Whoever decided to cast Taylor Frankie Paul as The Bachelorette must have one hell of a headache right now. Just one week before the Season 22 premiere, The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star is caught up in another alleged domestic violence situation with her baby’s father, Dakota Mortensen.
Police in Utah are investigating a domestic incident and child abuse allegations, which were enough to put SLOMW Season 5 on pause. However, it looks like The Bachelorette premiere is going full steam ahead.
An alleged domestic incident led to ordered psychological evaluations
As we previously reported, production on SLOMW Season 5 is on hold amid new allegations about Taylor and Dakota. According to a report from TMZ, the cops recently responded to a domestic incident between the two exes. Allegedly, Dakota had also been calling the Utah Division of Child and Family Services and reporting the mother of three for abusing their little one, Ever.
Of course, SLOMW fans know that Taylor was previously arrested in 2023 for assault and domestic violence in the presence of a child. She pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of aggravated assault and received three years of probation.
With this latest round of allegations, DCFS ordered both parents to undergo a psychological evaluation. While that plays out, production on SLOMW Season 5 remains halted. Due to the seriousness of the claims, the producers are trying to proceed with caution.
However, the same can’t be said about Taylor’s upcoming turn on The Bachelorette. ABC has no plans of delaying the premiere, where Taylor will set out on a journey to find love. Child abuse allegations aren’t enough to derail this show.
Apparently, Taylor even flew to New York City this week to do press for the upcoming show. It will be interesting to see if that press tour goes as planned.
Either way, this is a PR nightmare for Bachelor Nation. They put a tremendous amount of effort and marketing into creating a first-of-its-kind season of The Bachelorette, only for these headlines to put a big stain on the premiere week. Stay tuned to see how it all unfolds.
The Bachelorette premieres on ABC on Sunday, March 22 at 8/7c. You can stream it the next day on Disney+ and Hulu.
TELL US – WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THESE ALLEGATIONS ARRIVING DURING THE BACHELORETTE PREMIERE WEEK? DO YOU THINK THEY MADE A MISTAKE BY CASTING TAYLOR?
