Allegations of domestic violence have caused one hit reality show to pause filming, and put the future of another in question. Taylor Frankie Paul is at the center of both. The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star, who first rose to fame as a founding member of the “MomTok” squad, was allegedly involved in an incident or incidents with her ex-boyfriend and co-parent, Dakota Mortensen.
While police investigate the matter, the fifth season of Mormon Wives, which is currently being filmed, is taking a hiatus. Further complicating matters is the fact that Paul has already filmed a season of The Bachelorette, which is set to premiere next week.
Heres what we know…
The police were contacted in late February.
A spokesperson for Paul’s local police department in Draper, Utah told People that “contact was made with involved parties on [February] 24 and 25,” suggesting that this is when police began investigating a potential problem. It was not clear, from what has been released, when the alleged incident or incidents may have occurred.
There is now an open “domestic assault investigation,” and “allegations have been made in both directions,” per the spokesperson. No charges have been filed or arrests made.
Filming of TSLOMW has been paused.
As word that filming had paused trickled out—before the allegations were known—rumors spread that Paul being the Bachelorette had caused friction among the Mormon Wives stars, which was what led to the hiatus. However, star Jessi Ngatikaura set the record straight in an Instagram comment, writing bluntly, “It was never a jealousy thing lol.”
A source confirmed to People that the show is “not filming,” because “Taylor [Frankie Paul] has some pretty serious stuff happening regarding her past, and they will see what happens. Until that resolves, they are off.”
Paul and Mortensen have a rocky relationship history.
Paul shares two children with her ex-husband, Tate Paul, and began dating Dakota Mortensen after her divorce in 2022. In February 2023, Mortensen and Paul got into a fight, and Paul was arrested and faced five charges, all of which were dropped except for aggravated assault; she later reached a plea deal, per Us Weekly. They stayed together, and welcomed a son together the following year, but were broken up by Christmas 2024. They appeared to be on-and-off throughout 2025 until Paul left to film The Bachelorette.
Paul has continued to promote The Bachelorette amid the investigation.
On March 16, a day before the news broke that there had been domestic violence allegations, Paul posted a TikTok teasing a new relationship, potentially with someone she met via The Bachelorette. This would be several weeks after the police began their investigation.
There are disturbing allegations from unnamed sources.
Take all of this with many grains of salt, as TMZ is unable to attribute these claims to anything more specific than “sources,” but the outlet reports that Mortensen has repeatedly called Utah’s Child and Family Services to report Paul for allegedly abusing their son. Per TMZ, Paul has denied the allegations.
What does this mean for The Bachelorette?
Season 22 of The Bachelorette is slated to premiere on March 22. As of publishing, there are no plans to pause the roll out.
Glamour has reached out to ABC for comment and will update this piece when we hear back.
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