Former Bachelorette contestant Doug Mason is sharing the behind-the-scenes details of his conversation with Taylor Frankie Paul’s ex-husband, Tate Paul.
“It was off-camera,” Doug, 28, said during the Tuesday, October 13, episode of Charity Lawson and Rachel Recchia’s “Bachelor Happy Hour” podcast. “That week was, probably without a doubt, the most exhausting week mentally for me in my entire life. I don’t need to do the timeline, however, when I met Tate, he asked me the same question that you asked me, Charity — ‘You ready for this? ‘Cause it’s a lot. I live it every day. Being with Taylor will change your life.’”
He continued, “So he really wanted to look in my eyes and see my sincerity. And like I said, at that point, I was all in. I was not going to BS. I’m not a BS-er. It was just as clear as day, this is going to be my life. So it was draining to talk to him for sure. I left that room [and was like], ‘I need 10. I need 10 minutes.’”
Taylor’s season 22 of The Bachelorette was scheduled to air on ABC in March but was pulled from the network’s lineup days before the premiere. The decision came amid a domestic violence investigation into an alleged incident involving Taylor and ex Dakota Mortensen.
The Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office ultimately declined to press charges against Taylor and Dakota, who has denied all allegations involving him. Taylor has since been engaged in two separate child custody battles with Dakota and Tate. (She shares daughter Indy, 9, and son Ocean, 6, with Tate and son Ever, 2, with Dakota.)
While the outcome of Taylor’s Bachelorette season remained under wraps at first, she confirmed during season 5 of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives that she got engaged to Doug.
“He was the one that I liked from night one. There was instant chemistry,” Taylor said on the Hulu series, which dropped new episodes last month. “The entire time, I didn’t think we were going to ‘get engaged,’ per se, but then at the last minute, he did propose and I said yes.”
Season 5 of Mormon Wives showed Taylor having doubts after hooking up with Dakota multiple times and exploring a connection with ex Ben Lambert. She ultimately chose not to reunite with Doug and “broke it off” instead.
As for whether fans will ever see Taylor’s journey as the Bachelorette, ABC has not made a formal decision.
