She made her comments the same day reports of an alleged domestic assault investigation involving upcoming Bachelorette Taylor Frankie Paul emerged.

Former Bachelorette Charity Lawson says dating shows should prioritize contestants’ mental health over ratings

She made her comments the same day reports of an alleged domestic assault investigation involving upcoming Bachelorette Taylor Frankie Paul emerged.

By Emlyn Travis

Emlyn Travis

Emlyn Travis is a news writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2022. Her work has previously appeared on MTV News, Teen Vogue, and NME.

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March 17, 2026 3:59 p.m. ET

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Charity Lawson on 'The Bachelorette'. Credit:

Craig Sjodin/ABC via Getty

Charity Lawson has a word of advice for aspiring residents of Bachelor Nation.

The former Bachelorette posted a TikTok on Monday in which she explained why it’s important to be in a good place mentally before signing on to *The Bachelor*, *The Bachelorette*, or any reality dating show. And while she didn't address any of her past, present, or future counterparts specifically, Lawson's comments were posted the same day that Draper City Police Department confirmed to PEOPLE that it had opened an investigation into an alleged domestic assault incident involving upcoming Bachelorette Taylor Frankie Paul and her ex, Dakota Mortensen.

In the TikTok, Lawson said that participants shouldn't seek healing through dating shows.

Charity Lawson.

Craig Sjodin/ABC via Getty

"The reality of all this is that people genuinely need help and we are seeing that. We are witnessing that live," she said, seemingly referencing the Paul-Mortensen allegations. "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."

"You would think that's almost 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 love and what someone who is emotionally available for love should represent," she said.

But, as the *Dancing With the Stars *alum quickly clarified, that doesn’t mean you can’t have bad days during filming. "We are human, but patterns and repetitive behaviors are not off days," she continued. "That is a core issue of a person and change for that does not happen overnight or over the course, essentially, of a few months."

Disney/Sami Drasin

Paul, season 22's Bachelorette, was previously arrested on suspicion of alleged domestic violence in 2023 following an altercation with Mortensen. She was charged with misdemeanor assault, criminal mischief, and commission of domestic violence in the presence of a child, after she was accused of throwing a chair at Mortensen that struck her daughter instead.

That same year, she pleaded guilty in abeyance to aggravated assault, meaning that the charge would be dismissed if she complied with the terms of the plea. All other charges were also dismissed.

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In her TikTok, Lawson explained that a person goes through a lot of intense emotional, mental, and physical lows when filming a reality series.

"I'll just speak for my specific shoes and experience,* The Bachelorette*," she said. "You have no excuse but to show up as the best version of yourself on a mental health front, which is my advice to any one who is ever seeking to go on a dating show of any capacity."

Lawson also noted that she doesn't consider it fun to watch someone in a bad headspace hurt themselves and others on national television.

"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," she said. "I also don't find enjoyment ridiculing that publicly."

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Production on the upcoming fifth season of *The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives* has been halted in the wake of the Draper City Police Department's investigation. Paul's season of *The Bachelorette* is set to premiere on March 22 on ABC.

- Bachelor Universe Fandom

Original Article on Source

Source: “EW Bachelor”