SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Taylor Frankie Paul, a star of “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives,” can't spend unsupervised time with her 2-year-old son due to concerns about volatile behavior she displayed during confrontations between her and the boy's father, a Utah court commissioner ruled Tuesday.
Third District Court Commissioner Russell Minas said “I have concerns going both ways” about competing allegations between Dakota Mortensen and Paul, who was
also set to star in the most recent season of “The Bachelorette” before it was pulled days before airing.
But, Minas said, “Even if he was trying to provoke a response, the actions that occurred are very troubling.”
The hearing set the stage for an April 30 court battle in which Minas will assess dueling petitions for protective orders between the pair.
Mortensen, who shares son Ever with Paul, has asked the court to turn a short-term protective order against his ex into a long-term one. Paul filed her own request for a protective order just before Tuesday's hearing. Both participated remotely while their lawyers were in court.
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EDITOR’S NOTE: This story includes discussion of domestic violence. If you or someone you know needs help, please call the national domestic violence hotline: 1-800-799-7233 in the U.S.
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Lawyers for the two sides and a court-appointed attorney for Ever addressed several heated and sometimes violent interactions between the couple, some of which were caught on video.
In one key video from 2023, Paul appeared to punch, kick and throw chairs at Mortensen while her young daughter watched and cried. The leak of that video last month spurred the unprecedented move by ABC of shelving Paul's already-filmed season of “The Bachelorette.”
Paul was charged for that altercation with aggravated assault and other offenses, including domestic violence in the presence of a child. She pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor assault charge, and the other counts were dismissed.
Eric Swinyard, a lawyer for Paul, argued Tuesday that Mortensen was the aggressor in another fight from February that the lawyer called “the truck tussle.” In his request for a protective order, Mortensen said Paul threw a drink at him as they argued in a truck to not wake children who were sleeping inside Paul's home. Swinyard said Mortensen slammed Paul's head into the dashboard and punched her in the leg, showing the court commissioner photos of her bruises.
That and another fight around the same time are under investigation by police in the Salt Lake City suburb of Draper City.
The sides generally agreed that Paul didn't intentionally direct violence at their son or her other two children from a previous relationship. At issue was her willingness to lash out at Mortensen with children present.
Ever's court-appointed lawyer pointed to a May 2025 video that has not been released publicly. He said it shows Paul pushing Mortensen and shouting for him to get out of her house while he's holding the child.
"To me, that makes me very nervous about her ability to control herself, and her volatility," said the lawyer, Michael McDonald. He said Paul has “a very difficult time with self-control, and I think that it puts my client at risk.”
Paul's attorney said Mortensen deliberately created that situation.
“He’s holding the child as his human shield, so to speak, and provoking my client and not getting out of her house," Swinyard said.
Daniela Diaz, a lawyer for Mortensen, argued that Paul uses their shared child to perpetuate a cycle of abuse that keeps Mortensen coming back.
“He’s often invited back and his child is often used as a pawn, as a pawn to start fights,” Diaz said.
Minas ordered that Paul can have eight hours per week of supervised visits with Ever, emphasizing it was a stopgap arrangement until the next hearing. Paul had primary custody of the boy before Mortensen got the temporary protective order.
The couple's 2023 fight, one of 11 cited in court filings, was central to the first season of Hulu's “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives,” which made Paul a reality star. The series premiere featured police body camera footage of her arrest.
Production has been paused on the show's fifth season. Paul’s co-star Mikayla Matthews said the cast “didn’t feel comfortable filming with everything that was happening.”
Paul rose to popularity as an influencer in the #MomTok community, a group of women from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who share their lives on TikTok. The group, and Paul's admissions of polyamory within it, helped spawn the hit reality show.
On Easter Sunday, Paul announced she was leaving what is widely known as the Mormon church. She said on Instagram, “It's time to detach myself.”
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Dalton reported from Los Angeles.
