A suitor from Taylor Frankie Paul’s canceled season of The Bachelorette was involved in the 2014 car crash that left former MAGA congressman Madison Cawthorn paralyzed.
Brad Ledford was set to vie for Paul’s heart on the show before Disney announced Thursday — just days before the premiere — that season 22 of the hit dating show would not go forward as planned after video from the Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star’s 2023 domestic violence incident was leaked. Paul remains on probation from that incident involving her ex-boyfriend, Dakota Mortensen.
Ledford, 29, was described in his Bachelorette bio as a “handsome California cowboy” with a horse as his “best friend.”
But years before finding his way to reality TV, Ledford was the driver in the April 2014 car accident that left Cawthorn paralyzed. Then 17, Ledford reportedly fell asleep at the wheel, sending the car crashing into a concrete barricade as Cawthorn slept with his legs resting on the dashboard.
Cawthorn, the Trump-backed representative from North Carolina who left Congress in January 2023 after losing the 2022 Republican primary, was left partially paralyzed and now uses a wheelchair.
In the years following the crash, Cawthorn’s account of that night varied greatly from Ledford’s. Cawthorn said in a 2017 speech that “my brother... my best friend, he leaves me in a car to die in a fiery tomb.”
That claim has been disputed by Ledford — and even members of Cawthorn’s own family. Ledford recounted in a lawsuit deposition that he pulled Cawthorn from the wreckage as their car was engulfed in flames.
“That statement he made was false,” Ledford said. “It hurt very badly that he would say something as false as that. That is not at all what happened. I pulled him out of the car the second that I was able to get out of the car.”
After years of back and forth, including lawsuits and estrangement, the two have reportedly reconciled. Ledford was seen attending Cawthorn's 2020 election party, and told the Washington Post in 2021 that Cawthorn “didn’t believe those things anymore,” referencing the former congressman’s claims about the accident.
The Independent has contacted Ledford and a representative for Cawthorn for comment.
Meanwhile, addressing The Bachelorette’s cancellation, Ledford said in a recent Instagram Story that he “could care less about a TV show not airing right now. There’s real kids involved, real family involved, and I want the best for them. I want the best for Taylor’s kids. I want the best for Taylor.”
Paul, 31, was announced as the lead of The Bachelorette in September, marking the first time that a person outside of the franchise had been chosen for the role. Her season’s cancellation came days after fresh domestic violence allegations against Paul triggered widespread backlash.
