'Secret Lives of Mormon Wives' star Taylor Frankie Paul is new 'Bachelorette'
Published in Entertainment News
“The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” star Taylor Frankie Paul is the new “Bachelorette.”
The 31-year-old single mom of three announced on Wednesday’s “Call Her Daddy” that she’ll be making the jump from the Hulu reality show about Mormon #MomTok influencers to the ABC staple. Though both Hulu and ABC are Disney-owned, Paul is the first non-Bachelor Nation figure to serve as the titular “The Bachelorette.”
A “nervous” Paul said it all feels “surreal. It has not hit me.”
As “Call Her Daddy” host Alex Cooper reminded listeners, Paul’s casting comes as a shock to dedicated Bachelor Nation fans, who were anticipating a “Bachelor” season, rather than the female-led iteration.
“This is something so new for me, because obviously I got married young, divorced, and then the first guy I met was the next relationship. So I have not done the whole meeting new people, dating at the same time… You know how ‘The Bachelor’ works, you’re dating several people. And so, I’ve never done that,” said Paul, who made headlines for “soft swinging” with ex-husband Tate Paul.
She had been hesitant to sign on, in part because she co-parents with Tate and ex-boyfriend Dakota Mortensen. Paul shares daughter Indy, 8, and son Ocean, 5, with the former and 1-year-old Ever with Mortensen.
“My children, my home base is here, ‘Can I travel that long? Can I be gone that long?’ But then I’m also thinking, on the side, the other two moms that are in my group, [Jen Affleck and Whitney Leavitt are] doing ‘Dancing with the Stars’ and they brought their family out. But also, they have their husbands with them. So for me, I’m like, ‘Is this possible for me to do as a single mom?'” said Paul, who ultimately decided if she wanted it enough, she would figure it out. “I was just like, I’ll make it work. I have a team of people that I don’t think I utilize. … I can ask for help more and I don’t, usually.”
The casting comes a year after Paul dubbed her March 2023 domestic violence arrest — stemming from a drunken fight with Mortensen in front of Indy and Ocean, amid a miscarriage — “the worst night of my life.”
In August 2023, Paul was put under supervised probation after pleading guilty to aggravated assault in exchange for dismissal of other charges. Those included domestic violence in the presence of a child, child abuse and criminal mischief. She ultimately dubbed the ordeal “a blessing in disguise” that “helped me wake up.”
©2025 New York Daily News. Visit nydailynews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Comments