Former Bachelorette Charity Lawson emphasized that participants’ mental health should come before ratings while highlighting the emotional toll of reality television.
“Dating shows are not for you to find healing,” she captioned a TikTok clip posted on Monday, March 16, imploring those who seek these types of opportunities to do so only when they are able to put their best foot forward.
Charity, 30, spoke out about the matter amid criticism about Taylor Frankie Paul’s casting as the season 22 lead of The Bachelorette following news about The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star’s alleged domestic dispute with ex Dakota Mortensen.
Charity pointed out how intense filming conditions, public scrutiny and a lack of support can negatively impact participants especially while looking for love, which already puts people in a vulnerable place.
“You would think that that’s, like, common sense at this point, but we as a society have really normalized enjoying/ridiculing chaos and confusion over essentially prioritizing and celebrating healthy examples of what love and what someone who is emotionally available for love should represent,” the reality star explained in her video.
Charity, who appeared as a contestant on season 27 of The Bachelor before taking center stage as the season 20 Bachelorette, said as a disclaimer that “we do not have off days, we are human, but patterns and repetitive behaviors are not off days.”
“I might be the outlier or probably just somewhat normal, but for me, personally, there’s actually nothing enjoyable to watch someone either destroy themselves, their lives or other people’s lives. I also don’t find enjoyment ridiculing that publicly,” she continued.
“The reality of all this is that people genuinely need help and we are seeing that. We are witnessing that live,” Charity added. “My hope is that we can see there is a much bigger issue here at hand and that the mental health of contestants should never be compromised so severely for ratings.”
Former Bachelor contestants including Sydney Warner have been critical of Taylor’s leading role on the franchise amid explosive drama with her on-again, off-again ex.
Mormon Wives star Jessi Ngatikaura sent shockwaves when she claimed that Taylor, 31, slept with Dakota, 33, the night before leaving to film The Bachelorette during the season 4 finale of Mormon Wives, which aired on Thursday, March 12.
Days later, reports emerged that the show allegedly halted production after Taylor and Dakota were involved in a domestic violence dispute while filming season 5. Us Weekly reached out for comment at the time.
Taylor, for her part, addressed her relationship dynamic with Dakota in her recent cover story with Us. “We like each other sometimes, and then we fight,” she explained. “It’s really hard to explain to people, and unless you’ve been in that situation, it is hard to understand. If I could just snap out of it, trust me, I would. It’s just a lot harder said than done.”
