Taylor Frankie Paul’s Secret Lives of Mormon Wives costars are hesitant to proceed filming amid her dispute with ex Dakota Mortensen.
“The Mormon Wives solid [is] truthfully terrified to film with Taylor straight away,” a source exclusively tells Us Weekly, noting that production is “shut down” for the time being and “the ladies have made it clear they don’t need to be round her because they see her as a significant liability.”
TMZ and People reported on Monday, March 16, that The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives producers paused filming on season 5 earlier this month following an alleged domestic dispute between Taylor, 31, and Dakota, 33. A Draper City Police Department spokesperson subsequently confirmed to Us that a “domestic assault investigation” involving the previous couple is ongoing. (Per police, “allegations have been made in each directions” and “contact was made with involved parties on [February] twenty fourth and twenty fifth.”)
The insider told Us that, prior to the incident, the Mormon Wives solid “believed Taylor was in a greater place” after she filmed her season of The Bachelorette and that their Hulu reality show “was heading in a distinct direction.”
“Now, lots of them feel they’ve moved past the purpose of coping with this type of behavior and easily don’t need to be put in that position again,” in accordance with the source.
Us has reached out to representatives for Paul, Mortensen and Hulu.
Taylor previously had legal issues when she was arrested in February 2023 on domestic violence charges. She was initially charged with aggravated assault, two counts of domestic violence within the presence of a toddler, child abuse with injury and criminal mischief after the incident.
Dakota publicly defended Taylor on the time, and he or she ultimately agreed to plead guilty to aggravated assault, with the 4 charges being dismissed with prejudice. (Taylor told the “Call Her Daddy” podcast in September 2025 that the 4 other charges “were all dropped.”)
When The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives season 1 premiered in September 2024, Taylor opened up in regards to the trauma of her arrest. (Body-camera footage taken from the night of her arrest was published shortly before the truth series debuted.)
Dakota Mortenson, Taylor Frankie Paul on “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives.” Fred Hayes; Hulu/Disney; Courtesy Everett Collection
“Getting arrested, it was the worst night of my life. I ended up being charged with aggravated assault with three years of probation,” she reflected in 2024. “After the arrest, I used to be under a lot stress. I used to be filmed leaving the jail after which that was immediately on the web. It was a blessing in disguise. It helped me get up.”
Taylor got along with Dakota following the top of her marriage to ex-husband Tate Paul in May 2022. Taylor and Dakota subsequently split in 2025 following his sexting scandal. (Taylor and Tate welcomed daughter Indy May, 8, and son Ocean, 5, before separating through the MomTok soft swinging scandal. Shen later welcomed son Ever True with Dakota in March 2024.)
Chatting with Us for a canopy story earlier this month, Taylor acknowledged that navigating her split from Dakota has been difficult at times.
“It was hard because I’m, obviously, an element of that — it’s not like I’m pointing the finger like, ‘He’s [the toxic one.]’ It takes two to tango. We were just not progressing,” Taylor admitted to Us. “We like one another sometimes, after which we fight. It’s really hard to elucidate to people and unless you’ve been in that situation, it is difficult to know. If I could just snap out of it, trust me, I’d. It’s just loads harder said than done.”
Taylor Frankie Paul is unapologetically herself on The Bachelorette — and he or she won’t hesitate to chop anyone there for the unsuitable reasons. “They’re all amazing, which has made this all a lot harder,” Taylor, 31, told host Jesse Palmer in a prerecorded segment through the Wednesday, November 12, finale of The Golden Bachelor about her […]
Since her split from Dakota, Taylor has filmed The Bachelorette season 22, which premieres on ABC March 22. The truth had a candid response when asked by Us about where she stood with Dakota amid her Bachelorette casting.
“That’s a great query,” she admitted. “I don’t even know. I actually have to ask myself that query on a regular basis. Where can we stand? I don’t know. Ask me tomorrow.”