The 32-year-old reality star behind some of the most turbulent chapters in Hulu's The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives says she's done with the show, but her co-stars and court records tell a far more complicated story.
Taylor Frankie Paul announced on Instagram that she will not return for another season of the hit reality series, accusing fellow cast members of sustained bullying and claiming they "laughed about my kids." The departure caps a year in which Paul lost a Bachelorette season, faced new domestic-violence allegations, pleaded to a felony assault charge, and saw a judge cut her parenting time after she allegedly failed multiple court-ordered drug tests.
Her exit statement framed the decision as self-preservation. But at least two castmates had already signaled they wanted Paul off the show, and network executives were filming Season 6 without her before she ever posted.
Paul posted her announcement on a Monday, thanking the networks that "gave me the chance to return" while making clear she felt pushed out:
"I agree it's to the point of bullying for months now. What makes it harder to take in is some of these parents have made mistakes that would result in the same judgement I'm receiving yet pointing a finger."
She added that she had "almost convinced myself I'm deserving of all this pain" and said she was "just relieved to be out." Paul did not name which co-stars she was accusing.
Castmate Mikayla Matthews, 26, had already posted her own Instagram statement saying she was "not comfortable being a part of something that continues to platform behavior I don't agree with." Matthews had previously announced her own departure from the show. Another castmate, 31-year-old Mayci Neeley, recently said on social media that she may not return after Season 6 filming wrapped.
Neither Matthews nor Neeley specified what "behavior" they objected to. They didn't need to. The public record filled in the blanks.
Paul pleaded guilty to felony aggravated assault in August 2023 over a domestic-violence incident involving her ex-partner, Dakota Mortensen, 33. The plea deal would reduce the charge to a misdemeanor after three years of probation. She remained on that probation when the next round of trouble hit.
Earlier this year, Mortensen accused Paul of repeated abusive behavior, prompting Hulu to halt production on Season 5 of Mormon Wives. Then a video surfaced, footage from a 2023 altercation in which Paul hurled chairs at Mortensen, one of which struck her five-year-old daughter Indy. The New York Post reported that Mormon Wives cast members had warned ABC executives weeks before the video leaked that they had concerns about continuing the show if Paul remained involved.
ABC had already filmed an entire season of The Bachelorette starring Paul, set to premiere March 22, 2026. The network pulled it days before air. Its statement to Page Six was brief:
"In light of the newly released video just surfaced today, we have made the decision to not move forward with the new season of The Bachelorette at this time, and our focus is on supporting the family."
A source told The U.S. Sun exclusively in May that the network "has no plans" ever to air that season. The financial and reputational cost to ABC remains unquantified, but shelving a fully produced season of a flagship franchise is not a routine draft-off.
The Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office reviewed Mortensen's allegations and declined to file new domestic-violence charges. Prosecutor Breanne Miller of the office's Family Protection Unit said several incidents "do not rise to the level of criminal offenses" and that "the remaining incidents lack sufficient evidence to support filing criminal charges."
Paul and Mortensen filed dueling protective orders against each other. A court-appointed attorney for their two-year-old son Ever, Michael McDonald, raised concerns during the proceedings.
"That makes me very nervous about her ability to control herself."
Paul initially lost access to Ever altogether. A judge ordered supervised visitation only. That order was lifted in June. But TMZ reported in September that a judge then reduced Paul's parenting time again after she allegedly failed multiple court-ordered drug tests. The specific substances and the number of failed tests have not been disclosed.
Amid the legal and professional fallout, Paul announced on Easter Sunday that she was leaving the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Fox News reported that she shared the decision on her Instagram story, writing that while she still believed in Christ and the Bible, "it's time to detach myself from it."
She described the preceding 40 days in stark terms:
"The last 40 days felt like h*** on earth. Through every panic attack I prayed for strength as I could feel my body breaking down and out from the distress of it all."
The church departure added another layer to a public unraveling that had already cost her two television platforms, a custody arrangement, and, by her own account, her standing among the women she once filmed alongside.
Page Six reported in early September that ABC and Disney had backed Paul's return for Season 6 of Mormon Wives. But the show is now filming without her. Her Instagram post framed the exit as voluntary. The sequence of events, castmates publicly objecting, a network shelving her solo vehicle, a judge restricting her time with her son, suggests the decision was not entirely hers to make.
Paul acknowledged as much, writing that "to a certain degree absolutely this is consequences of my actions." She asked how much "suffering and scrutiny" would be enough.
That question has an answer, even if Paul doesn't want to hear it. When a felony plea, a video of chairs hitting a child, failed drug tests, and a custody reduction are all on the public record, the scrutiny is not bullying. It is accountability, the kind that follows conduct, not celebrity grudges.
