Mormon Wives’ Jessi Ngatikaura Speaks Out Amid Show’s Pause Over Taylor Frankie Paul Investigation
Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star Jessi Ngatikaura spoke out amid the show’s pause, addressing rumors she and the rest of the cast are jealous of costar Taylor Frankie Paul.
Jessi Ngatikaura is setting the record straight.
After filming was paused during season five of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives amid an incident concerning Taylor Frankie Paul and her ex-boyfriend Dakota Mortensen, reports alleged the rest of the cast was distancing themselves from Taylor.
But when podcaster Zack Peter speculated on his No Filter With Zack Peter Instagram account that the growing distance could be related to jealousy on their part for Taylor’s spotlight—she was previously tapped to be the new Bachelorette, her season premiering March 22 —Jessi chimed in.
“It was never,” she commented, “a jealousy thing lol.”
And while Jessi didn’t further divulge where she and the rest of the cast currently stand with Taylor, a source told E! News on March 16 that Taylor’s relationship with the rest of the SLOMW women “is great right now,” adding that the production pause was not because of issues among the cast.
As for what exactly went down between Taylor and Dakota—who share 23-month-old Ever—a spokesperson for the Draper City Police Department confirmed to People March 16 that there was an open “domestic assault investigation” regarding the pair.
According to the spokesperson, “allegations have been made in both directions,” and that “contact was made with the involved parties” on Feb. 24 and 25 but declined to share more due to the ongoing nature of the investigation.
E! News reached out to Taylor’s rep for comment. Additionally, E! News reached out to Dakota, Hulu and ABC for comment but hasn’t heard back.
nofilterwithzack/InstagramTaylor—who also shares daughter Indy, 8, and son Ocean, 5, with ex-husband Tate Paul—was previously arrested in Feb. 2023 regarding an incident with Dakota.
At the time, according to court documents released by the District Attorney for Salt Lake County and obtained by E! News, she was charged with one count of felony aggravated assault, two counts of felony domestic violence in the presence of a child causing injury, one count of misdemeanor child abuse and one count of misdemeanor criminal mischief.
The 31-year-old pleaded guilty to aggravated assault in August 2023, while the other charges were dismissed.
However, the source noted to E! News that the February incident of this year is not the same situation as the incident in 2023, adding Taylor is “in a very different state and position in her life now.”
Unique Nicole/FilmMagic & Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic“Taylor owns her mistakes,” the source stated. “All she wants to do is protect her son, Ever, from stories in the press or anything negative about his father and wants him to think well of his father.”
“All she cares about is protecting her child,” the source continued, “and has been acting with this mind.”
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