The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star Dakota Mortensen seemingly has thoughts about ex Taylor Frankie Paul going on The Bachelorette to find love.
In a TikTok uploaded on Tuesday, December 2, Dakota, 32, teased his own strategy for “finding love,” writing, “When you realized you can date 30 girls without being on a TV show.”
Dakota’s video wasn’t received too well by fans, with many defending Taylor’s decision to join the ABC dating show in an effort to find The One. Some of Taylor’s costars also came to her defense by throwing shade at Dakota.
“Are you going through Taylor’s friend list to find your 30? Bc that would be v on brand for you 🤣,” Mayci Neeley wrote, to which Dakota replied, “No but I’m all ears.”
Taylor Frankie Paul and Dakota Mortensen‘s complicated romance was thrust into the spotlight on The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives — and their relationship status remains unclear. The couple started dating before the show premiered on Hulu. Dakota was Taylor’s first public boyfriend after her divorce from husband Tate Paul due to a high-profile “soft […]
Miranda Hope, meanwhile, stood by Taylor’s approach to her personal life. “Respectfully dakota, from what i hear, you’re well on your way my guy,” she added.
Other social media users poked fun at Dakota’s dating history by bringing up his season 3 story line, with one writing, “Does taylor have 30 family members?” Dakota showed he was in on the joke by “liking” the comment.
Taylor, 31, was announced as the lead for season 22 of The Bachelorette in September before season 3 of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives captured her relationship with Dakota officially coming to an end. Taylor dated Dakota following her split from husband Tate Paul over their viral “soft swinging” sex scandal.
The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, which debuted in September 2024, captured Taylor and Dakota’s ups and downs before they welcomed son Ever, now 21 months. In February 2023, Taylor was arrested for domestic violence and was ultimately charged with aggravated assault, two counts of domestic violence in the presence of a child, child abuse with injury and criminal mischief after the incident.
Taylor pleaded guilty six months later to aggravated assault, while the other four charges were dismissed with prejudice. She later reached a plea deal. She continued to date Dakota off and on, but they eventually pulled the plug on their relationship over accusations that he was unfaithful.
“We’ve obviously come a long way to navigate [coparenting],” Taylor shared with Us in May. “It’s different from my first husband because there’s obviously a friendship there. We adjusted. Whereas [with] Dakota, everything’s fresh. It’s something that we necessarily didn’t want to do but needed to separate.”
She added: “It’s an adjustment and we’ve had to learn through the obstacles of this experience to do what’s best for our son. Of course when things are heightened, you’re breaking up and it’s not something you wanted and you just had a baby. It was not the prettiest experience, but currently we’ve come a long way.”
Dakota and Taylor briefly considered getting back together while filming season 3, which premiered in November, but claims that he sexted Taylor’s family friend put a stop to the idea.
“I know a lot of people from a viewer point of view [don’t understand that] having everything aired out to the world is a lot different than just going to a person you care about or your family and telling them something,” Dakota explained on an episode of “The Viall Files” in June. “Like, you want to talk about fear, that’s the scariest feeling in the world.”
Dakota pointed out that filming a reality TV show didn’t help their relationship.
“Then doing it with a show, you don’t have any control over it. If they’re missing something, it’s like that’s not how it was. That to me was really hard to grasp,” he recalled. “That was hard to understand. I was like, ‘I don’t want to be torched to the world for it. I just want to have a moment with you where I can talk to you. I want a safe place to talk.’ But that’s not the case.”
The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives is currently streaming on Hulu.
