Making a TV show is expensive… but so is canceling one. ABC stands to lose a lot of money — tens of millions, it turns out — from pulling Season 22 of The Bachelorette from air.
If the network keeps its 22nd season of the long-running reality dating show shelved for good, it could lose $30 million or more.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the show costs roughly $2 million per episode to produce, with a typical season production cost upward of $25 million.
In addition, the network has already likely spent several million dollars in marketing and advertising, while simultaneously losing potential ad sales revenue from commercials that will no longer air during the scrapped season. THR reports ABC will likely “have to pay make-goods to advertisers that bought time on the now-scrapped season.”
Plus, ABC is responsible for paying a license fee to Warner Horizon, which produces the reality franchise, whether or not the produced episodes ever make it to air.
All in all it’s estimated that scrapping the unaired season, which follows controversial The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star Taylor Frankie Paul, will end up costing the network more than $30 million.
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Originally scheduled to premiere this upcoming Sunday (March 22), on Thursday (March 19) ABC pulled Season 22 indefinitely after a video of Paul involved in a domestic violence incident surfaced online.
The video, filmed in 2023, was first shared by TMZ. It shows Paul physically attacking her ex-boyfriend Dakota Mortensen during an argument and throwing a chair at him in front of her daughter.
Paul was arrested for the incident in 2023, and she pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated assault.
“In light of the newly released video just surfaced today, we have made the decision to not move forward with the new season of The Bachelorette at this time, and our focus is on supporting the family,” Disney Entertainment Television said in a statement announcing the cancellation yesterday.
It’s unclear if the season will ever air or be seen by the public.
In her own statement after ABC pulled her season, a spokesperson for Paul said the reality star was “very grateful for ABC’s support as she prioritizes her family’s safety and security.”
“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. There are too many women who are suffering in silence as they survive aggressive, jealous ex-partners who refuse to let them move on with their lives. Taylor has remained silent out of fear of further abuse, retaliation, and public shaming,” the statement continued.
Paul is “currently exploring all of her options, seeking support, and preparing to own and share her story,” according to her public statement.
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The very definition of “you couldn’t make that today.”
Gallery Credit: Emma Stefansky