It’s been a tumultuous few months for Disney, from production of Hulu’s “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” being paused following a domestic violence investigation to ABC’s “The Bachelorette” being canceled just days before its premiere. And viewers are eagerly awaiting what will happen next.
On Wednesday, Hulu shared what’s next for its second year of Get Real House. The presentation and party featured a number of announcements, from the upcoming spinoff of “The Secret Life of Mormon Mrs.” to the announcement of two new “Dancing with the Stars” cast members.
Below, Walt Disney Television Executive Vice President of Unscripted Rob Mills breaks down all the biggest announcements, sheds light on the current situation with Taylor Frankie Paul, and shares a timeline for the future of The Bachelor series.
Last night, news broke that production on The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives will resume. The first thing I saw this morning was a report that Dakota Mortensen and Taylor Frankie Paul, the show’s central characters and the feuding former couple, would not be appearing. However, Taylor commented on a post about it on Instagram: “Interesting, that’s not what the call I got was about.” What is happening there?
There’s not much to say other than it’s clear that it will be back in production. That doesn’t mean we’ll shoot tomorrow. That means production will resume, and we’re trying to see how that goes. As for Taylor, on a human, personal level, we make sure that she is taken care of first and foremost. The type of shooting will be decided in the future. Everything is still kind of routine. This was simply an announcement that we would be returning to production. It’s a process. They’ve been sluggish for too long, so we’ll have to wait and see how this season goes. What is the story?
How far has season 5 progressed?
I think it’s probably about half done.
Do you want to discard what you have already taken?
No, I don’t think we’re going to throw away what we have.
It took a lot of work to get the show back into production, and a lot of things have changed. Can you tell us about how you decided on your current career path? Were you waiting to see if Taylor would be charged with domestic violence to make a decision?
No, not at all. It was just a matter of making sure that we were really careful and thoughtful and working with the entire cast, not just the producers, and making sure that we all felt like this was the right decision.
Dakota Mortensen recently posted that she is stepping away from the spotlight. Have you decided whether he will come back?
I don’t think anything has been decided. Dakota is someone we worked with as part of the cast. This is the family between Taylor and Dakota, and they have children. That’s really our top priority.
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What is the status of “The Bachelorette”?
It’s all one day at a time. There are no new reports at this time.
There has been much debate about whether she should have been the Bachelorette in the first place. Looking back, how do you feel about that decision now?
I’ve met Taylor. “Look, I’m raising three kids with different fathers. One I have a great co-parenting relationship with, and the other one is hard, but I’m really looking for a partner and someone to help me.”Her motivations were very sincere. Once we got into it, it was a really exciting story to tell through the lens of “The Bachelorette.” Obviously, given everything that’s happened and everything that everyone is going through, that’s the hard part. Everything Taylor had to go through was really difficult. The season itself is really, really great. It was a great journey for her.
“The Secret Life of Mrs. Mormon” was a huge success, but are there any plans to bring any of them back to “Dancing with the Stars”?
It has to be something that adds to Dancing with the Stars. I don’t think I’m going to do it just for the sake of doing it. However, casting discussions for “Dancing” are still ongoing until the announcement is made in early September. So there’s always a chance that someone from our show will appear.
Ciara Miller’s casting is great. Did she get noticed right away after the “Summer House” scandal broke? Ariana Madix has had similar success, giving her her time to shine.
There is an old saying. The best way to get over your lover is to dance with a stranger. We really thought this was the perfect opportunity for that. I’m really excited. We did a Zoom with her and she couldn’t have been nicer. And by the time “Dancing” rolls around in September, this “Summer House” scandal will be old. Regardless, whether you know anything about Ciara or not, I think you’ll fall in love with her after watching Dancing with the Stars. So we’re really excited to have her be part of the cast.
So when did you start talking about having Maura Higgins in the cast? After her wild finale in “The Traitor”?
Listen to what people are saying and what’s being talked about. And certainly on “Dancing,” people tell you that. When I performed with Dylan Efron last year, I was immediately told, “He needs to keep doing ‘Dancing!'” It was the same with Maura. It was a pretty simple call. It happened shortly after the final episode aired.
Let’s talk about The OC’s ‘Mormon Wife’ spin-off There have been reports that Jen Affleck is part of the cast. Will she show up?
There’s definitely room for many members of Utah’s “Mormon Wives” community, not just Jen. It’s all discussed. It’s early in the show, but as you can see, Mayci’s sister is in the show. I think in a perfect world, there would be room for everyone to come and go.
Given the ratings success of reality shows with weekly developments, has the “Mormon Housewives” binge model been reconsidered so that the tail is longer? Or will that be the case with spin-offs as well?
There are certainly such conversations. I always have it. We’ve had them forever, and certainly, when “The Mormon Wife” first came out, that was what we paid attention to. I’ll look at it seasonally, but it’s difficult. There is no crystal ball as to what the perfect model is. And certainly, with the incredible success so far with the “Mormon Wife” overeating model, you don’t want to mess up what’s working well. But make no mistake, we see it all the time.
You made a lot of announcements today. “Ring by Spring Break” sounds like a mess.
It’s rooted in real things. This is a trend on Tiktok. Some people think that a diploma is not a measure of success, but an engagement ring. So the fact that you can build a format around it is really exciting. And to me, it feels like “Bachelor in Paradise” on steroids.
And then there’s “The Mob,” the team behind “The Traitors.”
I was really moved by it, and hats off to Peacock in “The Traitor.” We’ve been wanting to get into that space for a little while. So I think we’re really excited about The Mob. In fact, the fact that we have multiple Emmy Award winner Stephen Lambert behind us. He had no intention of putting his name on anything or producing a show unless he had a really good reason to do so, and he felt he wasn’t cannibalizing “traitors.”
How did you decide to hire Parker Posey as host and executive producer?
I think Alan Cumming really opened the door. Alan Cumming is the actor who played Stanley Kubrick. He was a phenomenal actor and said, “You can do this.” I don’t think anyone would say, “Alan Cumming is the host of The Traitors, so I’m not going to make a movie with him.” So it opened the door to some really exciting possibilities. And I heard that Parker Posey is a big fan of this field and is interested in talking about it. She met with the producer. We didn’t just put Parker Posey in this movie for the sake of having him in this movie. I think she understood the vision for this and was very committed to it. It’s an honor to work with her. She’s phenomenal and really elevates it.
You mentioned “Bachelor in Paradise.” Will it come back in the summer?
It will be back next summer. We definitely want to take our time and make sure that when it comes back it’s going to be really great. We want to do “The Bachelor” again, so we’re casting a new cast of potential female suitors. Obviously, there are members who participated in Taylor’s season and may be in next season’s “Paradise.” When it comes back, it promises to be phenomenal. It will be worth the wait.
Have you chosen your next bachelor yet?
No, you don’t have to. We have time. It won’t air until mid-season next year. We want to get it right and we’re looking at all kinds of options and having a lot of conversations about it.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
