Everything That Has Gone Wrong With Taylor Frankie Paul
Everything That Has
Gone Wrong With
Taylor Frankie Paul.
A timeline. With receipts. In chronological order. We are not being diplomatic about any of it.
Let's Get Everyone Up to Speed — Quickly
Taylor Frankie Paul is a 31-year-old content creator and star of Hulu's The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, a show about a group of women in Utah who are very online, very beautiful, and — it turns out — very good at generating headlines that nobody could have predicted when the show premiered in 2024. Taylor was the breakout star. She had the most dramatic storyline. She had the charisma. She had the fanbase.
She also had Dakota Mortensen. And therein lies the problem. Or rather: therein lies the very long, very documented, still-ongoing, court-scheduled, production-halting problem that we are about to walk through in full. Pour something. You're going to need it.
This is not a both-sides piece. The receipts exist. The court documents exist. The TMZ footage exists. The judge's comments — delivered on the record, in open court, with cameras present because Taylor tried to get them removed and the judge said no — also exist. We are going to go through all of it.
Taylor tried to seal the hearing and keep cameras out of the courtroom. The judge said no. The cameras rolled. The judge then said he thinks they still have "an attraction to each other." This is the TFP situation in three sentences.
In Chronological Order, Because There Is a Lot
"I still think you have this attraction to each other." Said by a judge. In court. On the record. After extending both of their restraining orders for three years. This is the situation.
Everything That Is Currently Wrong — Listed
"I am just concerned that if I don't order both of them to stay away from each other, there's going to be some additional problems. Right now, you two need to stay away from each other. And there needs to be orders that will result in consequences if you attempt to try and engage each other because I still think you have this attraction to each other."
Said while extending both of their restraining orders for three years.
What This Means for Mormon Wives
Here is the genuinely interesting question underneath all of this, which is: what happens to The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives? The show that made Taylor Frankie Paul famous is currently paused because of the situation between Taylor and Dakota. Dakota is reportedly out. Taylor is reportedly coming back, eventually.
But "eventually" requires production to resume. Production requires a cast. The cast includes people who are also processing the fact that their co-star's romantic storyline has produced two sets of restraining orders, a cancelled Bachelorette season, a lip tattoo, and a judge who felt the need to tell two adults, on camera, in open court, that they need to stay away from each other because he is concerned about their continued attraction.
Season 1 was compelling because the drama was messy but manageable. Season 2, whenever it happens, will have to figure out what to do with a cast member who is on probation for felony assault, who has three-year mutual restraining orders with the man she was dating for most of the show's run, and who is still in an unresolved custody battle with the same man. This is either a production nightmare or the best television since the invention of television. There is no middle ground.
Domestic violence situations are serious and the allegations on both sides in this case are serious. This piece documents public court proceedings and published reporting. If you or someone you know is affected by domestic violence, the National Domestic Violence Hotline is available at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) or text START to 88788.
Where This Leaves Us
Taylor Frankie Paul is, by any objective measure, one of the most compelling figures in reality television right now. Not because of the show — though the show is good — but because her actual life has become a thing that happens in public, on camera, in courtrooms, and in court documents that journalists obtain and publish.
The judge told her and Dakota to stay away from each other because he thinks they're still attracted to each other. This was said out loud. In court. On the record. After everything. After the barstools. After the cancelled Bachelorette. After the February incident. After the competing protective orders. After the two different exes at the courthouse on the same day. After the lip tattoo. After all of that, the judge felt the need to mention the attraction.
The next hearing is June 1. Production on Mormon Wives is paused. Dakota is reportedly out. Taylor is reportedly coming back. The baby's name is Ever. The lip tattoo is permanent.
We will update this as it develops. It will develop.
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We document the chaos. With receipts. No diplomatic framing.
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