Taylor Frankie Paul may only have one Floridian suitor in her lineup of men on the upcoming season of “The Bachelorette,” but another one of the men vying for her love has an unusual and controversial tie to the Sunshine State.
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 former U.S. representative from North Carolina and current resident of Cape Coral, Florida, who became paralyzed from the waist down after the car accident.
Cawthorn recently announced that he is running for Congress again, this time in Florida. And Ledford has now been confirmed as one of the men who will date Paul on season 22 of “The Bachelorette,” which is set to premiere this month.
Here’s what to know about Brad Ledford and Madison Cawthorn, the car accident that paralyzed Cawthorn and when the upcoming season of “The Bachelorette” will premiere.
Who is Brad Ledford on ‘The Bachelorette’?
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.”
According to his official biography on ABC, Ledford is a “fearless romantic” who is “ready to start a family and prides himself on being a generous, loving partner.”
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Who is Madison Cawthorn? Is Madison Cawthorn from Florida?
David Madison Cawthorn, 30, is a former U.S. representative from North Carolina and current resident of Cape Coral, Florida.
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.
However, Cawthorn ended up facing multiple controversies during his time as a representative, notably traffic and gun violations, and his claims on a podcast that he’d been invited to a “sexual get-together” at the home of a member of Congress and witnessed lawmakers using cocaine.
Cawthorn was backed by President Donald Trump in his reelection bid, but lost to North Carolina state Sen. Chuck Edwards in the Republican primary.
He recently announced his intention to run for the seat in Byron Donalds’ 19th Congressional District in October 2025. In February, Donalds disclosed his bid to replace Ron DeSantis, who is term-limited, as Florida’s governor.
How did Madison Cawthorn become paralyzed?
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.
The vehicle erupted into flames almost immediately after impact. Cawthorn initially claimed that Ledford “left him there to die” in a “fiery tomb” during a 2017 speech. However, Ledford said in his deposition that he climbed out of the passenger window and pulled his friend from the burning vehicle.
Ledford was mostly unharmed after the accident. Cawthorn, whose feet were on the dashboard during the accident according to Ledford’s deposition, was paralyzed from the waist down, according to the Asheville Citizen-Times.
Did Madison Cawthorn sue Brad Ledford after the accident?
According to the Asheville Citizen Times, a years-long battle 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.
Weeks after this accident, Cawthorn sued Ledford’s father’s business, Bob Ledford’s RV & Marine in Greer, South Carolina, and Bradley Ledford himself, covered by Auto-Owners Insurance.
That case revealed that Cawthorn and his family believed Auto-Owners had acted in “bad faith” — not doing everything in its power immediately to pay the insurance money — during the process of securing $3 million for Cawthorn, the amount for which Ledford and the RV company were covered.
After the case spent two 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.
Cawthorn then appealed to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. The 11th Circuit judge sided with the district court in a 2019 opinion.
Even before the opinion was published and the higher court cases were closed, Cawthorn returned to Volusia County and, in 2018, filed another lawsuit, this one against Ledford alone. After four years, Cawthorn voluntarily dismissed the case in 2022.
Are Madison Cawthorn and Brad Ledford still friends?
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.
“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.”
As of March 2026, they both follow each other on Instagram.
When does ‘The Bachelorette’ come out? Who is the ‘Bachelorette’ in 2026?
Taylor Frankie Paul will be the first “Bachelorette” from outside of the “Bachelor” franchise, coming to the show from her smash-hit Hulu reality show “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives.” Paul is a 31-year-old mom of three from Utah and a TikTok influencer-turned-reality TV star.
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 on Sunday, March 22, at 8 p.m. ET.
A special preview of the upcoming season will follow the live telecast of The Oscars the week before the premiere, with 18 former Bachelorettes looking back on their unforgettable journeys, sharing juicy behind-the-scenes stories, and offering advice to Paul.
The “Bachelorette: Before the First Rose” special will air after The Oscars conclude at 10:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, March 15. It will be available to stream on Hulu the following day.
While last season’s Floridian lead will not be attending, another former Bachelorette from Florida is. Rachel Recchia is a Clermont native and was one of the leads during the franchise’s first double lead season, sharing the role of “Bachelorette” with Gabby Windey.
How to watch, stream Taylor Frankie Paul’s season of ‘The Bachelorette’
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 stream on Hulu the following day.
Contributing: Kim Luiciani, USA TODAY NETWORK Florida
Samantha Neely and Lianna Norman are trending reporters for the USA TODAY NETWORK-Florida, covering pop culture, breaking news and more. You can get all of Florida’s best content directly in your inbox each weekday by signing up for the free newsletter, Florida TODAY, at https://floridatoday.com/newsletters.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: ‘Bachelorette’ contestant was in crash that paralyzed Madison Cawthorn
Reporting by Samantha Neely, Lianna Norman and Andrew Jones, USA TODAY NETWORK – Florida / Palm Beach Post
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
