Indiana
Is ‘The Bachelorette’ happening? This Carmel contestant weighs in
ABC pulls upcoming ‘Bachelorette’ season. Here’s what to know
A Carmel man and former Purdue basketball player was set to compete on this season that won’t air.
Should ABC air the canceled-for-now season of “The Bachelorette”? A Carmel man who was set to compete on it seems to think so.
Matt Carroll, a 43-year-old Purdue basketball alum and Carmel resident, took to social media over the weekend to address the cancelation of season 22 of “The Bachelorette,” on which he appeared. Public opinion on whether the show should see the light of day is split, but the former Boilermaker forward and industrial real estate broker hopes the footage makes it to air.
Disney and ABC pulled season 22 of “The Bachelorette” because its lead, “Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” star Taylor Frankie Paul, faces an ongoing domestic violence investigations. The network announced the decision March 19 after TMZ leaked a video from a 2023 domestic violence incident involving Paul and her ex Dakota Mortensen.
Neither Carroll nor the show have officially commented on the cancelation, but that doesn’t mean he and other contestants haven’t hinted at their feelings on social media.
Carroll’s Instagram reel — in which he struts through the streets of Carmel, rose in hand, RAYE’s “Where the Hell is My Husband” soundtracking it all — breaks the ice. “So…about that,” he joked, tagging both “The Bachelorette” and Bachelor Nation, the franchise’s official hub for news and content.
The reel has garnered comments from fellow Carmel residents wishing Carroll well, even offering to set him up with local singles. Notably, though, some of Carroll’s followers have called for the season to air — and he agrees.
“Trying to manifest that they still air this,” one comment from model Brittany Mason reads. “America wants it the world wants it!”
“From your lips to God’s ears,” Carroll replied.
Another response from him put it more plainly:
“I’m still hoping they decide to air it.”
Whether “The Bachelorette” will air is unclear. Disney Entertainment Television’s official statement only indicated that it was halting the season “for now,” so it’s possible the network could dust off the footage and air it after all.
Contact IndyStar Pop Culture Reporter Heather Bushman at hbushman@indystar.com. Follow her on X @hmb_1013.