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Taylor Frankie Paul took to Instagram over the weekend to reflect on the last month, which has seen significant fallout amid domestic violence allegations and ABC pulling her season of “The Bachelorette.”
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“The last 40 days felt like hell on earth,” Paul wrote in the caption of a video slideshow posted Sunday. The video featured clips and photos that appeared to show Paul’s life over the last 40 days, including snapshots of her crying and praying, as well as screenshots of messages and writings.
Also Sunday, the “Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” star revealed in an Instagram story that she is distancing herself from Mormonism — the religion she grew up practicing and a main tenet of the Hulu reality series.
“Born and raised Mormon (lds) and I’ll always have love and respect towards it,” Paul wrote in the story, on top of a photo of mountains.
Despite that, “it’s time to detach myself from it,” Paul wrote, noting that she would “continue to go with my family at times.”
“I strongly believe in Christ, God, the bible, the divine,” Paul continued. “I believe we are loved whether we are praying in church building or from a bathroom floor at home.”
She said she has “experienced grace and love from amazing people that aren’t sure what they believe if at all, and that’s okay too.”
“Point being there is more out there to learn,” Paul concluded. “And I’m writing this out as a release.”
Paul’s Instagram post and story come after reports emerged last month that she was involved in a domestic violence investigation with her ex-boyfriend, Dakota Mortensen. Police have previously told NBC News that the incident between the two was reported at the end of February.
Cast members on “Mormon Wives” unanimously decided to pause filming for season five until legal action in Paul’s case plays out at a March 7 meeting with ABC executives. An audio recording of that call, shared with NBC News on March 19, confirmed the decision-making process.
The call also revealed that many of the other cast members were apprehensive about working with Paul, citing her behavior.
Also on March 19, TMZ released video of Paul appearing to attack Mortensen in a domestic violence incident in which Paul was charged in 2023.
That video led to ABC’s decision to pull the upcoming season of “The Bachelorette,” which starred Paul and was set to premiere March 22.
Later in the month, two police departments in Utah confirmed to NBC News that they were investigating domestic violence allegations against Paul, both of which were reported at the end of February.
Police in West Jordan said they were investigating allegations made by Mortensen against Paul regarding an incident in 2024. Police in Draper said allegations had been made by both Paul and Mortensen in a 2026 incident.
On Friday, Variety reported that Mortensen’s storyline would be cut from the upcoming season of “Vanderpump Villa.” In season four of “Mormon Wives,” many of the men on the show — who call their own group “DadTok” — were invited to London to make a guest appearance on the reality series.
Mortensen is also a cast member of the new Alex Cooper-backed “Unwell Winter Games,” which will begin streaming on YouTube on Monday.
In the Sunday video post, Paul said, “Through every panic attack, I prayed for strength as I could feel my body breaking down and out from the distress of it all.”
She added that “I’ve prayed since I was young and never strayed away because I believe he wants us to ask for help, especially during our lowest points. However, instead of just asking I switched over to thanking him at the end of each day no matter how low I felt.”
“Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” cast member Jessi Draper offered support on Paul’s video post, commenting, “I love you. You’re the strongest person I know.”
Other “Mormon Wives” cast members have not interacted with Paul’s recent social media posts.
In one post that Paul posted of her playing piano last week, former “MomTok” member Demi Engemann commented in support, prompting Paul to thank her and Draper for “checking in as much as you have.”
“You and Jessi I’ll never forget didn’t leave my side at my lowest,” Paul wrote in the reply to Engemann, referencing Draper.
