New Bachelorette Taylor Frankie Paul is weighing in on the possibility of her ex, Dakota Mortensen, showing up on the hit reality dating show.
“[If] he’s here, he wants to try, like, that wouldn’t shock me,” The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star, 31, told Entertainment Tonight in a clip shared by host Zachary Reality via X on Monday, October 21. “And also like, kind of the same thing with bad news from him. Shocker, you did it again, like it’s just like, for me, I wouldn’t be shocked.”
Taylor dated Dakota, 32, after she and ex-husband Tate Paul divorced following the infamous MomTok swinging scandal. The controversy involved Taylor hooking up with various couples within their ultra close Mormon community, including Miranda McWhorter and her then-husband, Chase McWhorter.
Taylor and Dakota first started dating in 2022, going on to welcome their son Ever before their September 2024 split. (Taylor also shares daughter Indy and son Ocean with her ex-husband.)
New Bachelorette Taylor Frankie Paul is as ready as she’ll ever be for her new journey. On the heels of the Wednesday, September 10, announcement that the 31-year-old Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star will star on season 22 of The Bachelorette, Us Weekly spoke to Taylor for an exclusive interview. “What I’m most looking […]
While speaking to Us Weekly in September shortly after she was announced as this year’s Bachelorette, Taylor admitted she had not yet told Dakota that she would appear on the hit dating show.
“I have not confirmed it with him. It’s just not something that’s been on, like, my priority list to confirm with him,” Taylor exclusively told Us at the time. “I don’t know exactly how he’ll react or feel, but he does know that we opened the gates of dating other people. [He’ll] probably [be] sad. I assume that it’s like, ‘Whoa, she’s gonna be dating people, a lot, and then also, in front of me,’ and that’s probably gonna be kind of hard to watch.”
She continued, “I can’t speak for him, but I’d assume it wouldn’t be the best news he’s heard on that day.”
Taylor Frankie Paul JC Olivera/Variety via Getty Images
Dakota seemingly reacted to the casting news via his Instagram Stories on September 10. “Had so many curve balls today and every time I am always reminded there is nothing more important than God and family ❤️,” he wrote alongside a selfie. “Life is too short.”
Dakota reiterated that he has nothing but support for Taylor two days later.
“I am happy for Tay, and I hope she finds happiness,” Dakota captioned a September 12 TikTok video, parodying Taylor’s previous upload wishing to be the next Bachelor Nation lead.
Taylor had previously made her own video, detailing how much she wanted to join the show by lip-synching Lindsay Lohan’s Super Bowl commercial about looking for love. Dakota appeared to reference that video in his own upload on the platform.
“Is this how it works to be the next Bachelor?” Dakota asked in his own video, also mouthing along to Lohan’s sound.
“Hi, my name is Lindsay and I’m searching for love,” Lohan, 39, originally said, in a parody of The Bachelor. “I’m recently single, I think, and I’m looking for someone I can spend the rest of my life with — or at least the rest of my probation with. A little about me: I’m an actress, a singer [and] an entrepreneur.”
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