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A candidate on Taylor Frankie Paul’s now-axed season of ABC’s “The Bachelorette” was behind a fiery car crash that left ex GOP Rep. Madison Cawthorn paralyzed as a teenager.
More than a decade before he set out to win Paul’s heart on the reality dating show, Brad Ledford fell asleep at the wheel of a car while Cawthorn was in the passenger seat, according to reports.
Cawthorn, then 18, was left partially paralyzed after the vehicle crashed into a concrete barricade. He has used a wheelchair ever since.
Ledford’s presence on the show adds one more piece of infamy to the season — which ABC was forced to pull at the last minute over video of Paul throwing a stool at her baby daddy.
It’s unknown whether the season will ever see the light of day and contestants are reportedly considering suing for missing their shot at the limelight.
Ledford, who was 17 at the time of the 2014 crash, disputed the Cawthorn’s version of events in the years that followed the infamous crash.
“My brother…my best friend, he leaves me in a car to die in a fiery tomb,” Cawthorn said in a 2017 speech.
“That statement he made was false,” Ledford later responded.
“It hurt very badly that he would say something as false as that. That is not at all what happened. I pulled him out of the car the second that I was able to get out of the car.”
Ledford told The Post that the crash a “terrible accident” and said he and the childhood pal “want the best for each other.”
“He’s apologized to me and that’s all that matters…none of us are perfect and we all make mistakes,” he said Wednesday, adding that he hasn’t seen Cawthorn in many years.
Ledford, now 29, was described in his Bachelorette bio as a “handsome California boy” who was “lassoing for love.
“His best friend is his horse, Gus, whom he partners with on all his cowboy jobs,” ABC said of the wrangler.
“When he’s not on the ranch, Brad enjoys swing dancing, hanging at the beach, and listening to Adele.
“This fearless romantic is ready to start a family and prides himself on being a generous, loving partner. We can’t wait to see if he can giddy up his way into our Bachelorette’s heart.”
Ledford’s dreams to be the mane attraction came to a screeching halt, however, when ABC abruptly pulled the plug on the “Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” star’s season on March 19.
The startling decision – made just three days before the first episode was set to air – came after a shocking video emerged, allegedly showing Paul physically abusing her baby daddy, Dakota Mortensen.
Paul, 31, has since been slapped with a restraining order by Mortensen, her on-and-off-again ex-boyfriend, lost custody of their shared son and become the subject of two additional domestic abuse investigations.
The “MomTok” influencer has since claimed that she’s been “silently suffering extensive mental and physical abuse” for years.
Addressing the show’s cancellation, Ledford later said he “could care less about a TV show not airing right now” in an Instagram story.
“There’s real kids involved, real family involved, and I want the best for them. I want the best for Taylor’s kids. I want the best for Taylor,” he wrote.
Cawthorn did not return messages.
English (US)