Had things gone according to plan, Taylor Frankie Paul would have been at the center of the 22nd season of “The Bachelorette.”
But days before the season premiere back in March, TMZ published video of the “Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” star getting into a physical altercation with her ex, Dakota Mortensen, that nearly injured their child.
ABC immediately pulled the plug, yanking the entire season before a single episode aired.
Now, Paul is revealing what Bachelor Nation would have seen in that aborted season.
A Suitor Proposed
During the latest episode of Hulu’s “Get Real” podcast, an exclusive clip from the upcoming fifth season of “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” was shown.
In that clip, Paul is seen chatting with co-stars Jessi Draper, Mikayla Matthews and Mayci Neeley, and dishes about what took place during her shelved “Bachelorette” season.
When asked if she’d “had sex” during the Fantasy Suites dates, Paul seems to indicate she did not.
She also confirms that she presented her final rose to a suitor — rumored to be Doug Mason — who did indeed “get down on one knee and propose” in what would have been the season finale.
“[I said,] ‘Yes.’ Yes, I did [get engaged],” Paul says, explaining how her life then blew up soon after filming on the season concluded..
“Then, I come home. Obviously [me and ex Dakota Mortensen] were texting. ‘When are you going to be home?’ I don’t know how it led to it but he came over,” she adds.
“Umm … I think I know how that happened,” Matthews quips, referring to the ensuing drama that resulted in ABC yanking the season off its schedule three days before it was slated to begin.
She Got Engaged
During that discussion, Paul doesn’t confirm that Doug Mason was indeed who she was engaged to.
However, a big clue was dropped when the discussion revealed that her fiance had the “same initials” as her ex, Dakota Mortensen.
Paul also insisted she didn’t become aware of the similarities between the two men until people pointed them out to her after the fact.
“I didn’t start thinking that until people said it around me,” she says, which prompts Draper to respond with skepticism.
“They have the same initials,” Draper points out. “They’re both from Idaho. It’s so weird.”
A ‘SLOMW’ Return … with Conditions
After the dust settled (the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office ultimately declined to press charges), both Paul and Mortensen were brought back for the upcoming fifth season of “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives.”
However, their participation in the new season is complicated by their bitter custody dispute, and the fact that both have been granted restraining orders against each other.
As a result, the exes must maintain a distance of 100 feet from each other at all times for the next three years, which pretty much guarantees they won’t be appearing on camera together.
More will be revealed with the fifth season of “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” debuts September 10 on Hulu.
