In a jaw-dropping twist, “The Bachelorette” ditched its playbook and tapped a reality star—not a “Bachelor” runner-up—as its next lead.

It was announced on Wednesday that Taylor Frankie Paul, known for being on the popular series “Secret Lives of Mormon Wives,” would be the star for season 22 of the show. She confirmed the news during an episode of the podcast “Call Her Daddy.”

“You are on ‘Call Her Daddy’ so we can officially announce that you are this season’s ‘Bachelorette.’ How are you feeling?” host Alex Cooper asked Paul.

“Surreal. It has not hit me right now in this moment,” the reality star replied. “I’m just thinking about it, and it’s not real. And it’s not going to be until I think the limo is pulling up, you know? And meeting the people.”

“How did I get here? In my head, I’m like, ‘How is this happening?’ That’s my answer,” the 31-year-old mom of three said, mentioning how she joked about being on the show on TikTok years ago but figured it would never happen. 

“I don’t know if that got their attention. … It was mostly a joke to me,” she told Cooper. “We had a meeting. I still didn’t believe it until I got the invitation, ‘Will you be our Bachelorette?’ Same reaction, shaking, pacing back and forth. There’s no way, no way.”

“I have two baby daddies, not one” she said. She recalled asking herself, “Is this possible for me to do as a single mom? Can I make it work, realistically, no matter how much I want this? I can. If I want to, I can. You can do anything you want, if you want.”

Per ABC’s release on the selection, “As a single mother of three, Paul shares the highs and lows of her life with unfiltered candor. With humor, resilience and a fearless openness, she inspires others to embrace life’s chaos and own their story.”

The new season of “The Bachelorette” premieres in 2026.