The Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous Podcast - The Future of the Franchise Part 1 with Kaity Biggar and Caelynn Bell

Episode Date: March 24, 2026

The Bachelorette has been cancelled, the franchise is in disarray, what could possibly happen next?? Ashley has called in Kaity Biggar and Caelynn Bell to help figure out where things could go for Bachelor Nation. What will become of Taylor Frankie Paul’s contestants? Will there be another season of Paradise? What would a “major reset” look like?Plus, we hear suggestions for a lead that could save the entire franchise!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. I became a millionaire overnight and lost everything that actually mattered. Hold on, Sophia. Did you just say they lost everything after becoming a millionaire? That's right. And it gets worse. It's narrating too much drama week on the OK Storytime podcast, so we'll find out soon.

This person writes, I just inherited a fortune after losing my mom. And now my girlfriend's entire family is coming out of nowhere with her hands out. And my girlfriend is already giving my money away. So the girl he wants to marry is already saying, sending money out the door. To find out how it ends, listen to the OK Storytime podcast on the Iheart Radio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. You know Roll Doll. He thought up Willie Wonka and the BFG. But did you know he was a spy? In the new podcast, The Secret World of Roll Doll, I'll tell you that story, and much, much more. What?

You probably won't believe it either. Was this before he wrote his stories? It must have been. Okay, I don't think that's true. I'm telling you. I was a spy. Listen to the secret world of Roald Dahl on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Bailey Taylor, and this is It Girl. This podcast is all about going deeper with the women's shaping culture right now. Yes, we will talk about the style and the success, but we are also talking about the pressure, the expectations, and the real work behind it all. As a woman in the industry, you're always underestimated,

so you have to work extra hard in a way that doesn't compromise who you're. are in your integrity. You know, I like to say I was kind of like a silent ninja. Listen to It Girl with Bailey Taylor on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Ready for a different take on Formula One? Look no further than no grip, a new podcast tackling the culture of motor racing's most coveted series. Join me, Lily Herman, as we dive into the under-explored pockets of F-1, including the story of the woman who last participated in a Formula one race weekend, the recent uptick in F1 romance novels, and plenty of mishap scandals and sagas

that have made Formula One a delightful, decadent dumpster fire for more than 75 years. Listen to No Grip on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Marsh Madness is here, and if you're trying to keep up with everything happening on and off the court, we've got you covered on the podcast, flagrant and funny. You want to start with the first measure for the Big Ten Coach of the Year? Oh, whatever. Would you like to? I guess.

So you're a Spartan, is that what I'm getting? Exactly. On Flakrant and Funny, we're giving our unfiltered takes on the biggest moments of the conversations everyone's having. So whether your bracket is busted or you just want the latest on the tournament, we got you. Listen to Flacrant and Funny with Kerry Champion and Jemail on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. This is the Ben and Ashley I, almost famous podcast with IHart Radio. Today on the podcast, guys, I have Caitlin Bell and Katie Bigger joining me to talk about all the headlines that have emerged over the past five days since The Bachelorette was canceled. And I say canceled, even though technically it's possibly on hold because ABC spokespeople have never used the word canceled.

Canceled is a strong word. that means that it would never be able to air anywhere. Katie, Kalyn, I'm happy to have you guys here breaking this down with me. Katie, you did make a comment on a red carpet a couple days ago about this. Can you repeat for the audience your general consensus on the cancellation? Yeah, I think so what I said on the red carpet was essentially just me saying that I think that Bachelor just needs to go back to the roots and find people that genuinely want to follow. in love. And I do understand that the franchise was kind of going downhill and I understand

why they chose Taylor Frankie Paul as the Bachelorette for views because she brings a different element that we haven't necessarily seen before. But I think what she brings is like chaos and drama. And I think they kind of lost sight of the whole like reason why they started the Bachelor, I feel like. I think they were just like looking for views. more than anything. And I remember being on the show. And they genuinely, like, I genuinely felt like they did want you to fall in love. They wanted the lead to fall in love and be with the right person.

And they kind of helped, like, assist that. But, like, I just felt like we've lost a little bit of that. What I thought we really needed was a stunt cast. I thought we needed a somewhat celebrity to be in that role to draw interest from another person's audience and another just like to put more of a spotlight on the show just to gauge more interest because we had a great time with Joey's season and then we the interest fell off again and I couldn't think of anyone that would bring in an audience from you know I love Latia would she bring a huge audience no I couldn't think of anybody except for let's actually talk about this

Rachel Kirkano I thought that Rachel Kirkano could have actually in a way been a stunt cast Yeah And she was the other celebrity option that would have been

really good for this role I wonder how seriously she was ever considered for it But it made a lot of sense for It made sense for it to be a Mormon wife and Taylor Frankie Paul being the most famous of all of them

The leader of the bunch and it being a Hulu Disney crossover and them loving doing crossovers between Dancing with the Stars and Bachelor and now this. It did make a lot of sense. I was not really familiar with her. I never watched Secret Lives until she became The Bachelor and then I started watching it in preparation.

I still haven't finished. And up until that point when she was announced as Bachelor, there'd only been two seasons. Did either of you watch Secret Lives leading up to her Bachelorette naming? Yeah. No, I've been watching the whole thing. You did. Okay, great. So, Caitlin, when they announced Taylor Frankie Paul, were you like, oh, my gosh, she is going to be a show? Because in season, I'm watching season two right now. I'm in the middle of it. And like, I don't know that I think, oh, she's going to be chaos. Did you? No, I was honestly mad when they cast her because if we're going to like stunt casting and especially Hulu, Brooks Nader is like the perfect choice. I don't think any of the guys are hot enough for her, but she also has a Hulu show. She's such good TV.

She was on Dancing with the Stars. Yeah, yeah. So I was all for Brooks Nader. I don't know if she was ever in talks, but I think she would have been great. Taylor Frankie Paul, I was mad because she has domestic violence charges. We don't need to give someone a larger platform. But then I'm like, whatever. This is who The Bachelorette is.

I can be mad. That's not going to change anything. watching the seasons, she like goes to rehab. She's, she, or not rehab, but a recovery center. And she's working on herself. And it seems like, okay, maybe, you know, she, like, really mellowed out and chilled out in the seasons. And then we watched this newest season where she's sleeping with her ex the night before she leaves to be the Bachelorette. And like all sorts of chaos.

She's dating a guy knowing she was already announced to be the Bachelorette. It's like, these are the things that we as contestants would have been. canceled for and have been canceled for. Yeah. So it's just confusing. Yeah. And to that now, like, we, we get an investigate, like, we go through an investigation process that looks through our background before we get casted.

So it's so interesting that they casted somebody that openly has these charges. It seems like in recent memory, there's been, like, a lot of stalking allegations or arrests. And then there was Devin who, like, set his exesies. car on fire. I don't know how those slip through the cracks, but we know Taylor Frankie Paul's didn't slip through the cracks as she documents it in her ABC Hulu show. And then she, you know, she talks all about it. Like, we know that that wasn't a slip. That was them showing like people can change, right? So I guess my overarching opinion is that she should have never been cast.

She was too much of a wild card. So she should have never been cast. And I do think that they should have not gone forward the season. Those are my two big takeaways. But then there's a little bit of nuance. When the video came out, the big thing about the video is that we now see something that was three years old and sort of forgiven for by the people around her. and by the network because it's all documented.

It's a part of her story. So we don't really, but it's like when you see it, it changes your opinion. And I said this so many times on the podcast. It's so much different hearing somebody recall a situation versus seeing it, especially days before you're supposed to see her in this loving environment. What I had actually wished that ABC had done, and this is what I would have done if I were the publicist, Not that I like have any sort of smarts in this department.

But this would have made me feel like it was not just like ABC, like going back on a decision that they made, but more so talking about something that may have happened after a decision that they made. This is what I would have said. We aren't going forward with the season of The Bachelorette at this time as there's an ongoing police investigation pertaining to Taylor Frankie Paul. the incident was reported to police in February. Because to me, it is the February incident that is probably why she should further have not been the Bachelorette.

They've already accepted the fact that she has a domestic. They already accepted that. As hard as it is to see the video, we've already supposedly accepted this. What? We have not all collectively accepted. and we should never, it's never, when I say except, I don't mean condone what's in the video. Like, of course, she's terrible in the video. We will never condone domestic violence.

But you can recover from that kind of behavior and you can be forgiven for that kind of behavior. But when you do it again, possibly, in the constraints of your ABC contract, which seems like may have happened in February when the, when the, when the, Secret Lives Girls halted filming because they no longer felt comfortable filming with her. That was the incident that should have really stopped this from going forward. Well, that's my question is, was it going to, were they going to stop the season because of these new charges and allegations? Or was it only stopped because we saw the video? Because it kind of feels like it only stopped because the video came out. I think it was the video.

Yeah. And it's horrific. Like, I remember. reading the police report in 2023 and I was like this is disgusting horrible and seeing the video somehow is so much worse than the police report and I'm happy that they canceled the season because we don't need to give a platform to two people because not only is it Taylor Frankie Paul it's also Dakota Dakota is going to find a way to like play off of this in some way and he already has and like both of these people need to get offline like the fact that Taylor Frankie Paul is

watching videos of herself and commenting. They need to be offline. They need to be like with their children. It's crazy. I think probably back in 2023, she did take accountability, which people, I think, saw that as a positive. So they're like, okay, she's taking accountability for what she did. And I'm not a huge, I don't watch this show really ever. It's not and I started watching it, like, the first two episodes and I got a headache and I was like, turn this stuff. Yeah, I didn't understand the appeal at all until I meet in the middle of season two. I'm getting it. it. I'm starting to understand. But that's a lot of investment into something that you don't get. But that was for the show. Yeah. And I think there's also like two opposing views.

Like people don't want to like side with one person because there's no evidence. Now there's evidence that clearly shows what she was doing. I know. And it's absolutely so inexcusable that like you can't look past that whatsoever. So I think that's why. Exactly. is throwing it back. To the days of huge hits. And unforgettable items. A non-stop stream of the biggest and best.

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This person writes, I just inherited a fortune after losing my mom, and now my girlfriend's entire family is coming out of nowhere with their hands out. One sibling wants me to fund their whole lifestyle. Another vanished for four years and suddenly reappeared. And my girlfriend is already giving my money away. Hold on, Sophia. So the girl he wants to marry is already sending money out the door. And that's just the beginning.

He makes a plan, sets up a trust, and finally thinks he has everything under control. Okay, so things work out then? Let's just say the people he trusted the most are the ones who ended up shocking him the most. So does the money end up being worth going through all that? To find out, listen to the OK Storytime podcast on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. In 2023, former bachelor star Clayton Eckerd found himself at the center of a paternity scandal. The family court hearings that followed revealed glaring inconsistencies in her story. This began a years-long court battle to prove the truth.

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Now, the February thing for us, where our job is to talk about what's going on, all of these reports were coming out that the girls had shut down filming, that they were feeling uncomfortable, that they were saying that Taylor needs help, that there was the police were called in February before her show is supposed to air. And we're like, if these girls that have like known her for years are saying that they feel uncomfortable being like basically associated with her and that she needs to go and get professional help, like, why aren't we not addressing this? So like all last week before the video came out, we're like, why are we having this sit down about what went on in February? and all of that was weird and it was like

they were trying and trying and trying to just push through that and I feel like they really thought that they could get through it without addressing it directly because even when she sat down with Laura Spencer it was like not it was so vague and so strange

and then we and then the video came out it was like Dakota I mean I'm assuming it was Dakota was like oh the rumors of February aren't working enough just gonna drop the video now what do you guys think

do you think it was Dakota I don't know who else it would be. I know. But here, okay, so this, I have been, you know, thinking about this a ton. I think Dakota was so angry about her being the Bachelorette. Like, I think he was very spiteful. I think that he probably sent this in, and, you know, this is just my theory. I think he probably sent this to producers or someone when she was announced.

Like, I think he's been trying to stop this. So potentially, I don't know, you know, this is all speculation, but maybe he. This is his last resort. All legislation. And all rumors and all at the top of our head. Yes. But we know that Dakota is just, he's like anti-Taylor. He doesn't want her to be happy.

So I have a feeling that like this video has been seen, but I don't know. I do agree with that. Yeah. It's all very interesting. But then didn't he like come out and say that he didn't do that? Like him in, I don't know, this other person. best friend allegedly. Yeah, said like, oh, it's not us. We didn't do that video. Yeah. Well, my producer is texting me that it could have been the courthouse. The video isn't sealed by the court because that video was submitted as evidence. But at the same time, it could also not be the court and it could have been Dakota. Another thing that as far as we should, we should mention about her changing her ways since that initial video, she did stop drinking after that situation. And, you know, that was like, obviously a wake-up call for her.

So I don't know, guys. It's just a very icky situation. The show should have been not aired. I totally understand. I am with that. There are people out there that are like, we should be able to make our own decisions on whether or not to choose to watch it.

So they should put it up on Hulu. I think they took it off ABC. I think they knew that all the advertisers were going to leave. not want to be associated with her. And I also think that for their own, just like the looks of it, they pulled it. What do you guys think about that? But those comments make me mad.

Like the people saying, I want the choice. There are so many avenues of entertainment. We don't need to watch this. We don't need to perpetuate. Like, we just don't need to have Taylor Frankie Paul on her screens. Like, she has proven to us time and time again that she's problematic. Like, we don't.

need to be giving her more of a platform. Another thing that we went through, because you were talking about our arrest background, you know, like our background checks, we also went through mental health checks. Some people say that they let people through that are crazy. I mean, there's rumors of that where it's like, oh, yeah, this person didn't exactly fly through with flying colors. so if you'd like to have them as your wild card this season, here you go. But if we're using it in the way that we believe, you know, it's supposed to be used, which is like they can only allow people with healthy mental clarity.

Oh, look at that. Okay, sorry, guys. My producer sends me tidbits throughout the show, and this is interesting. She says the final, the network always gets final decision on those. The psychologist recommends whether the person is fit or not to be on air. super interesting. So I wonder, obviously, in this case, how thorough was that back, was that mental health check? And did they even care? They fully knew what they were getting themselves into, period. Like, whether there was a check or not, there's a whole TV show showing her personality and which she's capable of.

There's news articles, everything, even before all this came out. They fully knew what was happening. Yeah. All right. So there are. complex, nuance opinions on the matter. We now are going to move over to headlines, but I want to make that a separate episode. So hang

tight for that one. Follow the Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous Podcasts on IHartRadio or subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. I became a millionaire overnight and lost everything that actually mattered. Hold on, Sophia. Did you just say they lost everything after

becoming a millionaire? That's right. And it gets worse. It's narrating too much drama week on the Okay Storytime podcast, so we'll find out soon. This person writes, I just inherited a fortune after losing my mom, and now my girlfriend's entire family is coming out of nowhere with her hands out. And my girlfriend is already giving my money away. So the girl he wants to marry is already sending money out the door.

To find out how it ends, listen to the OK Storytime podcast on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Bailey Taylor, and this is It Girl. This podcast is all about going deeper with the women's shaping culture right now. Yes, we will talk about the style and the success, but we are also talking about the pressure, the expectations, and the real work behind it all. As a woman in the industry, you're always underestimated. So you have to work extra hard in a way that doesn't compromise who you are in your integrity. You know, I like to say I was kind of like a silent ninja.

Listen to It Girl with Bailey Taylor on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Ready for a different take on Formula One? Look no further than No Grip. tackling the culture of motor racing's most coveted series. Join me, Lily Herman, as we dive into the under-explored pockets of F1, including the story of the woman who last participated in a Formula One race weekend, the recent uptick in F1 romance novels, and plenty of mishap scandals and sagas that have made Formula One a delightful,

decadent dumpster fire for more than 75 years. Listen to No Grip on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. You know, Roald Dahl. He thought up Willie Wonka and the BFG. But did you know he was a spy? In the new podcast, The Secret World of Roll Doll, I'll tell you that story, and much, much more. What? You probably won't believe it either.

Was this before he wrote his stories? It must have been. Okay, I don't think that's true. I'm telling you, the guy was a spy. Listen to the Secret World of Roll Doll on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Marsh Madness is here, and if you're trying to keep up with everything happening on and off the court, We've got you covered on the podcast, Flagrant and Funny. You want to start with the first special for the Big Ten coach of the year?

Oh, whatever. Would you like to? Yes. So you're a Spartan, is that what I'm getting? On Flagrant and Funny, we're giving our unfiltered takes on the biggest moments the conversations everyone's having. So whether your bracket is busted or you just want the latest on the tournament, we got you.

Listen to Flacrid and Funny with Kerry Champion and Jamel Hill on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed human.