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Taylor Frankie Paul only has one Floridian suitor in her lineup of men on her upcoming season of “The Bachelorette,”<\/a> but another one of the men vying for her love has an unusual and controversial tie to the Sunshine State.<\/p>\n Brad Ledford is from Asheville, North Carolina, but was driving home from spring break in Florida in 2014, when he fell asleep at the wheel of his SUV. The passenger was Madison Cawthorn<\/a>, a former U.S.\u00a0representative from North Carolina and current resident of Cape Coral, Florida, who became paralyzed from the waist down after the car accident.<\/p>\n Cawthorn recently announced he is running for Congress again, this time in Florida. And Ledford was recently confirmed as one of the men who will date Paul on season 22 of “The Bachelorette,” which premieres this Sunday, March 22.<\/p>\n Here’s what to know about Brad Ledford and Madison Cawthorn, the car accident that paralyzed Cawthorn, and how to watch the premiere of “The Bachelorette.”<\/p>\n ‘Bachelorette’ cast confirmed: <\/strong>Are any of the men from Florida?<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n Bradley “Brad” Ledford, 29, is a business owner and self-described “cowboy” from Asheville, North Carolina. He is now living in California and co-founded an organic cocktail company called “Avana.”<\/p>\n According to his official biography<\/a> on ABC, Ledford is a “fearless romantic” who is “ready to start a family and prides himself on being a generous, loving partner.”<\/p>\n Watch ‘The Bachelorette’ with the Disney bundle<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n David Madison Cawthorn, 30, is a former U.S.\u00a0representative from North Carolina and current resident of Cape Coral, Florida.<\/p>\n Cawthorn became a rising star in Republican politics at 25 years old after defeating a Trump-backed challenger in the Republican primary and eventually winning North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District seat in the November 2020 general election.<\/p>\n Who is Madison Cawthorn? <\/strong>Former NC Rep. to run for Byron Donalds District 19 seat in Florida<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n However, Cawthorn ended up facing multiple controversies during his time as a representative, notably traffic and\u00a0gun violations<\/a>, and his\u00a0claims on a podcast<\/a>\u00a0he’d been invited to a “sexual get-together” at the home of a member of Congress and witnessed lawmakers using cocaine.<\/p>\n Cawthorn was backed by President Donald Trump in his reelection bid, but lost to North Carolina state Sen. Chuck Edwards in the Republican primary.<\/p>\n He recently announced his intention to run for the seat in Byron Donalds’ 19th Congressional District in October 2025. In February,\u00a0Donalds disclosed his bid<\/a>\u00a0to replace Ron DeSantis,\u00a0who is term-limited<\/a>, as Florida’s governor.<\/p>\n On April 3, 2014, Cawthorn, then 18, and Ledford were heading home from a spring break vacation in Florida when Ledford, then 17, fell asleep at the wheel of his SUV. The SUV ran off the road and into a concrete road barrier at 65 mph.<\/p>\n The vehicle erupted into flames almost immediately after impact. Cawthorn initially claimed Ledford “left him there to die” in\u00a0a “fiery tomb” during a 2017 speech<\/a>. However, Ledford said in his deposition that he climbed out of the passenger window and pulled his friend from the burning vehicle.<\/p>\n Ledford was mostly unharmed after the accident.<\/p>\n Cawthorn, whose feet were on the dashboard during the accident, according to Ledford\u2019s deposition, was paralyzed from the waist down, according to the Asheville Citizen-Times.<\/p>\n According to the Asheville Citizen Times, a years-long battle<\/a> between Cawthorn and Ledford’s father’s insurance company followed the accident. He had been seeking more than $30 million in damages for more than eight years.<\/p>\n Weeks after this accident, Cawthorn sued\u00a0Ledford’s father’s business,\u00a0Bob\u00a0Ledford’s\u00a0RV & Marine in Greer, South Carolina, and Bradley\u00a0Ledford himself, covered by Auto-Owners Insurance.<\/p>\n That case revealed Cawthorn and his family believed Auto-Owners had acted in “bad faith” \u2014 not doing everything in its power immediately to pay the insurance money \u2014 during the process of securing $3 million for Cawthorn, the amount for which Ledford and the RV company were covered.<\/p>\n After the case spent\u00a0two years in Volusia County court and Cawthorn and Ledford reached a legal agreement in 2016, Cawthorn filed another lawsuit, this one against Auto-Owners in the Middle District of Florida. However, the conclusion of that case favored Auto-Owners.<\/p>\n Cawthorn then appealed to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. The 11th Circuit judge sided with the district court in a 2019 opinion.<\/p>\n Even before the opinion was published and the higher court cases were closed, Cawthorn returned to Volusia County and, in 2018,\u00a0filed another lawsuit, this one against Ledford alone.<\/p>\n After four years, Cawthorn voluntarily dismissed the case<\/a>\u00a0in 2022.<\/p>\n In a 2021 People Magazine interview, Ledford said he and Cawthorn had since made up. He also said Cawthorn had privately apologized to him on multiple occasions about his 2017 speech, but admitted he did not understand why he had not publicly apologized.<\/p>\n “I’m still thinking about it, and trying to figure out how I feel about that, or the best way that I think that should be handled,” Ledford told People. “Obviously, I know what he said to me, and that’s what really matters, right? He’s apologized for that a number of times, and it seems very genuine.”<\/p>\n As of March 2026, they both follow each other on Instagram.<\/p>\n Taylor Frankie Paul will be the first “Bachelorette” from outside of the “Bachelor” franchise, coming to the show from her smash-hit\u00a0Hulu reality show “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives,”<\/a> which just released its fourth season on March 12. Paul is a 31-year-old mom of three from Utah and a controversial TikTok influencer-turned-reality TV star.<\/p>\n Although the show normally airs on Monday nights, Paul’s season will move the show to a different night of the week, premiering on ABC this Sunday, March 22, at 8 p.m. ET.<\/p>\n New episodes of “The Bachelorette” with Taylor Frankie Paul will air on ABC on Sunday nights following the premiere episode on Sunday, March 22. New episodes will\u00a0stream on\u00a0Hulu<\/a>\u00a0the following day.<\/p>\nWho is Brad Ledford on \u2018The Bachelorette’?<\/h2>\n
Who is Madison Cawthorn? Where is Madison Cawthorn now?<\/h2>\n
How did Madison Cawthorn become paralyzed?<\/h2>\n
Did Madison Cawthorn sue Brad Ledford?<\/h2>\n
Are Madison Cawthorn and Brad Ledford still friends?<\/h2>\n
When does ‘The Bachelorette’ come out? Is Taylor Frankie Paul the new ‘Bachelorette’?<\/h2>\n
How to watch, stream Taylor Frankie Paul’s season of ‘The Bachelorette’<\/h2>\n