Taylor Frankie Paul, the TMZ Video, Dakota Mortensen, and the Question Everyone Is Asking Before Sunday Night
Four days before The Bachelorette premieres on ABC, the show’s new lead is sitting at the center of one of the most chaotic press weeks in Bachelor franchise history.
On one side there is a domestic violence investigation. On the other side there is a TMZ video published this morning that is genuinely hard to watch. Somewhere in the middle there is a 31 year old woman doing press appearances on Good Morning America and Live with Kelly and Mark, trying to hold a smile while the entire internet debates whether she should be on television at all.
This is the full story of who Taylor Frankie Paul is, what actually happened with Dakota Mortensen, what the TMZ video shows, and the only question Bachelor Nation cares about right now: is The Bachelorette actually being cancelled?
Is The Bachelorette Cancelled? Here Is the Direct Answer
No. The Bachelorette has not been cancelled as of this writing. Season 22 is still scheduled to premiere Sunday, March 22, 2026 on ABC.
According to a report from Variety, the ongoing investigation will not impact the release schedule or promotional plans for The Bachelorette.
That is the short answer. The longer answer is considerably messier.
Bachelorette executives are reportedly furious with Taylor — not only for the bad look but because it is now clear she does not get her happily ever after since she is still having issues with Dakota, making it what insiders are calling a complete mess.
Some of the men on her season are losing their minds over this. They are extremely disappointed. They felt betrayed when they found this out because they all went into this to genuinely get to know Taylor.
The show will air. The chaos around it is very real.
Who Is Taylor Frankie Paul?
If you found this post through a search and you genuinely do not know who Taylor Frankie Paul is, here is the background you need.
Taylor Frankie Paul is a 31 year old reality TV star, influencer, and single mom from Herriman, Utah. She is one of the stars of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives on Hulu, and she is the first ever Bachelorette to have not appeared on a previous season of The Bachelor.
She first became famous through MomTok, a community of young Mormon mothers on TikTok known for their perfect aesthetics, clean homes, and aspirational family content. Taylor was part of that world until 2022, when she and her then husband Tate Paul announced publicly that they had been participating in “soft swinging” with other MomTok couples. For a community built on traditional religious values, this was approximately the equivalent of a nuclear event.
The scandal launched her into a different kind of fame. Hulu came calling. The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives gave her a platform to tell her own story, and audiences responded. She became the show’s biggest star — polarizing, magnetic, and impossible to look away from.
She was announced as the Bachelorette on Alex Cooper’s Call Her Daddy podcast on September 10, 2025. Filming began October 26, 2025 in Agoura Hills, California and concluded in Saint Lucia in December 2025.
Three and a half months after wrapping, the whole thing blew up.
Who Is Tate Paul?
Tate Paul is Taylor’s ex husband and the father of her two older children. Their marriage ended after the soft swinging scandal became public. Taylor has been open about the breakdown on The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, describing a relationship that fell apart under the weight of decisions they both made and the public attention that followed.
They continue to co parent their children. Tate has maintained a largely private presence since the divorce, appearing occasionally in Taylor’s documentary style storylines on the show. The relationship between them is, by all accounts, functional if complicated.
The reason this matters for the current story is context. Taylor has now had two significant relationship implosions play out in public: the Tate Paul marriage and the Dakota Mortensen situation. Her entire public identity is built on surviving difficult chapters and speaking her truth. That identity is now being tested more severely than at any previous point.
The TMZ Video — What It Actually Shows
This is the part of the story that changed the conversation entirely.
Early this morning, March 19, TMZ published a video from 2023. This is not new footage. It is evidence from the original incident that led to Taylor’s arrest. Taylor Frankie Paul repeatedly attacked Dakota Mortensen during the 2023 incident in which she pleaded guilty to aggravated assault, and the video shows that one of her children was struck during the fight.
Dakota struggles to record the altercation with his cellphone as Taylor puts him in a headlock. She backs off but then charges and tries to kick him. The struggle turns violent as Taylor grabs a metal barstool and hurls it at Dakota. He screams at her that her daughter is sitting right there, but she persists, throwing two more stools at him. At that moment, her child, who was curled up on the couch, began crying. The police report says the 5 year old girl was hit and later had a goose egg on her head.
Taylor’s representative responded quickly. Her rep called the release of the video a reprehensible attempt to distract from Dakota’s own behavior, adding that releasing an old and selectively edited video on their son’s birthday is sad to see as the latest installment of his never ending, desperate, attention seeking, destructive campaign to harm Taylor without any regard for the consequences for their child.
The video was published on Ever’s second birthday.
The 2023 Arrest and What Happened After
It is worth being precise about what Taylor actually pleaded guilty to because this detail matters.
Six months after her arrest, Paul agreed to plead guilty to felony aggravated assault in exchange for dropping the rest of the charges against her and spent just a single night behind bars. Per the agreement, if she followed the terms of the plea deal for three years, her charge would be knocked down to a misdemeanor on her rap sheet. She is reportedly still within that three year threshold until August 2026.
This is relevant because August 2026 is only five months away. If Taylor completes her probation without incident, the felony drops to a misdemeanor. If the current investigation results in charges, that timeline changes significantly.
The February 2026 Incident and the New Investigation
Separate from the 2023 video, there is a new investigation involving a more recent incident.
Sources close to the production tell TMZ that Dakota and Taylor were spending time together at his place when they started fighting about Dakota’s romantic past, specifically his involvement with cast member Shinia Powell. It got physical as Taylor allegedly choked Dakota and ripped his necklace off and grabbed his throat and face, with their son Ever in the room.
One source says Dakota even called police that night but the new Bachelorette star convinced him to change his story and tell cops all was good. She apologized and even returned to Dakota’s home the following night. That went south too as Taylor allegedly scratched his neck during a second night of fighting and threw his phone against a wall.
The Draper City Police Department confirmed officers made contact with both parties on February 24 and February 25 and that allegations have been made in both directions.
Dakota’s side is not clean either. Sources connected to Taylor say that during the car argument, a drink was spilled on the seat and on Dakota and he became enraged. Sources say he got physical with her.
Both sides have lawyers. Both sides are talking to the press. The investigation is ongoing.
What Is Happening with Secret Lives of Mormon Wives
Production on The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives has been put on ice after allegations of child and spousal abuse, and both Taylor Frankie Paul and Dakota Mortensen have been ordered to get psych evaluations.
Cast member Mikayla Matthews confirmed the filming pause in a post to her Instagram story on March 18, calling it a decision that all the girls came up with and agreed on.
It remains to be seen whether or not Secret Lives of Mormon Wives Season 5 is still going ahead. As of March 2026 the series has paused filming, but depending on when production began, they may still have enough footage to cobble together for release.
Brand Deals and the Business Fallout
The most tangible consequence so far has been financial.
Cinnabon confirmed to Entertainment Weekly that it ended its partnership with both The Bachelorette and The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, citing recent developments involving the show’s lead. The collaboration had only recently launched, with the brand rolling out a Swirled Soda promotion inspired by a viral soda trend popularized by the Mormon Wives cast.
Cinnabon’s statement explained that recent developments and allegations surrounding the lead cast member led them to reassess the collaboration as it no longer aligns with their brand values.
One brand partnership gone in a week. More could follow depending on how the investigation develops and how the public responds to Sunday’s premiere.
What Taylor Said This Week
Taylor has been doing press. Whatever else is happening, she has not gone quiet or retreated.
On Good Morning America she said it is hard to see past this right now and that in this moment it is just so heavy. She said when your life is broadcasted out there in these headlines it is like the end of the world.
She told People: it is just heavy, it is a heavy time, and it is unfortunate. I am struggling for sure, but also at the same time I feel like if I do not show up then I am just giving these opportunities away and not enjoying what we worked on and something super exciting that is coming. I just feel like it was the right thing to do, show up even though it is hard.
On Live with Kelly and Mark, she told the hosts she has had better days.
She has not addressed the TMZ video directly yet. Her representative has. Taylor has not.
The ABC Situation Behind the Scenes
Sources say contestants from her season were caught off guard by the news. TMZ claims a crisis PR team was hired by the network as producers were reportedly blindsided by the news.
Former Bachelorette DeAnna Pappas, who was the season lead in 2008, speculated that at a press event on Tuesday night, access and interview questions around season 22’s debut may have been carefully managed with Paul after listening to audio of interviews. She said she knows they are all scrambling to put a bandaid over this, while also predicting the season could still draw strong ratings despite the controversy.
The financial reality is also simple: cancelling the season would not be feasible due to the costs of production. Episodes have already been filmed and edited months in advance, making cancellation a technically complex and financially risky choice.
The Bachelorette Season 22 — What You Need to Know
For anyone coming to this story purely because they want to watch the show on Sunday, here are the basics.
The twenty second season of The Bachelorette premieres on March 22, 2026. It features Taylor Frankie Paul, who is the first ever Bachelorette to have not appeared on a previous season of The Bachelor. Contestants include Lana Del Rey’s ex fiancé Clayton Johnson and Paralympian Trenten Merrill. Filming included visits to Steamboat Springs, Colorado; Las Vegas, Nevada; and Miami, Florida, and concluded in Saint Lucia in December 2025.
The premiere airs at 8 p.m. ET on ABC and streams the following day on Hulu.
The Honest Question Nobody Wants to Ask Out Loud
Here is the thing about Taylor Frankie Paul that makes this story genuinely complicated rather than simple.
She has never claimed to be perfect. Her entire public identity is built on radical honesty about imperfection. She told the world about soft swinging when she could have stayed quiet. She documented her arrest on her own show. She stood in front of cameras this week knowing the TMZ video was about to drop.
Whether that honesty is admirable or insufficient given what the video shows is something each viewer is going to have to decide for themselves.
What is clear is this. She is not the first reality TV lead to carry serious personal baggage into a franchise. She will not be the last. And on Sunday night, whether the ratings reflect approval, morbid curiosity, or something in between, The Bachelorette will air.
The only real question now is what happens in August, when the court reviews her plea deal, and whether the current investigation produces charges before that date.
Everything else is television.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Bachelorette cancelled because of Taylor Frankie Paul?
No. The Bachelorette Season 22 is not cancelled. ABC confirmed through multiple outlets that the show will premiere on Sunday, March 22, 2026 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC. The investigation will not impact the release schedule or promotional plans according to a report from Variety.
Who is Taylor Frankie Paul?
Taylor Frankie Paul is a 31 year old reality TV star from Herriman, Utah, best known for The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives on Hulu. She first became famous through the MomTok community on TikTok. She is the lead of The Bachelorette Season 22 and is the first Bachelorette in franchise history to have not previously appeared on The Bachelor.
What is the Taylor Frankie Paul TMZ video?
TMZ published a video on March 19, 2026 from a 2023 incident in which Taylor Frankie Paul is shown repeatedly attacking her then partner Dakota Mortensen. The video shows her throwing metal barstools at him while one of her children was present on the couch. Her 5 year old daughter was struck during the incident. Taylor later pleaded guilty to felony aggravated assault as part of a plea deal.
Who is Dakota Mortensen?
Dakota Mortensen is Taylor Frankie Paul’s ex boyfriend and the father of her youngest son, Ever, who turned 2 years old on March 19, 2026. He appeared on The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives alongside Taylor. As of March 2026 he is part of an ongoing domestic violence investigation alongside Taylor, with allegations made in both directions.
Who is Tate Paul?
Tate Paul is Taylor Frankie Paul’s ex husband and the father of her two older children. Their marriage ended publicly after the soft swinging scandal in 2022. He has remained largely out of the spotlight since their divorce and continues to co parent with Taylor.
When does The Bachelorette Season 22 premiere?
The Bachelorette Season 22 premieres Sunday, March 22, 2026 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC. It streams the following day on Hulu.
Is Secret Lives of Mormon Wives cancelled?
Secret Lives of Mormon Wives has not been cancelled but production on Season 5 is currently paused following the domestic violence investigation involving Taylor Frankie Paul and Dakota Mortensen. Both have been ordered to undergo psych evaluations. It is not yet confirmed whether there is enough footage to complete the season.
If you or someone you know is affected by domestic violence, help is available 24 hours a day through the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1800 799 7233 or text START to 88788.
