Jessi Ngatikaura Says ‘Jealousy’ Not to Blame for ‘Secret Lives of Mormon Wives’ Production Pause
Jessi Ngatikaura has weighed in on the latest Secret Lives of Mormon Wives drama.
On Monday, reports surfaced that filming on season 5 of the Hulu reality series had been paused because of an alleged domestic violence incident between Taylor Frankie Paul and Dakota Mortensen.
The report of the latest altercation between Taylor and Dakota comes just days before the premiere of Taylor’s season of The Bachelorette. As the situation with the on-again, off-again couple heats up, the rest of the SLOMW cast has reportedly been distancing themselves from their troubled co-star.
“None of the women want to be associated with her,” a source told People.
Jessi Ngatikaura weighs in on ‘Secret Lives of Mormon Wives’ drama
Podcaster Zack Peter speculated that the rest of the Secret Lives cast was fed up with Taylor hogging the spotlight. Her high-profile role on The Bachelorette might be rubbing the rest of #MomTok the wrong way.
“I did see a blind item that was going around about how the cast was seemingly upset with Taylor for her kind of stealing the thunder of the show … It seemed like maybe it could have been a jealousy thing,” he said in a clip from No Filter With Zack Peter that he shared on Instagram.
But Jessi pushed back against that narrative.
“It was never a jealousy thing lol,” she replied in the comments.
‘SLOMW’ cast ‘overwhelmed’ by Taylor Frankie Paul drama
Jessi says that jealousy isn’t to blame for for the SLOMW pause. However, insiders allege that the cast has grown increasingly frustrated with Taylor.
“The girls are very overwhelmed. They all banded together and they don’t want to come back right now,” a source close to production told People. “They were just getting tired of Taylor, honestly.”
“Everything was going smoothly,” the insider added. But “the girls do have a resentment towards her.”
“They kind of all decided, as a unit, that they’re taking the production pause, that they don’t want to film right now,” they continued. “I don’t think they care about her really right now. They’re just kind of like, ‘We’re done for right now.'”
Taylor Frankie Paul had previous DV incident with Dakota
As speculation swirls about the future of SLOMW, Taylor is potentially facing more legal problems as she prepares to make her Bachelor Nation debut. A spokesperson for the Draper City Police Department confirmed to People that there was an open investigation involving Taylor and Dakota. “Allegations have been made in both directions,” the spokesperson added of the incident that occurred in late February. The pair share a 23-month-old son, Ever.
In 2023, Taylor 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 following an incident with Dakota. She pleaded guilty to aggravated assault in August 2023.
The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives Season 4 is streaming on Hulu. The Bachelorette Season 22 premieres Sunday, March 22 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC. Episodes stream the next day on Hulu.
How to get help: In the U.S., call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or text START to 88788.
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