A Look Back at the Urnaveling of Taylor Frankie Paul’s Marriage
Taylor Frankie Paul is at the center of yet another controversy after The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives paused its production after a dustup between Paul and her ex, Dakota Mortensen. While the full scope of what happened is not yet known, it’s clearly a pretty big deal. Drama following Paul, however, shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. The reality TV star came onto the scene thanks to a scandal, and she’s been delivering scandalous moments ever since. Let’s take a look back at Taylor Frankie Paul’s first marriage and how it ended.
Taylor Frankie Paul rose to internet fame as a perfect Mormon wife
Taylor Frankie Paul rose to fame on TikTok like many other Utah moms. She, along with several other women, was part of the early “MomTok” influencer wave. Paul and her friends blended comedic skits with TikTok trends while sharing glimpses into their family lives, church lives, and relationships.
While Taylor spearheaded the Paul family’s social media careers, her then-husband, Tate Paul, was heavily featured, too. The pair were married for several years before they rose to fame on TikTok. They wed in 2016 when Taylor was just 22 and welcomed their first child, Indy, the following year. Their son, Ocean, was born in 2020.
Scandal catapulted her to mainstream fame, but destroyed her marriage
While Taylor Frankie Paul and Tate Paul rose to fame portraying a picture-perfect and traditional domestic life, their actual dynamic was pretty unconventional. The couple engaged in soft swinging with other friends in the Utah influencer social circle. The “soft swinging” arrangement became a scandal when blind gossip items labeled Taylor a cheater around the time she and Tate split.
Taylor opted to pull back the curtain and explain the arrangement that she, Tate, and several other couples engaged in before widespread drama, emotional affairs, and violation of boundaries led to several destroyed marriages and plenty of drama. Taylor, herself, is the reason the scandal got out, though her marriage was not the only one harmed by it. The leaked scandal eventually led to a TV show and more mainstream fame for Taylor, though her marriage did not survive.
She moved on from her first marriage quickly.
Taylor Frankie Paul didn’t waste much time finding a new love. Tate and Taylor announced their plans to split in May 2022 and filed for divorce shortly after. Taylor admitted that the soft-swinging scandal played a direct role in the split. By the summer, she had moved on.
Taylor Frankie Paul was first spotted with Dakota Mortensen in July 2022, though she opted not to go public with the romance until September of that year. Since then, the on-again-off-again nature of their romance has been headline news. Taylor’s arrest for domestic violence in 2023 is arguably far more scandalous than the soft-swinging scandal that propelled her to fame.
Tate Paul left the spotlight following the scandal. He has since remarried, but does not maintain a heavy social media presence. He reportedly works in marketing.
