Taylor Frankie Paul’s Season of ‘The Bachelorette’ Is Already a Waste of Time 

By Jodi Guglielmi

Jodi Guglielmi

When Taylor Frankie Paul, a TikTok influencer and star of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, was announced last September as the new lead of The Bachelorette, fans of the dating reality show were shocked. Not only was the move a complete diversion from ABC’s typical method of picking leads from within the Bachelor franchise, but producers went as far as to choose a public figure — and a public figure with a very controversial past. 

Paul, a member of MomTok — a group of Mormon moms who make TikToks together in Utah — was thrust into the spotlight in 2022 after it was revealed that she and other members of her community were taking part in “soft swinging” (partner swapping that includes sexual activity but not intercourse). The scandal led to her divorce from her first husband, Tate Paul, but also helped give birth to Secret Lives and launch her into mainstream stardom. Now in its fourth season, the Hulu hit largely centers around Paul’s tumultuous on-again, off-again relationship with another ex, Dakota Mortensen, who she began dating shortly after her divorce.

While an unconventional choice for the typically squeaky-clean Bachelor franchise, a soft-swinging TikTok influencer turned reality star at first sounded like the 180 the franchise desperately needed after years of declining ratings and a seemingly outdated format amid modern dating culture. Maybe Paul could breathe some fresh air into the franchise. At a minimum, she was likely to be entertaining. And, some reasoned, perhaps the dating show would be the push she needed to finally move on from her fraught relationship with Mortensen — a union they’ve both described as “toxic.” 

Since they began dating in July 2022, the on-off couple have been plagued by trust issues. Paul frequently accuses Mortenson of cheating and lying, which he’s openly admitted to — after he gets caught. Their arguments have also turned physical. In 2023, Paul was arrested after allegedly choking, striking, and throwing stools at Mortensen during a heated fight, with one of the stools allegedly hitting her then-six-year-old daughter from her previous marriage. (Paul pleaded guilty to a count of aggravated assault, while other charges were dismissed.) The pair reconciled following the incident and continued dating for some time, going on to have a child together — their son, Ever, now two — before eventually breaking up again (and getting back together and breaking up a few more times). 

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So, when the fourth season of Secret Lives premiered earlier this month and centered on Paul’s casting on The Bachelorette, there was optimism in the air. Paul, and seemingly every single other person in her life from friends and family to strangers on the street, said she was hopeful that going on the show would be the final nail in the coffin of her entanglement with Mortensen. “At the end of the day, I do think it’s an opportunity to get away from him, absolutely,” Paul said on Secret Lives. “It’s like a dream come true.” 

But the week leading up to the March 22 premiere of The Bachelorette has already proven Paul did not, in any real way, move on from that relationship — which also suggests she did not take her role on the show very seriously. 

Early in the season, Paul and Mortensen hooked up during a group trip to Los Angeles, which came just shy of a month before Paul returned to the area for The Bachelorette. “He tries, I cave,” Paul said on the show of their hookup. “And I know that going into The Bachelorette, I understand that it doesn’t look the best.” 

During the Secret Lives season finale, it was revealed that Paul and Mortensen also slept together the night before she was set to leave for The Bachelorette filming. “Just when we’re like, ‘Yes, she sees it. She sees her worth. She’s going to The Bachelorette. She’s ready to start this new journey. We’re so excited for her,’ she’s back sleeping with Dakota again,” her friend Mikayla said to the cameras, expressing her disappointment. After she landed in Los Angeles, Mortensen called Paul, and the two admitted they are still in love with each other. Not an encouraging confession from someone who is supposed to be looking for her soulmate on a dating competition show. 

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Then, on Monday, less than a week before the premiere of Paul’s Bachelorette season, it was revealed that filming on the next season of Secret Lives had been put on hold amid a police investigation into domestic violence allegations involving Paul and Mortensen. Draper City, Utah, police confirmed to Rolling Stone that there is an open “domestic assault investigation” and that “allegations have been made in both directions.” Details about the incident remain unclear, but, according to TMZ, Paul allegedly choked Mortensen, ripped off his necklace, and grabbed his throat and face while their son Ever was present. The alleged incident took place in February, long after filming on The Bachelorette had wrapped. 

So, with Paul and Mortensen’s latest mess playing out in real time in the public sphere, what is the point of watching her pretend to search for romance on The Bachelorette? 

Sure, spoilers for almost any reality competition tend to leak online at some point, so it’s not shocking that the public is generally aware of Paul’s current relationship status. But half the fun for Bachelorette fans is seeing how it all unfolds from week to week. And the beauty of the Bachelor franchise is its ability to let viewers suspend reality just enough to believe that everyone there really is looking for love, not just social media followers. 

But for fans who’d planned to watch Paul’s Bachelorette journey, not only does it seem that she went into the show under false pretenses, it’s clear the experience in no way improved her situation with Mortensen. If anything, things have only gotten worse. 

In fact, Paul has made it abundantly clear that she was not really looking for love. Based on her apparent emotional unavailability and general attitude on Secret Lives, she viewed the opportunity more as a gig than a genuine chance at making a romantic connection. Which could be true of most people who go on the show, but we’ve never before heard it straight from the lead’s mouth. 

Now, with domestic violence allegations thrown into the mix, there’s not much for fans to be rooting for here. And frankly, very little reason to even tune in.

Even the male contestants on The Bachelorette are reportedly upset. “They’re extremely disappointed. They felt betrayed when they found this out, because they all went into this to genuinely get to know Taylor,” a source told People. 

And while, sure, some drama can help drum up interest and help boost ratings ahead of a show’s premiere, there is nothing buzzy and exciting about claims of violence and a relationship so dysfunctional and dangerous that it caused another show to put cameras down. 

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