Taylor Frankie Paul Is the Next 'Bachelorette' — And Fans Want to Know About Her Arrest

The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star Taylor Frankie Paul was cast on The Bachelorette, for Season 22 on ABC, but reality TV fans only want to know about her 2023 arrest. Taylor was arrested after a drunken argument with her then-boyfriend, Dakota Mortensen.

According to The New York Post, the former "soft swinger" is the first lead of The Bachelorette who wasn't part of the cast from The Bachelor, and her messy arrest probably contributed to her snagging the gig. She was also embroiled in a sex scandal after it was revealed that she and her ex-husband, Tate Paul, were Mormon swingers.

Taylor Frankie Paul was arrested for domestic violence in February of 2023 after a drunken fight with her now ex-boyfriend, Dakota Mortensen, per People. The reality TV star was upset because Dakota wouldn't take her to a concert. Dakota told the police, "She just attacked the crap out of me," prompting Taylor to exclaim, "You threw me in the garage."

"He's like 'we're not going to the concert now,'" she said in the video footage. "He came home and, and then we're fighting. Oh and uh, we were fighting at each other, and he like, I was going at him, I guess. Hitting him, and then he pushed me into the kids' stuff, and then I went ballistic, because he pushed me so hard, and then I fought back, and then we were just, and this is why I'm out."

"She was launching those metal chairs at me left and right," said Dakota. "She put a hole in the wall. I was actually a little bit scared for my life."

"I peed my pants because I was so afraid of him in my garage," said Taylor.

After the police heard both sides of the argument, Taylor was arrested on domestic violence charges.

“Getting arrested, it was the worst night of my life," she later said. "I ended up being charged with aggravated assault with three years of probation."

Taylor also revealed that she'd been reeling from a miscarriage and the sex swingers scandal before the argument began.

"It’s been a challenge going from the scandal to relationship to miscarriage to arrest to being pregnant again," she said. "After the arrest, I was under so much stress. I was filmed leaving the jail, and then that was immediately on the internet. It was a blessing in disguise. It helped me wake up."

Taylor also revealed in January of 2025 that she and Dakota had broken up.

"I cry every day," she wrote in her Instagram Stories. "That's grief, let it through so it can pass, and you can heal. The more you resist the pain coming through, the longer the suffering. Learned this the hard way."

Taylor's new gig with ABC was announced on Alex Cooper’s podcast Call Her Daddy, per Variety. The Bachelorette will premiere in 2026, and Season 3 of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives will debut on Nov. 13, 2025.