“She has three kids and two baby daddies, so will these bachelors line up to be baby daddy number three?”
Paul has no history with the Bachelor franchise, but Mormon Wives airs on Hulu, which, like ABC, is owned by Disney.
The incident was featured in and discussed throughout the first season of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives.
“You get a glimpse into her family if you’ve watched Mormon Wives.
Those unfamiliar with the #MomTok insanity will have several months to get up to speed, as Paul’s season of The Bachelorette will not premiere until 2026.
The hosts of The View have some inquiries regarding the upcoming Bachelorette.
The recent announcement of Taylor Frankie Paul as the leading lady for The Bachelorette’s 22nd season, the current star of Hulu’s Emmy-nominated reality series The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, caused some controversy for a number of reasons, including Paul’s somewhat tumultuous history on social media and in reality TV.
As she joins the long-running reality dating show, cohost Joy Behar pondered out loud how contestants would deal with that past during Friday’s pre-recorded episode of the popular daytime talk show.
The audience moaned as Behar said, “She has three kids and two baby daddies, so will these bachelors line up to be baby daddy number three?”.
She said, “Isn’t that the whole point of the show?”. Finding a partner and getting married? Well, she has some baggage. “.”.
One of the founding members of MomTok, a community of Mormon mothers and influencers from Utah who gained social media recognition for their choreographed TikTok videos, is Paul, a single mother of three. She caused a stir on social media in May 2022 when she went live on TikTok and declared that she was divorcing her ex-husband, Tate Paul, partly due to their “soft swinging” with other Mormon couples.
In 2024, Paul and the other MomTokers, Jen Affleck, Demi Engemann, Whitney Leavitt, Mikayla Matthews, Mayci Neeley, Jessi Ngatikaura, and Layla Taylor, were cast in their own reality series, The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, by Hulu as a result of the uproar caused by the bombshell. The first two seasons followed Paul’s turbulent relationship with Dakota Mortensen, her new boyfriend, with whom she has a son. In January of this year, the two parted ways.
But as she starts to establish herself on Bachelor Nation, the 31-year-old Utah native is prepared to forgo heartbreaking headlines for dates with her hometown, according to an ABC press release. “.”.
Behar’s cohost Alyssa Farah Griffin said on The View, “I was very conflicted about this,” adding that her own mother was upset about the show’s choice to cast someone who wasn’t from the Bachelor franchise.
Although Paul has no connection to the Bachelor franchise, Mormon Wives is available on Hulu, which is owned by Disney, just like ABC. When covering Paul’s casting, Kristen Baldwin of Entertainment Weekly pointed out that the company appears to be in its “synergy era.”. “.
Gryphon used caution when discussing Paul’s “colorful past,” most likely alluding to her arrest for domestic abuse in February 2023.
According to The Salt Lake Tribune, Paul entered a guilty plea to aggravated assault in August of that year, and her other charges were dropped. In front of her two children, Paul allegedly threw her phone and “heavy metal chairs” at Mortensen, her ex-boyfriend, during the assault, according to the outlet. She allegedly threw an object that hit one child in the head. The incident was discussed and featured in The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives’ first season.
After her tirade, Paul posted on TikTok, saying, “As much as I wish that night had gone differently, I felt like hitting rock bottom actually helped me in some ways.”. made me seek out assistance that I was not receiving at the time. “”.
In a September 2025 appearance on the Call Her Daddy podcast, she also talked about the incident and described it as the most difficult period of her life.
“In that circumstance, I don’t even really consider myself. It’s obviously my kids because they were in the house and involved,” she remarked. However, I see a lot of suffering in that scene that is shown on screen. I was completely lost at the time because I had no tools. “.”.
The audience was informed by Griffin that Paul has had “a pretty challenging life” and that she does not condemn women for having children with other men. “If you have watched Mormon Wives, you can see a little bit of her family. “It’s difficult,” she remarked. They have to deal with a very constrictive religion. After abandoning her faith, she is currently searching for herself. “.”.
Griffin went on, though, “I think she’ll be great because she’s very authentic and chaotic, which are both fantastic for reality TV. That’s what I love about her.”. “.”.
When Sunny Hostin asked how Paul, a Mormon, would handle the Fantasy Suites while she was on The Bachelorette, her cohosts joked that it shouldn’t be an issue because her gentle swinging demonstrated that she wasn’t a practicing one.
Paul’s season of The Bachelorette won’t debut until 2026, so those who haven’t been following the MomTok madness will have months to catch up. ABC’s announcement did not specify whether the network would also broadcast a season of The Bachelor next year. The Bachelor typically premieres in January and was renewed for season 30 in June.
