DeAnna Pappas Has Questions About Taylor Frankie Paul’s Bachelorette Run

DeAnna Pappas can’t wait to see what Taylor Frankie Paul’s experience as the Bachelorette will be like.

“I’m a little curious about how it’s going to go with the merging of the two shows because The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives is very different from The Bachelorette,” DeAnna, 43, exclusively shared with Us Weekly as iHeartPodcasts celebrated their fall shows on Wednesday, September 10. “My first thought was, ‘Are they gonna allow her to TikTok while she’s there?’ I had to give up my phone. Will she get to TikTok?”

DeAnna also couldn’t help but wonder what the drinking situation would be inside the Bachelor Mansion for the upcoming season.

“The Mormon wives drink, like, 27 Cokes a day with different syrups,” she said. “Where are they gonna find that in Los Angeles? We don’t have a lot of soda dispensaries here.”

All jokes aside, DeAnna — who was the star of The Bachelorette season 4 in 2008 — is rooting for Taylor, 31, as she prepares to begin her search for love on the ABC reality show.

Although she didn’t find her happily ever after on the show, DeAnna firmly believes people can find strong connections during the unique dating experience.

“My sincere advice for Taylor is I would tell her to keep an open mind,” she said. “There is going to be that initial attraction when men get out of the limo. I remember I was there, and there were a couple of hot ones, and I couldn’t get past them because they were so good looking. They were so hot.”

Now that she’s older — and perhaps a little wiser — DeAnna urged Taylor to have an open heart “because some of the nicest, kindest, most sane men may not be the ones who jump out at her at first.”

As Taylor gears up to find her next partner, DeAnna herself is ready to dip her feet in the dating pool after her divorce from Stephen Stagliano.

With help from iHeartRadio’s “Famously Available” podcast, DeAnna is starting to navigate modern dating.

“I have my first date coming up. It’s a blind date. We’re going to San Francisco and we’re going to the Jonas Brothers,” DeAnna teased about her next project with the podcast. “They won’t tell me anything about him. It’s a true blind date. … I do know that he is in his 40s. He’s a little bit older than I am. I believe he’s divorced, which is great, and I think he’s a friend of a friend of someone.”

Although DeAnna joked that she’s a little rusty when it comes to dating, she’s open to seeing what the future holds.

“With the launch of the podcast, it’s been a lot of fun,” she said. “It makes me feel cool again. It makes me feel like I have something fun to look forward to.”

ABC has yet to announce a premiere date for season 22 of The Bachelorette, but the series is expected to air in 2026. Mel Owens’ journey to find love on season 2 of The Golden Bachelor, meanwhile, begins Wednesday, September 24, at 8 p.m. ET.