Its time for a reckoning about the mental health…
It’s a catastrophe of biblical proportions.
Taylor Frankie Paul — who rose to fame amid a soft-swinging scandal on TikTok and a starring function on “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” — has turn out to be the tok of the city, for all the incorrect causes.
Hulu halted manufacturing on Season 5 of “SLOMW” and ABC pulled Season 22 of “The Bachelorette” — which was set to premiere this past Sunday with Paul, 31, as the lead — following new, alarming particulars of her poisonous relationship with her child daddy, Dakota Mortensen, 33.
In her assertion last week addressing the chaos, Paul shared that she’s been “silently suffering extensive mental and physical abuse” for years.
Since the early days of actuality TV, producers have deliberately leveraged “train wreck” appeal, exploiting members with apparent mental health troubles for storylines. Falon Wriede / NY Post
Paul’s “SLOMW” co-stars and followers have long inspired her to search help for her mental health — she even responded to a TikTok commenter telling her she wants therapy.
Now, those calls have reached a fever pitch. A rep for Paul didn’t reply to a Post request for remark.
The swift and pointed public response to Paul’s fall from grace suggests that we’re at a important turning level in actuality TV. Fans and critics are calling on networks to stop prioritizing dramatic scores over the welfare of solid members visibly in disaster or unstable conditions.
Change gained’t come straightforward. Since the early days of actuality TV, producers have deliberately leveraged “train wreck” appeal, exploiting members with apparent mental health troubles for storylines.
“When producers knowingly cast individuals who may be vulnerable, don’t use independent psychological evaluators, don’t provide sufficient mental health support or manipulate situations to elicit distress, it creates a significant potential for harm,” Christine Chapais, an assistant educating professor who serves as director of Online MSW Programs at Rutgers School of Social Work, told The Post.
The examples are limitless — Ruthie Alcaide struggled with alcoholism on 1999’s “The Real World: Hawaii,” Rob Kardashian dealt with deep depression and low self-confidence on the Kardashian actuality reveals, Taylor Armstrong of “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” suffered verbal and bodily abuse that she tried to protect from cameras and “Teen Mom 2” star Jenelle Evans was incessantly in tears as she battled her “inner demons.”
The swift and pointed public response to Taylor Frankie Paul’s fall from grace suggests that we’re at a important turning level in actuality TV. Hulu
More lately, a number of alumni of “America’s Next Top Model” shared the emotional misery, anxiety and trauma they skilled during the show and long after the smizes light, on a pair of docuseries that premiered this 12 months.
Cycle 2 contestant Shandi Sullivan was filmed having intercourse with a male model after heavy ingesting — producers didn’t intervene and framed her incident as a dishonest scandal reasonably than a security disaster.
Cycle 8 participant Dionne Walters said she was pressured to pose as a gunshot sufferer, even though she told producers that her mother had been shot and paralyzed, and Cycle 4’s Keenyah Hill lamented that her weight and eating habits had been made into a “damaging” storyline.
The social media backlash was in depth, with viewers declaring the modeling competitors “toxic,” “hostile,” “negligent” and “wrong AF.”
Since “ANTM” premiered in 2003, the stigma around mental health has eased. People have turn out to be more open in discussing it — and more compassionate toward others’ experiences.
And while audiences have long craved “the most dramatic season ever,” there’s growing evidence of fatigue with the sensational exploitation of mental health crises and actuality TV’s predictable formulation.
Viewers need to be entertained, not unsettled.
“America’s Next Top Model” contestant Shandi Sullivan was filmed having intercourse with a male model after heavy ingesting — producers didn’t intervene and framed her incident as a dishonest scandal reasonably than a security disaster. She’s shown right here confessing to her boyfriend. UPN
Even the most innocuous reveals have waded into the fray — on Season 2 of “Top Chef,” cheftestant Marcel Vigneron was bodily attacked by his opponents as they tried to shave his head against his will.
“These shows are pressure cookers by design. You’ve got isolation, lack of sleep, alcohol, competition and cameras on you all day,” Dr. D. Ivan Young — behavioral neuroscientist, govt coach and creator of “Leading from the Heart,” due out April 28 — told The Post.
“That’s not neutral, that’s engineered stress.”
High-stress, conflict-heavy environments can “easily exceed one’s ability to cope and exacerbate symptoms of a pre-existing mental health issue,” with producers and networks “in some cases” doing hurt, said Chapais, who led a research last 12 months on the mental well-being of actuality TV members.
But, as Young identified, “drama gets rewarded.”
“Teen Mom 2” star Jenelle Evans was incessantly in tears as she battled her “inner demons.” MTV
Paul’s 2023 altercation with Mortensen was a major focus of the 2024 collection premiere of “SLOMW.” Despite their continued tumultuous relationship — call it a latter-day love story — Paul was solid as “The Bachelorette” last 12 months.
She handed out all her roses, but the season was shelved after GWN dropped a video last week that appeared to show, for the first time, Paul throwing steel barstools at Mortensen, with one seemingly hitting her younger daughter, in that 2023 incident.
Court information point out that the mom of three pleaded guilty in abeyance to an aggravated assault charge, with the other prices dropped.
This month, Hulu halted manufacturing on Season 5 of “SLOMW” amid a new home assault investigation involving Paul and Mortensen.
It took this tipping level for the streamer to take motion, though Paul’s apparent and ongoing misery and temper swings on digital camera have beforehand been handled as a characteristic of the show.
“I had a mental breakdown the other day on-camera, and it was just like, ‘Well, we have to be here. We’re contracted’ — no. This is not acting. I’m having a mental breakdown. I’m going home. That’s it, period,” Paul lately told Vulture.
Mental breakdowns are common on actuality TV, and sometimes the worst occurs. The Post reported in 2016 that 21 actuality TV members had died by suicide within the span of a decade.
The unlucky pattern continued. Caroline Flack, who hosted the British collection “Love Island” and “The Xtra Factor,” died by suicide in February 2020 at the age of 40.
Paul is seen crying in the aftermath of a 2023 altercation with her on-again, off-again beau, Dakota Mortensen. Herriman City Police Department
Before more hurt is finished, where does actuality TV go from right here?
Though contestants often endure in depth psychological testing — including medical interviews and persona assessments — the outcomes could also be used more to establish vulnerabilities than to screen for emotional stability. Chapais said more wants to be completed to guarantee solid member security.
“At minimum, participants should be providing informed consent, undergo thorough and objective psychological screenings and have access to safeguards and support before, during and after filming,” she said.
“Informed consent is especially complicated in this context because participants can’t fully anticipate how they’ll be portrayed or how the public will respond to them,” she continued. “Since participants generally have little control over the editing of their portrayal, this increases the risk of exploitation.”
Chapais famous that some manufacturing firms have begun implementing security protocols, but there are no industry-wide requirements for the psychological security of actuality members in the US.
“On the other hand, the UK has taken steps mostly through its regulator, Ofcom, to require stronger protections, like mental health support before, during and after filming, as well as limits against false narratives,” Chapais said.
“However, the US lacks similar enforceable standards, and participants can be heavily edited in ways that misrepresent or even defame them.”
The Post reached out to Hulu and ABC reps for remark on their protocols to keep solid members protected.
Paul has often opened up about her mental health on TikTok. Instagram / Taylor Frankie Paul
As Paul’s drama performs out in the Utah courts and the court of public opinion, her future as a caretaker for her youngsters and actuality star is unclear.
While she cleans up yet another scandal, maybe it’s time for The Book of Exodus from our screens.
If you might be struggling with suicidal ideas or are experiencing a mental health disaster and live in New York City, you possibly can call 1-888-NYC-WELL for free and confidential disaster counseling. If you live exterior the 5 boroughs, you possibly can dial the 24/7 National Suicide Prevention hotline at 988 or go to SuicidePreventionLifeline.org.
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