Taylor Frankie Paul revealed Monday she has decided to step away from “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” after the latest development in her ongoing custody disputes.
Paul’s decision to leave the reality television series ahead of filming for Season 6 comes during her continuing custody negotiations with her former boyfriend, Dakota Mortensen, with whom she shares one son, and her ex-husband, Tate Paul, with whom she shares a son and a daughter.
In July, Paul voluntarily checked into a rehab facility following months of public fallout stemming from a now-closed police investigation into an alleged domestic abuse incident involving Mortensen.
When announcing her decision to leave the show, Paul took a moment to address her rocky relationships with the cast.
“My gratitude goes to all the networks that supported me throughout this and gave me the chance to return,” Paul wrote in her social media statement. “However I don’t desire to move forward like this.”
“It’s a pleasure to remove myself so they can continue, because I’ve almost convinced myself I’m deserving of all this pain and to a certain degree absolutely this is consequences of my actions,” she concluded. “My question has been how much suffering and scrutiny is going to be enough. … I’m just relieved to be out."
Paul built a career as a leading influencer in the viral #MomTok community on TikTok, a group of Utah women who share clips of their lives online.
She has also starred in four seasons of “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives,” which has chronicled her on-again, off-again relationship with Mortensen.
Reports of now-dismissed allegations involving a domestic abuse incident with Mortensen mounted in mid-March during the weeks leading up to Paul’s season of “The Bachelorette.”
Amid the police investigation, TMZ published leaked footage of a separate physical altercation from 2023 in which Paul is seen kicking Mortensen and throwing metal barstools at him, prompting ABC to pull the show just three days before its scheduled premiere.
“In light of the newly released video just surfaced today, we have made the decision to not move forward with the new season of ‘The Bachelorette’ at this time, and our focus is on supporting the family,” a Disney spokesperson said at the time.
In a March statement obtained by People magazine, a spokesperson for Paul said, “Taylor is very grateful for ABC’s support as she prioritizes her family’s safety and security. After years of silently suffering extensive mental and physical abuse as well as threats of retaliation, Taylor is finally gaining the strength to face her accuser and taking steps to ensure that she and her children are protected from any further harm.”