When I woke up this morning, the only thing on my mind was the shocking news that Taylor Frankie Paul was announced as the next Bachelorette.

Coming from another hit show, The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, Paul is bringing an intriguing new energy that I’m incredibly fascinated about. 

With Paul in a leading role, I’m absolutely convinced there will be pickleball in the upcoming season of the show. Here’s why:

1. Paul is from Utah

Paul is from Draper, UT, which is a major pickleball hot spot. The PPA Tour was founded in Utah and several pickleball pros live in the area, including Allyce Jones, Tyler Loong, Callie Jo Smith, Meghan Dizon, and Connor Garnett. 

It’s extremely common for people in Utah to have courts in their backyards and regularly play with their friends, families, and neighbors. Just ask Alli Phillips. Her family has an epic pickleball tournament for every major holiday. 

There are also several MLP and PPA Tour stops in Utah. Clearly, pickleball and Utah just go hand in hand. And I’m almost certain we’ll have one of the eligible bachelors step out of the limo in a Wilson fit and a JOOLA and say something cheeky like, “I have big dink energy.”

And you know Paul is going to love it.   

Her fellow Mormon Wives castmates, including Mayci Neeley and Mikayla Matthews, regularly share their fits while playing pickleball, so the "MomTok" girls would absolutely approve of a man for Paul who’s an avid pickler.

2. Paul loves an activity date 

In the announcement episode of the popular podcast, “Call Her Daddy,” host Alex Cooper asked Paul what her ideal date night would look like. 

“I love a cute, outdoor, fun activity date. But I also love a really chill date, where we go and just talk for hours and hours. I love that because you’re getting to know them,” she said.

And what is the perfect outdoor date? Pickleball.

As someone who’s been on her fair share of pickleball dates, it’s an excellent way to really get to know someone, see their personality, see if you have good conversation, and a good sense of humor. And on a pickleball date, it’s incredibly easy to see if they match your competitiveness - or you can eliminate the ball hogs. 

I can bet there’s going to be some horrible ball hogs on the show. She better get a pickleball tournament group date soon to help weed out the sore losers. 

3. The Bachelor franchise loves pickleball

I cannot express how evident it is that The Bachelor franchise loves pickleball. They’ve had pickleball tournament group dates and pickleball matches break out in the driveway. So many bachelor alums regularly play, and they even scouted pickleball courts across the U.S. in search of their next Golden Bachelor. 

I’m just waiting for the day they ditch the format completely and do a Pickleball Bachelor dating show instead where the lead evaluates potential partners based on their third shot drops. 

Even former bachelorette, Hannah Brown, discussed how pickleball is the perfect date night activity for her and her husband. 

Taylor Frankie Paul should get courted on the pickleball court.

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