A man cast on the recently-cancelled season of The Bachelorette was behind the wheel during the 2014 crash that left former Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.) permanently paralyzed.
Brad Ledford, 29, was 17 when he allegedly fell asleep at the wheel, sending the vehicle into a concrete barrier while Cawthorn rode as a passenger. The impact left Cawthorn with severe spinal damage resulting in him having to use a wheelchair ever since.
Cawthorn long leaned on the crash as a defining chapter in his life story, saying a close friend left him trapped as the car caught fire. Ledford has refuted that version, telling People magazine in 2021 he got Cawthorn out of the wreck as quickly as he could and calling the abandonment claim flat-out false.
Cawthorn went on to win a congressional seat in North Carolina with a Trump endorsement, but lost his 2022 primary. He is now running for office again, competing in a crowded field for the seat being vacated by Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), who is leaving Congress to run for Florida governor.
Ledford, meanwhile, had landed a spot on The Bachelorette's 22nd season. That opportunity evaporated after the season was pulled just days ahead of its scheduled premiere, after footage resurfaced of lead Taylor Frankie Paul in a 2023 domestic violence incident with her former partner. Paul, the Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star who had been chosen as the franchise's first-ever outside lead, is currently on probation in the wake of the footage dropping.
Ledford addressed the cancellation on his Instagram story on Monday, voicing sympathy for those caught up in the fallout.
"I could care less about a TV show not airing right now," he said in the video. "There's real kids involved, real family involved, and I want the best for them."
"God's love has no bounds," he added. "He's forgiven me for many things, and he's already forgiven Taylor."
The connection between Ledford's brush with reality TV and his ties to a sitting congressional candidate was first reported by NY Mag's Vulture.
Cawthorn's campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
