The OG Bachelorette, Trista Rehn, has shared how she feels about Taylor Frankie Paul's casting on The Bachelorette's upcoming 22nd season.
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Trista, who starred on The Bachelorette's first season that premiered on ABC in 2003, said she believes that ABC's decision to cast Taylor on Season 22, although "controversial," was brilliant during the Wednesday, February 4 episode of the "Bachelor Happy Hour" podcast.
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"I never watched The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives -- yet. So I knew who she was, just because she's so popular, but I didn't know any details, and I know that it was a very controversial announcement for Bachelor Nation," Trista told co-hosts Charity Lawson and Rachel Recchia.
"I think it's genius," she added. ""Honestly, I think it's genius."
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Trista gushed about how she loved meeting Taylor at the recent reunion for past and present The Bachelorette stars.
In addition to Taylor and Trista, over a dozen former The Bachelorette stars gathered to film a special, The Bachelorette: Before the First Rose, which will air immediately following The Oscars broadcast on Sunday, March 15.
The reunion will serve as a special preview of Taylor's upcoming season and feature the leading ladies looking back on their own journeys to find love.
"I was so honored to be able to be, kind of, the first one to welcome her, and I won't spoil what happens," Trista teased.
Rachel -- who co-starred on The Bachelorette's 19th season with Gabby Windey but is currently single -- recalled Taylor having "so many questions" for the past Bachelorettes.
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"I really expected her to walk in and be like, 'This is my journey. I'm going to do what I want,' but it felt like she really went in [to the reunion] and knew what she wanted to ask the group," Rachel said.
She later added, "She was very curious about what to do if you're in between two men... She kept asking that over and over... So I will be very curious to see, once she gets down to the end, how she handles that."
Trista said, based on Taylor's edit on The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, people probably have "the assumption" that Taylor is "all in it just for the cameras on her."
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But Trista insisted, "That was so not the case. She is so genuine and so sweet, and truly, like you said, invested in connecting with each of us and listening."
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Trista said Taylor never brushed by people or kept conversations short in order to keep things moving.
"She was is not like that at all," Trista noted.
"She was fully present and was such a good listener, and even if we were saying something that maybe wasn't relevant to what was going on with her, I think she was just so -- she was just truly invested and truly present, and I loved that!"
Trista recalled Taylor asking several of the women with successful The Bachelorette relationships -- including Desiree Hartsock, JoJo Fletcher and Joan Vassos -- questions such as, "How did you make it work? How did you know?"
Trista said she thought Taylor "gained a lot of knowledge" during that particular conversation.
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Charity went on to share how Taylor had asked many of the women, "What characteristics were you looking for or that you found in the guy you ended up with?"
Charity said the women all gave similar answers, and she added, "I saw it, in her brain, click for her... I think she was like, 'Oh my gosh, okay, maybe these are things I need to take note of.'"
Charity -- who is currently engaged to her The Bachelorette 20 winner, Dotun Olubeko -- said men like Dotun and Trista's husband Ryan Sutter, for example, were "gentle" and "patient."
Charity explained how those guys were "in the back" of the pack, not "grasping or fighting for attention" on their respective The Bachelorette seasons.
Charity also teased that Taylor's season is "going to be really interesting" and the TikTok star is "going to do things her own way."
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Charity concluded, "I think she craves this [love story] and wants it more than anything. So I think that's going to be really special to play out."
The Bachelorette's 22nd season is set to premiere with a two-hour episode on Sunday, March 22 at 8PM ET/PT and be available for streaming the next day on Hulu.
Taylor is a 31-year-old Utah native who ignited "#MomTok" and went viral for exposing details about Salt Lake's soft-swinging scene on The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives.
Taylor is also a mother of three kids with "two baby daddies," as Taylor has playfully put it.
Taylor was previously married to Tate Paul for years.
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Taylor and Tate got married in 2016 and welcomed two kids together: daughter Indy, 8, and son Ocean, 5.
Taylor had admitted to violating the rules of the couple's soft-swinging arrangement by becoming more intimate with another man in their friend group, which led to their separation and eventual divorce in May 2022.
Taylor then dated Dakota Mortensen for more than two years. She and Dakota welcomed a son, Ever True, in March 2024.
Taylor and Dakota appeared to split in late 2024, although Taylor didn't confirm their breakup until early 2025.
The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives showed Dakota and Taylor contemplating a reconciliation last year, but Taylor wasn't convinced Dakota had been faithful to her and that she could trust him.
"[Taylor is a] TikTok powerhouse whose comedic, heartwarming and bitingly honest content has earned her a massive following. As a single mother of three, Paul shares the highs and lows of her life with unfiltered candor," ABC teased of her season.
Before Taylor's The Bachelorette journey begins on TV, fans can tune into the premiere of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives' fourth season on Thursday, March 12. All 10 episodes will be available for streaming on Hulu.
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