Five months after ABC pulled Taylor Frankie Paul’s season of “The Bachelorette,” fans are getting their first on-screen updates about her life.
Hulu set a Sept. 10 premiere date for “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” Season 5, which will run for only five episodes compared to previous seasons’ 10. The streamer also released a new trailer that previews how Paul and her castmates have been doing since the “Bachelorette” decision, which was made in March after TMZ published a leaked video of a domestic incident between Paul and her ex-boyfriend, Dakota Mortensen. In it, she threw metal chairs at him while one of her children was nearby. Paul and Mortensen mutually accused each other of domestic violence multiple times before and after the video surfaced. Though it was ruled in April that Paul wouldn’t face domestic violence charges, she is still embroiled in custody battles over her shared son with Mortensen and her two children with her ex-husband, Tate Paul.
The official logline for Season 5 reads, “After two wild years, #MomTok is hotter than hell, but will friendships and dreams go up in flames? Taylor returns from ‘The Bachelorette’ with unfinished business, an old temptation and the pressure of life in the public eye. Whitney debuts on Broadway in New York City as tensions back home chase her. Back in Utah, the limits of loyalty are tested as fame, secrets and backlash threaten #MomTok — with every blowup making headlines. As the heat threatens to burn the sisterhood, have they finally flown too close to the sun? With rumors spiraling and the public demanding answers, the sisterhood starts to crack, and #MomTok must decide what — and who — it’s willing to sacrifice.”
“What do you guys all know about this whole situation?” a producer asks the “Mormon Wives” cast at the start of the trailer. “There’s so much stuff the public doesn’t know,” responds Mayci Neeley in a confessional. “How did she get here?” Miranda Hope says in a scene as the trailer cuts to a shot of Paul sobbing and being hugged by Neeley, Mikayla Matthews and Jessi Draper.
“Why did you get my initials tattooed on your lip? It’s giving obsessed,” Paul says to Mortensen in a FaceTime call. “I am obsessed,” Mortensen replies, showing off the tattoo — which Paul would later cite as a form of harassment when she filed a restraining order against Mortensen.
As the trailer continues, several cast members question their places in each other’s lives as their fame — and infamy — increases. “We all just got pulled in different directions. Where do we stand when we come back together?” Paul says. “We are grown women. This is how we’re acting?” says Neeley. In a confessional, Layla Taylor calls something “definitely unforgivable,” and Draper’s voice is heard saying, “It feels like there are no friendships left in #MomTok.” “The damage is done,” Paul concludes.
Paul’s appearances in Season 5 of “Mormon Wives” were shot before the “Bachelorette” decision; production on the season was paused days ahead of the TMZ video as the Draper City Police Department in Utah began investigating both Paul and Mortensen’s allegations of domestic violence. ABC has yet to publicly confirm whether it will ever release “The Bachelorette” Season 23.
“The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” has been renewed for 20 more episodes, likely taking the series through Seasons 6 and 7, but Paul’s involvement beyond Season 5 is unknown.
Along with Paul, Neeley, Hope, Draper, Matthews and Taylor, the “Mormon Wives” cast includes Whitney Leavitt, who announced her departure after Season 5 to focus on her acting career, and Jen Affleck, who has joined upcoming spinoff “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives: Orange County.”
“The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” is produced by Jeff Jenkins Productions in association with 3BMG and Walt Disney Television Alternative. Executive producers include Jenkins, Russell Jay-Staglik, Andrea Metz and Dan Cerny for Jeff Jenkins Productions; Ross Weintraub and Reinout Oerlemans for 3BMG; and Lisa Filipelli, Georgia Berger and Danielle Pistotnik at Select Entertainment. The cast members also serve as executive producers.