When Taylor Frankie Paul was announced as the lead of The Bachelorette Season 22, the internet collectively did a double-take. Here’s a woman who didn’t come from the familiar Bachelor Nation contestant pipeline — nope, she came from viral TikTok fame (i.e. creating “MomTok”), heated on-camera drama, and some of the most talked-about, real-life relationship twists in recent reality TV history. Between Paul’s high-profile divorce, a headline-grabbing “soft-swinging” scandal, and a very public, on-again/off-again romance that has played out on Hulu’s The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, Paul’s journey to the rose has been anything but linear. It’s a lot to keep up with.
Paul has never been one to gatekeep her past, going so far as to sit down in an episode of Call Her Daddy to talk about relationships in her past. But long before the gowns and cocktail parties on The Bachelorette, there were relationships that shaped everything Paul will bring to Bachelor Nation this season. From her marriage to her ex-husband, Tate Paul, to her passionate-but-messy bond with Dakota Mortensen — plus a few more flings that kept fans talking — Paul’s love life is basically its own reality show. Yep, this season is going to be one for the books. Read on for all of the details on Paul’s extensive relationship timeline.
2016: Taylor Frankie Paul Marries Tate Paul
Paul and her now ex-husband, Tate Paul, got married in 2016 and were together for almost six years. In 2017, the couple welcomed their daughter, Indy, to the world, and then had their son Ocean in June 2020.
July 2022: Taylor Frankie Paul & Tate Paul Divorce
The couple officially ended their marriage in 2022. On May 25, 2022, Paul participated in a now-viral livestream that happens to be where the “soft-swinging” nature of their relationship was coined. The couple had been “soft-swinging” with other Mormon couples. But while they had all agreed to be romantically intimate without “going all the way,” Paul violated the boundary.
According to E! News, the mom of two addressed the split in a TikTok livestream on Sept. 14, 2022, stating that she’d never swing again. “It clearly ruined my life,” she said. “This is just a sensitive subject because people do live that lifestyle, and it works for them, so I don’t want to bash on that.”
July 2022: Taylor Frankie Paul Soft-Launches Relationship with Dakota Mortensen
The pair’s relationship was initially soft-launched by Paul on TikTok in July 2022 when she seemingly hinted at falling for another guy that summer in her caption. “Been heartbroken twice this summer and this cute sweet mf comes out of nowhere,” she wrote. Mortensen even commented on the post, writing, “Lucky guy whoever he is.”
August 2022: Taylor Frankie Paul Announces She’s Single
Despite rumors floating around that she was dating Mortensen, Paul posted a TikTok in August 2022 with the caption, “‘Hope it’s cool if I talk to other girls.’ No worries, I’ll talk to your whole friend group. I’m good at sharing. Stay toxic.”
September 2022: Taylor Frankie Paul Starts Dating Dakota Mortensen
Just four months after the Mormon MomTok scandal made the rounds on social media, Paul hard-launched her relationship with new beau Dakota Mortensen in yet another TikTok that was posted back in September 2022.
December 2022: Taylor Frankie Paul & Dakota Mortensen Split
After revealing that she’d had an ectopic pregnancy in a separate TikTok back in November 2022, Paul announced her split with Mortensen just a month later. She’d captioned it, “Can someone please explain how ending a six-month relationship hurt worse than ending a six-year marriage?”
January 2023: Taylor Frankie Paul & Dakota Mortensen Get Back Together
If you’re sensing a pattern, yes, all of this plays out on TikTok. Despite announcing that they had broken up in December 2022, Paul took to the app once again to playfully announce her getting back together with Mortensen. In a separate comment under the post, she’d written, “We did break up for a couple weeks, but decided we want to try things and not chance losing each other.”
June 2023: Taylor Frankie Paul & Dakota Mortensen Address Rumors of Their Split
After being arrested in February 2023 after an altercation with Mortenson and pleading guilty to aggravated assault, Paul remained out of the spotlight for quite some time. Considering that fight involved Mortensen, fans naturally speculated that the couple had broken up. But in true Paul fashion, she posted a TikTok of them very much still together.
March 2024: Taylor Frankie Paul & Dakota Mortensen Have A Child
In March 2024, Paul gave birth to her third child, her first with Mortensen. On March 19, 2024, the couple welcomed their son, Ever True, into the world. In an Instagram post, Paul posted a photo of her with her baby, captioning it, “Meet Ever Mortensen our angel sent from heaven🕊️.”
December 2024: Taylor Frankie Paul & Dakota Mortensen Split (Again)
According to PEOPLE, the influencer had spent the majority of fall 2024 posting various videos and Instagram stories that led followers to believe that she had broken up with Mortensen. Finally, in December 2024, she announced that they had split, seemingly for good this time.
January 2025: Taylor Frankie Paul Posts Birthday Tribute for Dakota Mortensen
Despite their breakup just a month prior, the couple seemed to be on good terms as evidenced by Paul’s birthday tribute to Mortensen that she posted via her Instagram Stories. She wrote, “Happy birthday baby daddy,” followed by, “wish nothing but the best for you.” In March 2025, the couple united again and posted about celebrating their son together, according to PEOPLE.
April 2025: Taylor Frankie Paul & Dakota Mortensen Hook Up
Photos of Paul and Mortensen at Stagecoach together surfaced on Instagram in April 2025, rightfully leaving fans scratching their heads. In Call Her Daddy, which Paul guested on in September later that year, she confirmed the two had indeed hooked up that weekend.
May 2025: Taylor Frankie Paul’s “Soft Swinging” Scandal Resurfaces
In Season 2 of Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, it’s revealed that Chase and Miranda McWhorter were the couple that Paul and her ex-husband were “soft swinging” with. Though Paul and Miranda were formerly close friends, the pair had a falling out when Chase confessed his feelings for Paul to her at the gym.
“Chase came to me at the gym and told me that he had feelings for me, and basically, that was him, like, trying to open a door,” Paul said, according to Yahoo Entertainment. She also added that the feelings were not mutual. She also acknowledged her understanding of why Miranda was so angry and stated that she should have had a conversation with her about the confession ASAP.
September 2025: Taylor Frankie Paul Is Named as the Next Bachelorette
Upon the announcement of Paul being crowned The Bachelorette for Season 22 of the hit show, Mortensen took to TikTok to announce his evident displeasure with the announcement.
With Paul’s Bachelorette season less than a week away from premiering, the star and Mortensen are in some new hot water. According to reports (confirmed by other members of MomTok), filming for The Secret Lives Of Mormon Wives has been paused, as Paul and Mortensen are reportedly involved in a “domestic assault investigation.” Seems like we’re in for a whole new chapter of this story.