Taylor Frankie Paul confirms Bachelorette engagement fallout
Taylor Frankie Paul confirmed she accepted a surprise marriage proposal from her reported final pick while filming her never-aired Bachelorette season — then said the engagement fell apart after she returned home to Utah and reconnected with her ex Dakota Mortensen. The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star shared the details in a season 5 sneak peek aired on Hulu’s Get Real podcast, answering the biggest question fans had after ABC shelved the show.
Key Takeaways
- Taylor Frankie Paul says her Bachelorette finalist got down on one knee and she said yes.
- Castmates say the suitor—widely reported as Doug Mason—had claimed he would not propose.
- After filming, Paul returned to Utah and began texting ex Dakota Mortensen again.
- ABC pulled her season days before its March 22 premiere after old domestic-violence footage surfaced.
- More context is expected when The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives season 5 premieres Sept. 10 on Hulu.
What did Taylor Frankie Paul reveal about the engagement?
In the clip, Paul tells castmates Jessi Draper, Mikayla Matthews and Mayci Neeley that her finalist “did get down on one knee and proposed.” She said she was shocked—and confirmed she accepted.
“I said yes,” the MomTok founder told them, according to E! News and The Hollywood Reporter. Draper noted the man had told the Mormon Wives group visiting set that he was not going to propose; Paul said he told her the same.
Neither woman named him on camera. Outlets identify the rumored final pick as contestant Doug Mason, who had been linked to Paul in spoilers and post-filming TikToks. Draper also flagged that Mason and Mortensen share initials and Idaho roots—details Paul said she “didn’t learn … until later.”
What happened after Taylor Frankie Paul finished filming?
Paul said the engagement did not hold once she got home. “Then, I came home,” she recalled, explaining she started texting Mortensen again. “I don’t know how it led to it, but he came over,” she said—comments her friends treated as implying a reunion.
Paul shares a young son with Mortensen and has two children with ex-husband Tate Paul. The on-again, off-again dynamic with Mortensen has been a long-running storyline on celebrity breaking news coverage of MomTok and the franchise.
Why was Taylor Frankie Paul’s Bachelorette season pulled?
Paul was set to debut as the Bachelorette on March 22. ABC pulled the season three days before premiere after TMZ published 2023 video tied to her arrest following an argument with Mortensen. She pleaded guilty to aggravated assault in 2023 under a plea held in abeyance; other charges were dismissed.
Utah authorities later reviewed additional domestic-violence allegations. In April, the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office said it would not file new charges. Disney executives have since said they were still processing whether the filmed season would ever air.
Production on Mormon Wives season 5 was also halted in March amid the fallout. That season is now set to premiere Sept. 10 on Hulu, where Paul is expected to unpack more of what happened after the proposal.