Taylor Frankie Paul is a Mormon TikToker and Reality star who became popular on the internet for her content surrounding parenting and lifestyle. She was also the founder of the famous TikTok group called Mom Tok, which is a well-known group of Mormon women and mothers who are based in the state of Utah. These women, including Taylor Frankie Paul, navigate the complexities of both their professional and personal lives. These complexities include their involvement within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, also known as the Mormon Church, navigating motherhood and the mental toll being a young mother has on them mentally, familial dynamics, and their rather complex relationships with their husbands or partners. Their respective partners are in a corresponding internet group known as Dad Tok.
But why was Taylor Frankie Paul’s cancellation and casting for the Bachelorette extremely controversial and dramatic? For context, the network where the Bachelorette and other reality shows that are affiliated with Bachelor Nation are aired on a television network, known as ABC, decided that they wanted to cast a well-known influencer and person who is known to be problematic and a hot mess. This is what many American reality shows are known for doing to gain significant viewership and traction with their fans. However, this idea completely backfired on Bachelor Nation and the ABC network due to old videos from 2023 resurfacing of the Mormon influencer, and rather quickly many people found out that one of the videos that resurfaced was body camera footage from law enforcement of her in an extremely disorientated and confused state during her arrest, and also peeing herself due to being under the influence of alcohol and being in fear due to law enforcement showing up. She was arrested and charged with child abuse, endangerment of a minor, and aggravated assault. Those charges eventually led to her losing temporary custody of her three children, including her infant son Ever, whom she had with her baby father, Dakota Mortensen. Another piece of footage from back in 2023 that was just released this year by Taylor Frankie Paul’s baby father, Dakota Mortensen, to the public and popular news platform TMZ, before the airing of the first episode of The Bachelorette. The given footage showcased her being violent towards Mortensen, which then escalated even further to her throwing a stool, which hit her now eight-year-old daughter in the head. The whole fight was not caught on camera, as their neighbors heard Taylor yelling at Dakota to get off of her; however, Mortensen waited until she reacted to the abuse and defended herself to record and make it as though she started the fight with him and that he was the victim in the situation. Mortensen also has a history of being an opioid addict, an emotional and psychological abuser, being controlling, and overall is extremely manipulative. Besides just being manipulative, he would always find a way to make Taylor depend on him and take him back every time after they fought, and go as far as pushing her beyond her limits, causing strong reactions, then flipping the narrative to make it as though she is the main problem, which many people were quick to believe that Mortensen was the victim.
Why would he wait until now to release the footage? Did he do this to be strategic and sabotage her opportunity prior to the season airing? Was he jealous of the opportunities she was receiving?
Prior to these allegations being released about the MomTok influencer, she was also diagnosed with bipolar disorder, ADHD, PTSD, anxiety disorder, depression, and severe stress back in 2023, before her arrest, and she opened up about her struggles on The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives. She broke down on camera while filming the show due to being extremely overwhelmed and struggling to process the pain she was feeling. Many viewers perceive her as crazy, psychotic, and trashy, but she is someone who does not know how to process and cope with her trauma from her childhood and from her relationship with Dakota, causing these highly intense emotional breakdowns. Since starting therapy and the sessions being documented on the show, she spoke on how she is trying to regulate her moods and episodes that she has, which is something that she should be doing since she never got the chance to process the very traumatic things that have happened to her throughout her life. She is also trying to spread awareness of mental health and illness to reduce the stigma surrounding it. In March 2026, Taylor then released a statement alleging that she suffered from extensive physical abuse and threats of retaliation from her ex-boyfriend, suffering in silence for years and then finally gaining the courage to stand up to him, only to be perceived as the aggressor and abuser. However, Mortensen denied these allegations, calling them baseless and accusing her of lying about him and their relationship, and law enforcement is now investigating a third alleged incident of domestic violence between the pair that took place in February 2026.
Although I am not excusing her actions regarding endangering her children who were there during the fights, she should not have thrown a stool at her daughter and endangered her two other children. She had every right to defend herself against Dakota, who was clearly abusing her and pushing her to her breaking point both emotionally and physically. ABC’s decision for the cancellation of the 22nd season of The Bachelorette was the right move due to the severity of the incident and the fact that it being an active Utah police investigation, even though the network lost tens of millions of dollars. The overall safety of the individuals is what matters the most.