Taylor Frankie Paul is ready to find The One on season 22 of The Bachelorette, but her past is still haunting her road to love.
“What I’m most looking forward to is meeting a handful of people that are outside my bubble — and even if there’s a couple in there, that’s OK — but I’m just excited to get to know different perspectives and new parts about myself too,” Taylor exclusively told Us Weekly in September 2025, one day before she was announced as the next leading lady.
“[But] it’s out of my comfort zone, so, obviously, it’s scary,” she continued. “You’re dealing with feelings — and you’re dealing with other people’s feelings — and I don’t really like to hurt other people’s feelings, especially when you’re being vulnerable and open.”
Taylor rose to fame on The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, where fans have watched her navigate a relationship with Dakota Mortensen — with whom she welcomed son Ever in 2024. Taylor is also mom of daughter Indy, 8, and son Ocean, 5, whom she shares with ex-husband Tate Paul. The exes were married from 2016 to 2022.
Days before her season of the ABC dating show was set to premiere, an alleged domestic dispute between Taylor and Dakota made headlines. The incident, however, has not derailed the show’s start date.
Scroll down to learn more about Taylor’s season 22 of The Bachelorette:
Who Are Taylor Frankie Paul’s Contestants on Season 22 of ‘The Bachelorette’?
Before Taylor Frankie Paul’s contestants were officially announced, ABC shared a sneak peak of her more than 20 potential suitors in October 2025. Among the men on the list, some fans pointed to 30 year-old Casey as a look-alike to Dakota Mortensen.
“He looks like her baby daddy,” one user commented on the Facebook post, while another added, “He can be the Dakota’s [sic] twin.”
Us exclusively revealed the 22 men in her cast in February 2026. Ahead of the season, the contestants — including paralympic athlete Trenten — weighed in on why Taylor could be The One.
While Trenten admitted he “[didn’t] know much” about Taylor before The Bachelorette, he knows “she has a great smile and seems like she has a great personality. So for me, I’m like, ‘Awesome. Let’s get this started. Let’s see where it goes from there.’”
Will All of Taylor Frankie Paul’s Contestants on Season 22 of ‘The Bachelorette’ Be Mormon?
While Taylor Frankie Paul is a practicing Mormon (she shared her religion during season 1 of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives), she wouldn’t rule out someone outside of her faith.
“I would love to talk to anyone on the subject, and definitely the very last people,” she told Us in September 2025. “I’m open to any religion. It doesn’t have to be Mormonism, but I would like to align, obviously, with the same values and morals, and at least someone that does believe in faith and God and whatnot.”
She continued, “When you’re raising kids, it does become a factor. I don’t know if it’s a hard thing, because I’m also very open minded, and I want to hear other people’s perspectives, but when it comes down to raising kids, I think that’s where it gets more important — what we are going to teach them, what we believe in.”
Does Taylor Frankie Paul Want to Get Engaged on Season 22 of ‘The Bachelorette’?
Taylor Frankie Paul shared that ending the season engaged is “definitely” her “goal.”
“And as my mom likes to say, I do fall in love quickly, and that’s also the reason I did it. I always call myself a lover girl because I, like, fall for people and I have done that in the past,” she told Us in September 2025. “Obviously, I got married young, and the first guy I dated was my second baby daddy — so it was just very quick, and this time, it’s going to be really cool, because, yes, I have been opening up to dating, but now I’m about to date, you know, 20 [or] 30 guys, and I’ve never done that before. I’m going to take my time, I’m going to kind of, like, get to know people. Maybe I learned things I didn’t like or do like that I didn’t even know. So I think this is gonna be really good for the long-term effect.”
In another promo, Taylor questioned her worth. “I have trouble admitting I deserve better,” she said. “I’m angry at myself because I knew he was lying. Am I worthy of love? Is it even possible? As a single mom, I want to better myself.”
What Type of Group Dates Will There Be?
“It’s been so fun,” Taylor Frankie Paul said during the November 2025 finale of The Golden Bachelor. “The group dates have been insane by the way.”
According to Taylor, there will be a Dancing With the Stars-themed group date and one with her fellow members of MomTok.
“A few of them visited me and they helped me out a little bit,” Taylor teased. “They gave me some info that was very good for me to know.”
Host Jesse Palmer, however, noted that the Mormon Wives stars “terrified” the men.
“Some guys are still licking their wounds from that group date because they got lashed,” Jesse revealed at the time. “You’re doing things that no other Bachelorette has ever done before, things have already happened that we’ve never seen before.”
What Taylor Frankie Paul Thinks of the Men
Taylor Frankie Paul revealed to Jesse Palmer that she thought her future husband was in the Bachelor Mansion.
“They’re all amazing, which has made this all so much harder,” she said in a preview for the season. “If they were not the best, it would make it easy to weed them out, but they’re just gentlemen and there’s chemistry with them. It’s been wild.”
That being said, Taylor had no issues sending home any man there for the wrong reasons.
“If I want to send people home before the rose ceremony if I catch something, I’m sending them home,” Taylor stated, revealing she recently did just that. “He made it easy because he was trying to fire back at me, and I’m like, ‘Absolutely not. I’m not here to waste your time, please don’t waste mine. If you’re here for the wrong reasons, you’re leaving.’”
What Happened Between Taylor Frankie Paul and Dakota Mortensen Before ‘The Bachelorette’ Premiere?
News broke on March 16 that Taylor Frankie Paul and on-again, off-again boyfriend Dakota Mortensen were involved in an alleged domestic violence dispute the previous month. The alleged altercation reportedly led to the halt of season 5 of Hulu’s The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives.
A spokesperson for the Draper City Police Department in Utah confirmed to Us at the time that there was an open “domestic assault investigation” concerning the on-again, off-again couple, with allegations “made in both directions.”
“There’s more to the context to everything and it’s unfortunate,” Taylor exclusively told Us on March 17 while at a press dinner for season 22 of The Bachelorette. “It’s been hard. And it sucks to be in this position.”
The mother of three — who shares son Ever, 23 months, with Dakota, and daughter Indy, 8, and son Ocean, 5, with ex-husband Tate Paul — denied that the incident had anything to do with her as a parent.
“And the mother that I am, that is something I will always stand my ground on. I believe that I am a good mother and I have always treated my kids very well,” Taylor explained. “So the headlines that are out right now are very hard to see because that’s not the truth of it. I have always treated my children with respect and I’ve never touched them. So it’s been really hard.”
Dakota broke his silence on the alleged dispute via a statement issued on March 18.
“His number one priority here is protecting [their son], Ever,” a rep for Dakota told Entertainment Weekly. “He knew there was a possibility it could come out, but he was not going to be the one to proactively do that because he has always wanted a decent relationship with Taylor. It’s been really hard to achieve that, but he wants to coparent well.”
Dakota’s rep continued, “He was just hoping that if he says nothing, as he usually does, it would go away. He’s never done any kind of sit-down interview about his side. He kind of just lets it all happen to him, and I think he realizes with the severity of everything now that he just can’t do that.”
Do ‘The Bachelorette’ Men Know About Taylor Frankie Paul’s Past With Dakota Mortensen?
“I feel like I was very open with them, especially those that asked, because I really told everyone as a whole if there’s anything you want to know, please let me know, because I wasn’t trying to shove everything down their throat of that in my life,” Taylor Frankie Paul exclusively told Us on March 17. “I wanted to tell them what they wanted to know.”
Taylor recalled telling her suitors, “‘Please ask anything. I am [a] very open book.’ Especially the ones towards the end, I was open with the situation. So yeah, I was very honest, I feel like.”
A source, however, exclusively told Us that same day that the men on The Bachelorette “have all been rallying around each other in solidarity and feel extremely upset and let down by Taylor and the situation.”
When Will Taylor Frankie Paul’s Season 22 of ‘The Bachelorette’ Premiere?
Season 22 of The Bachelorette will premiere on Sunday, March 22, on ABC and can be streamed on Hulu. Variety reported on March 16 that the domestic dispute investigation involving Taylor and her ex Dakota “will not impact” The Bachelorette premiere schedule.
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