The production team behind The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives wants Taylor Frankie Paul back on the Emmy-nominated Hulu series — but only on her terms and her timeline, sources confirm, as the reality star publicly begins what she calls the “ugly parts” of her healing following months of domestic violence investigations and public scandal.
Production on season five of the Hulu series resumed following a filming pause initiated by an internal investigation surrounding Paul and her ex Dakota Mortensen, with the ball now in Paul’s court as to whether she rejoins the cast. The team behind the show has been supportive of her through the turbulence of the past several months. When a report emerged claiming production was restarting without her, Paul pushed back publicly on Instagram, writing: “Interesting, that’s not the call I got.”
The crisis began in mid-March when a 2023 video surfaced showing Paul throwing barstools at Mortensen while her young daughter was present, prompting ABC to cancel her starring role as the lead of The Bachelorette Season 22 just three days before its scheduled March 22 premiere. Two separate Utah police departments — Draper City and West Jordan — opened domestic violence investigations, with allegations running in both directions. A third alleged incident from 2024 also surfaced.
On April 14, the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office declined to pursue charges against Paul. Prosecutors cited insufficient evidence for the incidents that fell within the statute of limitations, and noted that older incidents had exceeded the time limit for filing charges.
Paul responded publicly four days later with a lengthy Instagram post. “This public atrocity that I not only lived through once but twice now, on even a bigger scale was ultimately the cost to my freedom,” she wrote, adding that she views the charge dismissal as spiritually significant: “God undoubtedly had a hand in this because after waiting 7 weeks on the 7th day EXACTLY, I received the call all charges dropped.”
Paul also disclosed a PTSD diagnosis from two years ago, writing that she now believes it has progressed to complex PTSD. She said her current focus is on “eating, movement, rest, and retraining the nervous system.”
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Paul also has a pending 2023 aggravated assault case, under which she admitted to the charge. An agreement is expected to lower it to a misdemeanor by August 2026. Hulu has not publicly addressed Paul’s status with the series.
