegedly struck by one of the stools it is particularly shocking and I think it's one of those situations where there's a lot of talk about you know did Dakota deliberately release this just beforehand to take away you know Taylor's moment

and take away the fact that she was about to get all of this adoration from being the bachelorette her spokespeople have come out and responded to you know this video being posted on TMZ and said that taylor is grateful for abc's support they said after years of silently suffering extensive mental and physical abuse as well as threats of retaliation taylor is finally gaining the strength to face her accuser and taking steps to ensure that she and her children are protected from any further harm taylor has remained silent out of fear of further abuse retaliation and public shaming she's currently exploring all of her options seeking support and preparing to own and share her story i think we can just cut to the chase here what were they thinking what was the abc

thinking and i know exactly what you just said both of you in that statement and you laura just your own personal opinion of course two things can be true at once but you should have never cast her as the bachelor even if we hadn't seen the video you know there were charges and investigations into domestic violence the thing is they were willing to take the punt because so far on the secret lives of women wives that conversation that storyline had come out she had I guess like skated through the controversy and she'd made it out the other side and people still loved her they loved her realness they had been somewhat forgiving of this domestic violence assault charge because of I guess the transparency the fact that they had made up in

the relationship but there is something so different about seeing the video evidence and seeing how incriminating it is and you know it does mean that it becomes a one-sided because there is no video of Dakota being physically abusive towards Taylor. Maybe something like that will come out. But do you know what it made me think of? You remember the video that came out of Peter, me and Cassie in the lift? And we talked about it when it happened. I think that was last year. She's trying to leave. She's trying to get out of the apartment building and she gets to the lift and he gets to lift and he grabs her by the hair and he drags her away. And it is so violent to see. It is absolutely shocking. For years, people knew that there was assault going on in

that relationship she had they had spoken about it there had been conversations about it there is something very different and i'm not saying that it's okay but there's something so different about speaking about violence speaking about domestic violence assault and actually seeing it and that's why people get away with it for so long because it is hidden violence it's and we we really do manage to other it when we haven't physically seen it ourselves yeah but this is why where i agree with you when you see something it's far more confronting but for a show like this as big as this is for a company like the abc to actively make a choice to cast somebody that has a domestic violence past they're on probation for they're still on probation you would never

do that if a man had been convicted or no we'll just make him the president well yeah he could just run the country but the bachelorette and the bachelor by all accounts was always supposed to be somebody that was like the most eligible person like the best partner that you could want somebody that you could only. Desirable. Desirable and something you could only dream about and Taylor's not that somebody that's still on probation that has openly spoken about how she was the aggravator she was the aggressor like she she says that about herself she says I was the aggressor in that situation I got charged because the evidence was damning I did it she owned the fact and just because you own a fact doesn't mean it's okay like you still fucking hell you could have anyone you

want in that country? Are you telling me that that was the most eligible person you could find? And there is a breach of their duty of care in that because you have then chosen to put 20 or 30 other people in a situation with somebody that is still on probation for DV. But at the end of the day, ABC had a choice and they actively made this one. ABC didn't cancel the show because they saw the video and they knew about it. They canceled it because we saw it. Totally. There is an added layer to this in that they have had to halt the filming of secret lives of mormon wives that like the newer season because there has been a fresh allegation from february that a lot of people are confusing for this particular video there is an allegation that

has been taken to police about her assaulting dakota again strangling him with a necklace it's it's really dark and i think we all have the same opinion about the fact that no you absolutely should not be casting someone who did this but they did it because she's a controversial character and it kind of just makes me question like how far are they actually willing to push the boundaries they're pushing it into the fact that we're we're putting people on our screens and advocating for them and heralding them as this person who everyone should want to be with who have actual criminal charges and I do actually wonder whether this is going to have a repercussion I mean the argument can be made that none of the contestants going into the show didn't know about this because

it has been very public. But do you know what I think it's going to be? It's going to be a reality check for ABC and for the networks because they've pushed it, they've pushed it, they've pushed it. They know controversy sells and they have skirted that fine line for so long. And now they're in a situation where they've had to pull an entire production that has cost them, I mean, the estimate, yeah, the estimation is like a hundred million dollars. They've had to cancel something that would be such an enormous debt to them. They've had to disappoint sponsors. They've also put like 30 people's lives on hold as well all the participants I mean her life as well every single person has been affected there's not just them but the people who worked on the show like

there's so much that goes into this and they knew about it they thought the risk was worth it and then the people the public who saw the video told them it wasn't and they told them they would boycott the franchise and they knew that if they didn't pull this there was no coming back not just for this one show but for Mormon Wives and pretty much for the ABC in general and it goes against because it's ABC, but also it's Disney. It goes against the Disney franchise in totality. Like Disney is supposed to be family friendly first. And a child just got hit by a chair in a domestic violence incident,

which speaks volumes about the fact that they had to take action. It's not even just that, though. It's also their sponsors are pulling out left, right and center, not just from these shows. Everything. It's the great boycott. If they kept these shows on, they wouldn't just lose sponsors from the shows. They'd lose sponsors from the network.

But in relation to Keish, what you just said, you know, all the contestants knew the information was out there and they made a choice. One of the men that participated on the show anonymously, he hasn't said who he is, but he came out and said, part of me is just so fucking pissed. We all gave up so much to go and do this. We all came in with open hearts. We treated her kindly and respectfully and gave her a second chance. We tried to let her turn over a new leaf and we all believed her when she said she did.

Obviously, the way she acted and the way she treated all of us in hindsight is just a waste of time, a waste of energy, and a waste of emotional intelligence. Well, I think it's important to establish that this video that came out is obviously old content. It was from years ago. However, there has been new reports. One is that she slept with Dakota. This is her ex who was in the video. She slept with Dakota just before going into the Batch mansion, which once again, when you're saying like, oh, I'm there because I want love and I'm so committed to my new relationships, the fact that you're still entwined in this toxic relationship up until the moment that you leave she also was the very first bachelorette who still had access to her

phone throughout the filming so now there's questions about whether that i mean if you just fucked your ex the day before you're going and you're probably still texting them but then there's been something else that's come out which is also pretty disturbing so after coming out of the batch mansion dakota has released that taylor called him 150 times in 90 minutes that in itself is a level harassment that's almost like incomprehensible how do you yeah it's completely unhinged so like but she's also at that point laws she's finished the season with somebody that's what I'm saying so it's like these people who are saying look we were willing to give her a second chance we've invested all this time I understand why they feel betrayed and led on by this because I'm sure during

the filming process she was committed to the process of meeting someone but the second that she's out of it she's harassing her ex-partner with incessant phone calls the whole thing is just so unbelievably toxic and it's just painted the bachelor franchise in such a grotesque way because like you said brit it was meant to be that one show where people actually find a happy ever after like i mean look not to be like look at us but like i mean matt and i met on this show like we have a family in australia 50 of the couples have successful relationships off the back of it like it's one of the highest statistic shows for actually having successful relationships It's actually got crazy statistics. It's also the only country that one bachelor's never picked

anyone. Like that's a high statistic. We're smashing it out of the park. It was good for some of us. But that's a good point. Like Laura and I, we have a different perspective on this because we've lived this franchise. We went into this mansion for three months and filmed this. We can tell you how thorough the background checks are, but we can also tell you why we think we're cast. And there are definitely people that are cast for drama. Now that's mainly usually the contestants. This is the difference. Usually it's the participants and contestants that are the drama and the bachelor or the bachelorette, the main character is supposed to be amazing. Can I ask actual questions about that? Well, yeah. How do they find out who the

crazy people are? Well, you go through such thorough audition processes, like multiple days with multiple people and you're doing psych tests and you're speaking to different producers who are learning everything about your history. And I always think, so in these scenarios, you, when their casting, don't quote me on this, but I have had some people in the past tell me this. There's only ever three or four people that are cast that they think actually could be the match. Then there are people that are like cast because they're normal and they might make it, but they don't think they're the top three. And then the rest of it is cast for a TV show, the drama. So it's like, and so I think I was cast for two reasons. I think I was cast because they genuinely thought

I was a match, but they also cast me because of my history. And when I say history, I'd been single for a long time and I had an ex that was a fucking psycho he had a double life like he was marrying two people at the same time he was calling kids the same names and like did you talk about that on the show yeah I talked about it but not in detail so Nick knew and they knew my storyline but all I ever said for my own safety purposes was I was never going to go into detail on that because I had so much anxiety about this person and what he would could or would do because he had threatened me in the past after those things came out and so I've never gone into detail about that but I think I was cast for two reasons I was because they could see me at the end I had so much

in common with Nick but also because I had an interesting past that could be brought up in a way and it was never made a storyline because I did make that clear but it did give me a background I guess that people could feel for feel something for like wow this this girl's been through the ringer and that's what they do they want to make sure that there is something because they are creating a show yeah but like you said they go for drama within the contestants not drama within the main lead and that's kind of where they've gone wrong I mean I think that they really thought that this would pay dividends for them I mean and it had this video not come out it would have paid dividends for them if this video had never come out and never surfaced the American public were

up until this point okay with the fact that she had these charges laid against her they were okay with the fact that this story had happened I think part of that acceptance is the fact that her and Dakota got back together it's because there's been multiple seasons of the secret lives of Mormon wives so like you've been able to see her in the complex character development of the woman that she is we don't just see her when you see all sides to someone you see the faults you see the facets of them that make them admirable or loved and this truth teller this person that will say anything or do anything because that's just authentically who they are the thing that people couldn't get over was seeing the physical violence and I also think

maybe even more so than the physical violence towards Dakota was seeing her as a bad mother yeah and I think the one thing we hate more than I guess like a crazy woman is someone that we can pigeon as someone who is a terrible mother and a neglectful mother and that goes against everything that you know sits and kind of stands within these traditional values and definitely the traditional values of The Bachelor and I think seeing that little kid you don't see it fully in the video but you you see the chair go off to the side and you hear a child cry I think that that was for me as well the most gut-wrenching part of that video series I could almost be like wow this is all crazy up until that point and I was like that's devastating yeah I think also

think about the contestants like if you had Laura gone through three months of your life you'd given up work some of them have to quit work some of them you're putting all your stuff in storage you're getting rid of your rental apartments you are committed emotionally physically you were there imagine filming that for that long yeah and then them saying sorry you're still under contract for you so don't talk about it you we still own you but you're not going to get anything from this you're not going to and the poor what about the guy that won like there was a guy that finished this with her. And apparently they've broken up and he's being looked at for the next bachelor, which makes a lot of sense. But the other thing is, and it'd be crazy not to talk about it.

I of course think that this should have been canceled. It's crazy to think how quickly we cancel a woman though, when there are so many men in the public eye, including the president of the United States that have horrific allegations and charges against them. And we don't cancel them and I'm not saying that she shouldn't have been cancelled and the show shouldn't have been cancelled I just think that the way that we approach men and women and it's a it's an age-old trope it's nothing new here but it's pretty insane to see the different reactions my question is though would we cancel them if we had video evidence I wonder if we would because PDD was not cancelled until we saw the video evidence I think sometimes we are way more capable of turning

a blind eye. And I agree, like there are so many examples of the media turning a blind eye to horrific behavior that have happened by men. I mean, it happens if you can throw a ball in football in Australia, don't worry, you can get away with pretty much anything and still have a career in hosting any sort of football show or commentating, whatever. But the thing is, is we don't have video evidence of that. So it's so easy to go, yeah, that happened in private, it's in the dark. But there was something very visceral around seeing it. And I think it would have been the same thing in this instance. And maybe that's kind of like where I've landed on this. We did turn a blind eye to it. We were accepting of it. She's been charged. It's not accusations of assault. She

was charged with way more. She settled on a lower plea and she has admitted it. Like you said on podcasts, she's admitted it multiple times that she's an aggravator and she behaves badly and toxic in relationships. And we allowed it as the public. We also were like, we're okay. We stand you. You've got 6 million followers. We love you. But the second that video came out, everyone unturned and I really want to be careful with how we leave this conversation because like I said at the very beginning of this two things can be true I do think Taylor is a victim I absolutely think that she has experienced physical assault as well in that relationship she has spoken about the toxicity and the abuse that she has experienced also at the hands of Dakota yeah I think it was

timed because he wanted to create maximum amount of damage to her I think there was a strategy behind it i believe all those things and i don't want to take away from those things from her i don't know this woman i don't think that one video can be enough to say you are a terrible mother i'm saying that's the perception that is that we receive from the video but like we are making a judgment on her entire person based on her worst moment in her entire life i'm sure she isn't that horrible however she still should not have been cast as the bachelorette that's the big takeaway way from this. It's not about painting her as this one dimensional person. I just don't think that if you have an active charge against you, you should be someone that's pinned up as the

most desirable person in the country. I just don't agree. And I don't think she's doing herself any favors the way that she's handling this. It's rubbing a lot of people the wrong way. She's just back on TikTok. She's reposting people. She's commenting. She's responding to people. And somebody wrote to her and said, Taylor, put your phone down. Like take a breath. And she wrote back and said what do you want me to do look at a blank wall or something like it's almost I don't think you can be in this situation and then just play on like you have to take a moment and and maybe take a shitload more accountability and I just think the way she's dealing with it is pushing people further away see I think in that very particular instance the reality tv world

is more at fault and I think I want to live in a world where people can be forgiven for really horrible things that they do. If they, you know, repent for the things that they've done, if they take accountability, they apologize and they don't do the behavior again. And that is a particular facet of Taylor that, you know, these new allegations, potentially she hasn't done that. I don't think they should be platformed. I think we all agree on that. But ABC and Disney put her into a circus. They made her the main performer of that circus. And now she can't escape the circus. she is a part of this world where I'm like no wonder she's not putting her phone down this person has been manipulated to be this person to be this controversial to create and make

money she can't just escape that she was always controversial it's what came first the chicken or the egg you know she always had it you know which is why they created a show off the back of it that probably perpetuated those feelings and those personality traits but like she definitely had that in her I think it is incredibly layered because I also think that there's a third part to this the reason why it's so successful and so wanted is because we as the viewers love the drama we do it's the reality and we're the ones we are paying them with our viewership so like everyone always says and it's the same with all reality tv people are like ban it it's so terrible and it's like stop watching then because if you actually want to ban something boycott it don't

ban it by watching it and then being angry if you're watching it and then being angry you are Feeding the beast and you were continuing the controversy. You vote with views. You vote with views, exactly. Okay, let's do Suck and Sweet, our highlight and our lowlight for the week. I'm going to kick it off. Go! I love that.

I'm getting a sty. Fucking, that sucks. I know why. It's all the makeup on and off for the show and the filming and, like, we're doing so much of it. Can you please promise me that you will not rub a gold ring on it? It is the silliest. I don't, but I teabag.

Of course you do. Hey-oh! no apparently the green steeping a hot green tea tea bag on your eye but it's the same sentiment as just a hot water warm wash but like it just makes me feel better if it's a tea bag i remember when i was a little kid and someone was like you rub a gold ring on it and i rubbed my mom's ring on my eye and then i it made it so much worse because it was not a clean ring there's just don't do it just don't do it it's like sticking a swollen hand or finger or something in butter has anyone heard that one i think that's like an old i'll shut up what was your suck

my sweet is i don't want to get ahead of myself we'll report back next week my sweet is i may have a magician oh my god i don't be a magician i haven't booked it i'm closer i'm closer i'm going through there's a couple of them they're pretty booked out it's four days away but i i'm we're close it's actually been googling and there's youtubes that she's gonna learn in the next few days i've learned some she is the magician if you rock out wearing a wizard cape I'll be fucking thrilled. We could go as Lord's wizard sleeves. Why are you guys not here dressed as my vagina?

I'm so offended. All right. My suck for the week. I'm going to keep this super brief, but it was a terrible suck. I spent my Saturday night at emergency with Poppy. I don't think this is a super brief chat. I am going to keep it brief though. Is she alright?

Yeah. I mean, she's, look, she's, she's okay now. She's been sick. I think I told you guys, she's been sick for like a week now with the cold, but she had a choking episode on Saturday night and she. On what? on like food no no on her own phlegm so she was like asleep well she wasn't asleep I was putting it asleep she started coughing and then she just went and then just stopped breathing and could not

breathe and she she was trying to like sputter and I had to do back blows it was like one of the most intensely scary parenting moments I've had did you call an ambulance or did you I didn't well she ended up so I did back blows and then she ended up vomiting and then it happened a second time and then she vomited a second time and this all went over a couple of minutes like and then by the time she had this full blowout vomit the second time she was breathing but it was super rattly like there was I was worried she wasn't like a clean airway I was worried she had milk that went into her lungs but she literally by the time she went blue and then she started breathing again and then vomiting and then breathing again and then and then she was just

smiling she's the fucking happiest baby she was like thank you and so i got unfortunately matt was at the fucking soccer so he'd taken my car and i had no car seat so i ended up getting a taxi to the hospital because i didn't want to call an ambulance because i was like i just you know i'm also down the road just call me i can be at your house in two seconds for something like that i know i just because you gotta leave the kids well no ellie was there so it was just it was really it was really full-on anyway we got to the hospital they checked her out they kept her there for observation and she hasn't done it again so we're in the clear but I was like fucking hell so yeah that was a real suck I'm glad that I did the baby CPR stuff because then

I felt a little bit like I knew what I was doing and it was the back blows that cleared it the back blows had made a big difference so that happened oh my god and my sweet for the week is what you guys just did it was so nice um thank you haven't even opened your present I know I haven't even opened my present it gets better but my sweet for the week is guys I can't wait to read all the messages thank you to everyone who did send one in i'm not good with compliments but i appreciate it deeply and yeah you were all my sweet for the weeks yeah we love you 40 fabulous and 40 it's my it's my give no fucks era i'm mentoring we love that i can't wait for mine no i can't actually fabulous and 40 guys please keep your ass gun cuts accent and filters

embarrass everything that you we could possibly write in your aftermath come into instagram life Fun Cup Podcast, and you know the drill. Tell your mum, tell your dad, tell your dog, tell your friends, and share the love because we love chatting party. Woo!