A source previously told PEOPLE that season 5 of the series had paused production
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NEED TO KNOW
- Taylor Frankie Paul will not be returning to film The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives for the remainder of season 5.
- PEOPLE can exclusively confirm that the show will not be filming Taylor Frankie Paul or Dakota Mortensen when production resumes
- On March 19, ABC announced that it was calling off her forthcoming season of The Bachelorette, which was set to air three days later
The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives is resuming production.
The hit Hulu series will resume its season 5 production, after pausing filming in late March, amid an ongoing domestic assault investigation involving cast member Taylor Frankie Paul and her ex-boyfriend, Dakota Mortensen.
PEOPLE can exclusively confirm the show will not be filming Paul or Mortensen when production resumes. PEOPLE reached out to Hulu and reps for Paul and Mortensen for comment.
Paul and Mortenson were involved in an open “domestic assault investigation” pertaining to incidents that occurred Feb. 24 and 25, Draper Police Department confirmed to PEOPLE on March 16, 2026. Amid news of the investigation, TMZ published footage from a 2023 incident involving the former couple, in which Paul was seen yelling and throwing chairs at Mortensen while a child was nearby.
Amid the ongoing domestic assault investigation, Mortensen filed for a protective order against Paul on March 19, according to court documents obtained by PEOPLE. On April 14, prosecutors announced that they would not be pursuing charges against Paul.
The previous production halt came amid ABC’s decision to call off Paul’s forthcoming season of The Bachelorette, which was set to premiere on March 22. After the initial pause, sources told PEOPLE on March 16 that fellow Mormon Wives cast members were maintaining their distance as the investigation unfolded.
“The girls are very overwhelmed. They all banded together and they don’t want to come back right now,” said a source close to production. “They were just getting tired of Taylor, honestly.”
“None of the women want to be associated with her,” added a source close to the cast.
Cast member Mikayla Matthews publicly addressed the production pause in a post to her Instagram Stories on March 19 — hours before the Bachelorette news was announced — saying that the choice to stop filming was “a decision that all us girls came up with and agreed on” and that they “didn’t feel comfortable filming with everything that was happening.”
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The pair share 2-year-old son Ever, and their volatile relationship has been documented throughout the first four seasons of Mormon Wives.
During an April 7 hearing, a judge granted Mortensen custody of their son, with up to eight hours per week of visitation for Paul supervised by a paid supervisor or someone vetted by the guardian ad litem. The arrangement is in effect until the pair’s next hearing on April 30, when the judge will review their competing protective orders.
Paul was previously arrested for alleged domestic violence in 2023, and she pled guilty in abeyance to aggravated assault, which means that if she complies with the conditions of the plea, that charge will be dismissed. The other charges have already been dismissed.
A 2023 indictment obtained by PEOPLE alleged that Paul threw “heavy, metal chairs” at Mortensen and Paul’s daughter was struck by a chair during the incident, which matches what occurs in the video.
Filming for Season 5 of “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” will resume, a source with knowledge of the situation told NBC News April 21, after pausing for more than a month due to domestic violence allegations involving show star Taylor Frankie Paul and ex-boyfriend Dakota Mortensen.
It was not immediately clear if Paul and Mortensen will be part of the upcoming season. Mortensen did not immediately respond to a phone call and text message seeking comment. Paul could not immediately be reached for comment.
“Mormon Wives” cast member Jessi Draper posted a photo of a restaurant table to her Instagram story April 21 with the caption, “MomTok back together hallelujah.” She tagged fellow cast members Mayci Neeley and Layla Taylor as well as makeup artist Peyton Warr.
Filming halted amid reports of a domestic violence investigation involving Paul and Mortensen.
“Mormon Wives” cast member Jessi Draper confirmed to Alex Cooper on the March 25 episode of the “Call Her Daddy” podcast that filming for the reality show was paused by production earlier that month after the cast found out Mortensen had filed a police report. She did not specify when he filed the report and what was alleged in it.
The cast later unanimously decided to pause filming, she said.
“We just didn’t want to be filming and say the wrong thing on camera not knowing the full story yet,” Draper said. “We didn’t want to have to process all this information for the first time and then be speaking about it.”
Utah prosecutors announced in April that they are not charging Paul or Mortensen in relation to domestic violence claims from several incidents that occurred between 2024 and 2026.
Paul was arrested after a 2023 altercation between her and Mortensen. Footage from her arrest was featured in Season 1, Episode 1, of “Secret Lives of Mormon Wives.” On March 19, TMZ published a video appearing to show Paul attacking Mortensen and reportedly from that February 2023 incident. NBC News has not independently verified the circumstances and authenticity of the video.
That same year Paul was charged with assault, criminal mischief and domestic violence in the presence of a child. She pleaded guilty in abeyance to an aggravated assault charge in August 2023, and the other charges were dropped, according to court records.
In the wake of the video becoming public, Disney canceled Paul’s season of “The Bachelorette,” which was supposed to premiere on March 22.
Paul and Mortensen share a son, Ever, 2, who has been caught up in the legal proceedings. Mortensen filed a temporary protective order against Paul on March 20, prompting her to lose custody of Ever until the pair met in court on April 7.
Just an hour before the hearing on April 7, Paul filed and was later granted a temporary protective order against Mortensen with a declaration attached in which she alleged years of abuse at the hands of Mortensen.
A judge ruled Paul could have up to eight hours of supervised time with Ever per week until they meet in court again on April 30 to determine the “merits and entry” of both Paul’s and Mortensen’s protective orders.
