The door is open for Taylor Frankie Paul to return to The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, but it’s up to her, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.
On Tuesday, it was revealed that production on season five of Mormon Wives will resume following a filming pause initiated by an internal investigation surrounding Paul and her ex Dakota Mortensen. Details on when cameras will pick up were not outlined, nor were any cast details, including Paul’s status with the series.
Speculation on if Paul would return was swift. Per a source close to Paul, THR has learned that the ball is in her court. The team behind the show wants her to return and has been supportive of Paul amid the turbulence she’s faced over the past few months, but only if and when she is ready.
Earlier on Wednesday, when People reported that production was picking back up without Paul and Mortensen, Paul disputed in Instagram comments, “Interesting, that’s not the call I got.”
News of production resuming on Mormon Wives arrived a day before Hulu‘s Gel Real House on Wednesday, which will spotlight the streamer and ABC’s unscripted slate.
Reports that the Emmy-nominated Hulu series halted filming on its fifth season broke in mid-March, amid an alleged domestic incident involving the then-Bachelorette star and her ex. At the time, a spokesperson for the Draper City Police Department told People there was an open domestic assault investigation between Paul and Mortensen, with allegations made in both directions.
A video of the events leading up to Paul’s prior 2023 arrest was then leaked, showing the reality star throwing barstools at Mortensen while her daughter was present. Hours later, ABC decided to pull her 22nd season of The Bachelorette only three days before it was scheduled for a March 22 premiere.
The next day after the video published on TMZ, NBC News obtained audio of a Zoom call held on March 7 with the Mormon Wives cast and three Disney executives, where they voiced concerns of continuing the series with Paul amid the investigation. THR confirmed that Mormon Wives production launched their own internal investigation into the conflicting claims, and that Mormon Wives filming was to remain paused until that probe concluded.
On March 25, NBC News reported that Paul was under investigation for an alleged third domestic violence incident, also involving her ex Mortensen, that allegedly occurred in 2024. (All three alleged incidents have involved Paul and Mortensen.)
However, on April 7, Paul filed a temporary restraining order against Mortensen, which she was granted. In Paul’s filing, which THR obtained, she recounted several alleged abusive incidents involving Mortensen, including a Feb. 23 event where she says he “became physically violent,” and slammed her head on the dashboard of his truck. (The filing included photos of Paul’s bruises and screenshots of text messages between the two.)
Then on April 14, the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office revealed they would not pursue new charges against Paul following the separate investigations led by the Draper Police Department and West Jordan Police Department.
Hulu has not yet commented on Paul’s status with filming now back up, and ABC has not made any statements about if her Bachelorette season could be revived.
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