Taylor Frankie Paul is revealing major details surrounding her Bachelorette season that viewers will likely never get to see — including that she got engaged and what went wrong.
During Thursday’s episode of Hulu’s Get Real podcast, an exclusive clip from the upcoming fifth season of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives shows Paul spilling what happened to fellow castmembers Jessi Draper, Mikayla Matthews and Mayci Neeley.
The clip begins with the women asking Paul if she was intimate with anyone in the Bachelor Nation franchise’s infamous fantasy suites. Paul seemingly shakes her head no.
Without naming him, Draper points out that Paul’s reported final pick on the season, Doug Mason, shares some similarities with Paul’s ex-boyfriend and the father of one of her son’s, Dakota Mortensen, including their initials and the fact that they’re both from Idaho.
“They have the same initials. They’re both from Idaho,” Draper says. “It’s so weird.”
“I didn’t learn all that until later,” Paul responds.
Paul then reveals that she received an unexpected proposal — and said yes.
“He did get down on one knee and proposed,” Paul says. “I was shocked.”
Draper replies, “He told us he wasn’t going to,” referring to when she and other Mormon Wives castmembers visited Paul while she was filming The Bachelorette.
Paul says she believed the same and confirms that she accepted the proposal. However, she adds, “Then, I came home.”
After returning to Utah, Paul says she began texting Mortensen again.
“I don’t know how it led to it, but he came over,” she says, seemingly implying that the two hooked up — something that has been widely speculated.
Paul, who founded the Mormon influencer group known as MomTok, was set to make her debut as the Bachelorette on March 22. However, ABC pulled the season just three days before its scheduled premiere after TMZ published video footage showing the events that led to Paul’s 2023 arrest following an argument with Mortensen.
Paul pleaded guilty to aggravated assault in 2023 as part of a plea agreement that resulted in her other charges being dismissed. Her plea was held in abeyance, with the felony charge set to be reduced to a misdemeanor if she completed the terms of the agreement. The incident was later chronicled on The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives.
Two days before ABC pulled the season, Paul spoke with The Hollywood Reporter at a press event in New York City, where she addressed widespread TikTok speculation that Mason was her final pick.
“I’ve seen a lot of spoilers. However, none of them have been really correct,” she said at the time. “So for me, I’m just like, I guess keep putting out those incorrect spoilers. For the audience, I would want to watch to see if they’re actually true, because there have been so many different ones. How do you even know which one is even it at this point?”
In the weeks following the cancellation, Utah authorities investigated additional domestic violence allegations involving Paul and Mortensen. Mortensen reported an alleged 2024 incident to West Jordan police in February, while Draper police separately investigated another incident involving the former couple. In April, the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office announced that it would not file new charges against Paul after reviewing the cases.
Production on The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives season five was also halted in March amid the fallout. The season will now premiere on Hulu on Sept. 10.
In July, before the season five premiere date was announced, Mormon Wives co-star Miranda Hope told THR that she hadn’t been in touch with Paul.
“We haven’t really spoken recently,” she said. “But I genuinely hope that she’s doing well, and from what I know and what I hear, it seems like and sounds like she’s doing better. I truly wish nothing but the best for her.”
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