‘Traitors’ Star Fuels ‘Bachelorette’ Rumors — And She’s Not Saying No https://t.co/y49Tyes2ZG
— Parade Mag (@ParadeMagazine) March 25, 2026
Could Maura Higgins star in a live season of the Bachelorette? Your guess is as good as mine.
Why would there be a live season of the Bachelorette? Presumably because executives over at ABC and Disney are currently scrambling to save not the most recent Bachelorette season (it’s beyond saving) but instead the entire Bachelor(ette) franchise after their recent lack of fucks blew up in their faces in spectacular fashion.
Why was the upcoming season cancelled? In case you missed it, the formerly-upcoming (and fully filmed) season starring “Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” star Taylor Frankie Paul as the titular Bachelorette was cancelled 3 days prior to airing. (The first episode was supposed to drop this past Sunday evening.) It was cancelled because video footage showing Paul committing domestic violence against both her former partner Dakota Mortensen and her own daughter resurfaced. Paul is now facing three allegations of domestic violence; see Parade for more details. (frejasface has also put together a very thorough Taylor Frankie Paul/The Bachelorette News Roundup + Discussion if you’d like to learn more about how all of that is progressing.)
However, rumours have since begun swirling around Maura Higgins as a possible last-minute replacement for Paul. Higgins originally rose to prominence by starring as a contestant on ITV2 Love Island. While she has since become a fully-fledged television personality and presenter in her own right, she is perhaps best known to American audiences for her recent turn on the Traitors US (where she was completely bamboozled by ultimate winner Rob Rausch, a fellow Love Island alumnus).
Why the live format? Traditionally, seasons of the Bachelorette air at least once yearly and premiere most often in May. The cancellation of Paul’s season therefore means that the show is dead in the water for an entire calendar year, if not longer. Because time machines don’t actually exist, there is likely no way for Higgins to star in a traditional season of the Bachelorette any sooner than the next cycle (especially given that she presumably has other contractual obligations with other franchises).
However, ABC is desperate as hell to save the franchise at this point and is probably convinced that the series could be saved if they managed to get through just one season without casting a total piece of shit (something they do with startling frequency). Additionally, other than the first three seasons (all of which began airing in January), Paul’s cancelled season actually had an unusually early start date, with the vast majority of Bachelorette seasons airing either in May, June, July, or October, so they might actually still have room in their schedule for a 2026 season.
Enter Higgins, social media darling and reality TV star.
Higgins has not directly confirmed the rumours. She has, however, responded to the Deuxmoi post (in which an anonymous person claimed ABC wanted to bring in Maura as the next Bachelorette and that they were considering filming it live) with “👀”.
Do you have any plans to watch the Bachelor(ette) ever again, ONTD?
I am re-posting from my phone because the first attempt ate my cut—-sorry about that, mods!
