Taylor Frankie Paul’s Exes Run Into Each Other at Court as Dakota Files Protective Order

Taylor Frankie Paul’s Exes
Run Into Each Other at Utah Court

Published
March 19, 2026
2:06 PM PDT

Taylor Frankie Paul’s exes look like they had the same idea … because they bumped into each other at a Utah courthouse … and we’ve got the photos.

Check out these pics showing Taylor’s ex-husband, Tate Paul, and her ex-boyfriend, Dakota Mortensen … they’re chatting in the lobby of a courthouse in Northern Utah.

Sources familiar with the situation tell TMZ … Tate and Dakota showed up to court Tuesday to obtain protective orders against Taylor, days before ABC pulled the plug on Taylor’s season of “The Bachelorette.”

Folks who were at the courthouse tell us Tate and Dakota just happened to show up on the same day, around the same time, and crossed paths. We’re told they did NOT show up together … instead, they came and went separately. We’re told neither had attorneys with them. As TMZ first reported, Dakota filed his petition for a protective order Thursday.

In his filing, Dakota detailed alleged abuse at the hands of Taylor. He claimed she attacked him inside her home while their son Ever was nearby. 

Dakota and Taylor share a young son … and they are being investigated by the Utah Division of Children and Family Services over allegations of spousal abuse … and they’ve each been ordered to undergo psych evaluations.

We know Taylor’s gotten violent with Dakota in the past … she was arrested in 2023 for domestic violence, and we just published the first video from the incident, showing her hitting Dakota and throwing chairs at him … and her 5-year-old daughter was struck — police later said the girl had a “goose egg on her head.”

The kid from the video is one of the two Taylor shares with Tate … they went viral in 2022 for “soft swinging” with other Mormon couples and then divorced.

It’s unclear if Tate’s filed his request for a restraining order.

Taylor and Dakota appear in “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives,” but the show is on ice as the investigation plays out.