One of several contestants “The Bachelorette” fans won’t be seeing due to the cancelation of the dating show’s current season is 29-year-old Brad Ledford, who says he was behind the wheel during a car crash that left former North Carolina Rep. Madison Cawthorn in a wheelchair.

Ledford told People that he and the controversial ex-congressman were driving from Florida to North Carolina after spring break in 2014 when their SUV hit a construction barrier at around 65 mph.

Cawthorn, who was 18, was sleeping with his legs on the dashboard when the collision occurred. He was rendered unconscious.

The SUV quickly caught fire, according to Ledford, whose airbag deployed, likely saving him from serious harm. He recalled rushing to the passenger side of the vehicle, where a bystander helped him remove his badly injured friend from the burning car.

“I took my shirt off and wrapped it around his leg and then just kind of stayed with him until the paramedics got there,” Ledford told People.

Cawthorn’s dad, who owned the SUV, credited Ledford with saving his son’s life. Cawthorn said in a 2017 deposition that he had no recollection of what occurred.

But when he retold that story a few years later in college, Cawthorn threw Ledford under a bus.

He claimed during a chapel speech that his “brother” and “best friend” dashed into the woods, abandoning him to “die in a fiery tomb.”

Ledford refuted that claim as hurtful and untrue in a 2021 Washington Post interview.

He won’t have a chance to tell his story on “The Bachelorette.” That show, for which he and 21 other men were booked to compete for the affection of beleaguered reality TV personality Taylor Frankie Paul, was nixed shortly before the season was slated to begin on March 22 because of domestic troubles involving the star.

Ledford addressed that controversy in a TikTok video posted Tuesday.

“I could care less about a TV show not airing right now,” he said, “There’s real kids involved, real family involved.”

Cawthorn’s bumpy two-year ride through Congress included several controversies, including the seemingly debunked claim that he’d been invited to attend a VIP orgy. He lost a 2022 primary bid to serve a second term in North Carolina, but is hoping to be elected to represent Florida in the House of Representatives in November.

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