Taylor Frankie Paul reveals some major spoilers from her cancelled season of The Bachelorette during upcoming Secret Lives of Mormon Wives episodes.
The Thursday, September 3, episode of Hulu’s “Get Real” podcast features an exclusive clip from SLOMW season 5 — where Taylor, 32, breaks down all of the Bachelor Nation drama.
In her discussion with costars Jessi Draper, Mikayla Matthews and Mayci Neeley, Taylor seemingly nods “no” when Jessi asks whether she’d “had sex” during Fantasy Suites. Taylor confirms that a suitor — presumably Doug Mason — did “get down on one knee and propose,” though there was major drama shortly after her engagement.
“[I said,] ‘Yes.’ Yes, I did [get engaged],” she revealed. “Then, I come home. Obviously [me and ex Dakota Mortensen] were texting. ‘When are you going to be home?’ I don’t know how it led to it but he came over.”
“Umm … I think I know how that happened,” Mikayla, 26, quipped.
While Doug’s name is never directly mentioned during the clip, the SLOMW ladies essentially confirm his identity by revealing Taylor’s suitor has the “same initials” as Dakota. Taylor swore she was initially unaware of the many similarities between Doug and Dakota.
“I didn’t start thinking that until people said it around me,” she insisted.
Jessi seemed skeptical, replying, “They have the same initials. They’re both from Idaho. It’s so weird.”
Taylor’s season of The Bachelorette was originally supposed to premiere on ABC in February but was pulled off the lineup three days before its debut. At the time, Taylor and ex Dakota were embroiled in a domestic violence investigation in Utah.
The Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office ultimately decided not to press any criminal charges in the case — though Taylor has since been involved in two separate child custody battles with Dakota and her ex-husband, Tate Paul. (Taylor shares Indy May, 8, and Ocean, 6, with Tate while she and Dakota welcomed 2-year-old son Ever True in 2024.)
With the domestic violence case dropped, Taylor signed and promoted a fan petition calling on ABC to air her season of The Bachelorette. The Change.org petition has since gained more than 25,000 signatures of support, as of publication.
“You guys started a petition for the show. I love you all,” she wrote via her Instagram Story in August.
Meanwhile, filming on The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives was temporarily halted in February though the full cast — sans Taylor — later returned to complete the season. Taylor reportedly shot news scenes for SLOMW’s opening credits but did not take part in any further group segments with the cast.
In May, Mormon Wives producer Jeff Jenkins confirmed that Taylor and Dakota will not be able to film scenes together for the foreseeable future, as they both have restraining orders requiring them to stay 100 feet away from each other for a period of three years. However, Jenkins hinted to Variety at the time that Taylor could be back to filming more regularly on SLOMW in the future.
“[Taylor is] just made for this,” Jenkins, 58, said in May. “To share her life on camera, she does it like breathing air. She doesn’t edit herself. She’s really built for this type of lane. So I’m very hopeful that she’ll be back very soon, and I’m hopeful we can do all sorts of other projects with her as well.”
The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives viewers will presumably get to hear lots more about the scrapped season of The Bachelorette when season 5 premieres on Hulu Thursday, September 10.
If you or someone you know are experiencing domestic violence, please call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 for confidential support.
