Taylor Frankie Paul is on a journey to find her future husband on Season 22 of The Bachelorette. But the show might be over before it even starts. She risks everything by hooking up with her ex the night before leaving to film the ABC show. Keep reading for all the details on the shocking situation.
Bachelorette Star Has One Last Night With Ex
Taylor Frankie Paul is the first Bachelorette lead chosen from outside the franchise. But she’s not completely unfamiliar to viewers. The Utah native is part of Hulu’s The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives reality show. Taylor Frankie Paul is credited with the show’s creation. She received national attention several years ago after going viral on TikTok. She confessed to living a swinger lifestyle with her then-husband, Tate Paul. However, she went outside their agreement and cheated on him, leading to their divorce.
After the end of her marriage, Taylor Frankie Paul got involved in a toxic on-and-off relationship with Dakota Mortensen. She shares one son, Ever, with him and has two children with her ex-husband. Her intense relationship with Dakota Mortensen was heavily featured on SLOMW. They split, seemingly for good, at the end of 2024. She was named the next Bachelorette a few months later.
But their relationship wasn’t over. During the most recent episode of the Hulu reality show, Dakota Mortensen made a shocking admission. He revealed that he had spent the night with Taylor Frankie Paul the night before she left to film The Bachelorette.
“I’d be lying if I didn’t think there was a piece of me that just kind of wanted to go see her, be with her, possibly for the last time. I don’t know,” he told the cameras, according to a PEOPLE magazine episode recap.
Taylor Frankie Paul Risks Show With Bad Decision
The morning after, Taylor Frankie Paul was “sick” and missed her flight to begin filming The Bachelorette. Several of her “Momtok” friends were at the airport to surprise her and see her off. But she never showed.
One co-star, Layla Taylor called Taylor Frankie Paul out for the hook-up. “I’m definitely disappointed in Taylor. I don’t think this was a smart move to do right before The Bachelorette,” she said. She added, “To be frank, if I was one of these guys and I found out that she effed her baby daddy the day before meeting me, I would be extremely upset and pissed.”
Bachelor Nation Reacts To Hook Up
Taylor Frankie Paul and Dakota Mortensen’s hook-up was hinted at in the SLOMW Season 4 trailer, which briefly showed them in bed together. The hook-up sparked a pregnancy scare. Bachelor Nation fans took to social media with reactions to the confirmation that the exes slept together right before The Bachelorette.
- “No amount of money can be worth this kind of constant public humiliation”
- ‘Taylor, while entertaining, was never going to take this process seriously.”
- “She is going to end up with Dakota at the end of the season or break up with her F1 after the finale rose to be with Dakota. Just saying.”
- “If this is true, it’s so inconsiderate and disrespectful of Taylor to the men on her season.”
Taylor Frankie Paul did make it to film the ABC reality show, but will she tell her suitors about the hook-up? Season 22 of The Bachelorette premieres on Sunday, March 22. Don’t miss it.
Jennifer Havener grew up in a small town in Upstate New York. She earned her B.A in Writing & Literature from Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado. She always knew watching reality TV shows and soap operas, particularly ‘Days of Our Lives’, would come in handy someday. When she’s not writing, she’s playing with her dogs, Lola and Ruger
