Dakota Mortensen and Shinia Powell fueled dating rumors after being spotted together at a baseball game.
The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star, 33, was photographed with Shinia on Thursday, July 23, at The Ballpark at America First Square in South Jordan, Utah.
In the pictures, obtained by TMZ, Dakota was seen with his hand on Shinia’s back as they watched the game from the lawn. In a separate snap, Dakota was cozying up to Shinia as she lounged on a blanket in the grass.
The pair were both wearing cream-colored baseball hats in the snaps. Dakota donned a black T-shirt and khaki pants while Shinia wore jean shorts, high-top sneakers and a silky top.
She documented the outing via social media on Thursday, sharing a picture with two of her friends — but didn’t include Dakota in her recap.
Dakota and Shinia’s outing comes after multiple outlets reported earlier this month that the pair are dating amid Dakota’s ongoing custody battle with ex Taylor Frankie Paul.
After months of speculation, People reported on Wednesday, July 22, that Dakota and Shinia’s “close friendship” grew “into something more” amid his ups and downs with Taylor, 32, whom he dated from 2022 to 2025. (The exes share a 2-year-old son, Ever, whom they welcomed in March 2024.)
Us has reached out to Dakota’s rep for comment.
The pair’s rumored romance has been raising even more eyebrows because Dakota previously received backlash from Taylor for hooking up with Shinia during season 4 of SLOMW. (Shinia, for her part, made her debut on the Hulu reality series as one of Miranda McWhorter’s best friends.)
“I do just want to say sorry for everything that I did. I know that caused a lot of problems,” Dakota told Taylor during a season 4 episode FaceTime. “I’m sorry for hooking up with Shinia. Was it dumb of me? Yes. Could I have picked someone else? Yes.”
Dakota, who has had a tumultuous on-off relationship with Taylor, said he understood Taylor’s stance since Shinia was entwined in their friendship group.
“I picked somebody that was obviously going to come with problems, and that was very s***y of me to do,” he added.
At the time, Shinia’s hookup with Dakota also caused problems for Miranda, 28, as she was put in the middle and felt forced to take sides between Shinia and Taylor.
Speculation surrounding Dakota and Shinia’s current romantic status comes as he and Taylor are battling over custody of their son.
Earlier this year, Dakota and Taylor were both granted restraining orders against each other after being previously involved in alleged domestic disputes. Dakota was granted temporary custody of their son in March amid their legal woes, but Taylor has since received more parenting time with Ever.
On July 13, Utah’s Division of Child and Family Services (DCFS) filed a petition asking a juvenile court to find that Taylor’s three children are being “abused, neglected, or dependent” while asking for protective supervision and the appointment of a guardian ad litem to represent the children. (Taylor also shares daughter Indy, 8, and son Ocean, 6, with ex-husband Tate Paul.)
Following the DCFS inquiry, Taylor released a statement in support of the organization stepping in.
“It was recently decided that the ongoing custody actions would be best suited for juvenile court, a common step for families engaged in highly contentious, complex custody matters,” she said in a statement to Us on July 16. “Taylor is not deterred by this transition; she welcomes the added structure and oversight it provides and looks forward to continuing her progress toward normalizing custody and becoming the healthiest version of herself.”
The statement concluded, “Taylor remains fully committed to doing whatever is necessary to reach that goal and will not be swayed from it. Taylor appreciates the professionalism of DCFS and its representatives.”
Dakota and Tate then released a joint statement in response to Taylor’s remarks, telling Us that they are “deeply concerned that Taylor’s statement minimizes the gravity of the action filed by DCFS and her many underlying actions that prompted such.”
The duo’s attorney claimed in a July 17 statement that both Dakota and Tate “share the serious concern that the family court system, law enforcement, prosecutors, and child-welfare agencies need meaningful coordination necessary to understand the situation and act in a manner most likely to protect the children.”
Read the full article here
