There have been a lot of questionable parenting choices made in reality television, like when Yolanda Hadid told her daughter Gigi Hadid to eat “two almonds” after she said she was feeling weak on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, or literally all of Toddlers & Tiaras. But one of the cringiest scenes I’ve seen in recent years played out in The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives Season 2 when Taylor Frankie Paul‘s parents shamed her not only for having sex and getting pregnant with Dakota Mortensen out of wedlock, but for ending their relationship after learning he was not truthful about his relations with other women.
Taylor and Dakota began dating shortly after her infamous soft-swinging scandal and divorce from Tate Paul in 2022 — but the start of their relationship was anything but easy. After Taylor confirmed their status in a TikTok video, she received messages that Dakota had been with other women not long before. Her trust issues (and the fact that she had just gotten out of a marriage) made her hesitant to marry Dakota when they reconciled, even though she was already pregnant with his baby. Plus, she still had some suspicions that he had cheated on her early in their relationship with a girl named Jenna.
While Dakota denied any wrongdoing, Taylor’s ride-or-die bestie Mayci Neely called Jenna to investigate at the end of the Season 1 finale, making for one nail-biting cliffhanger.
In the Season 2 premiere, Taylor finally reads every text Dakota and Jenna had ever sent each other. Apparently, Dakota had been taking Jenna on dates to the trampoline park and the dinosaur museum early on in his relationship with Taylor. On nights that he swore he wasn’t with Jenna, he was actually sleeping over her house, where they would make out and do some occasional “hand stuff.” According to Taylor, Dakota made it seem as though Jenna was begging for his attention and instigating their relations — when, in fact, it was the other way around. The worst part? When Jenna asked if he was seeing Taylor, he allegedly said he was only friends with her for “clout” and that she was “helping” him build his social media presence.
A heartbroken Taylor subsequently decides to take some space from Dakota — but her parents, devoted members of the Mormon church, are adamant that she continue trying to make things work for the sake of their baby Ever, who was born in March 2024. Tensions reach their boiling point in Episode 2 when Taylor’s mom Liann invites Dakota to a family barbecue without giving Taylor a heads up — then instigates a screaming match in front of the entire family when she points out how “closed off” and “quiet” her daughter was being in the presence of her estranged baby daddy. Liann says she’s “tired” of them being on-again off-again, while her husband Jeremy reminds them that their relationship started “on a foundation of shit” and things have only gotten more complicated now that they “have a damn kid.” Even Taylor’s brother Hunter buys into Dakota’s tears, calling him a “good person” and putting Taylor on blast for not giving 100% to her relationship.
“It’s gonna take me a while to get there. I heard he slept with another girl. He admitted it. I was so sad that I needed space. He went and hooked up with Jenna that very night I found out and was bawling my eyes out,” Taylor fumes, while Dakota chimes in, “I had hung out with Taylor three times [at that point].”
Ignoring him, Taylor continues, “Two nights after that, he goes, ‘Taylor, you’re pretty much the only girl I’m seeing.’ I’m trash to him. You come over the next night, fuck me, and then you go and you hang out with another girl and then he comes the next night and fucks me again.”
Jeremy then adds his two cents, casting even more blame on Taylor as he slut-shames her. “He just told me that you guys had seen each other three times before all of this. And then you’re sitting there telling me that he came over and had sex with you? What does that say about you?” he sternly asks.
What’s been very clear during the past two seasons of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives is that Taylor carries a lot of pain and guilt over the soft-swinging scandal and the affair that led to her divorce from the father of her two eldest kids. Taylor candidly says her parents were confirming everything she already felt about herself at that moment — that she was being “punished” for cheating on her first husband and that she got what she deserved when it came to Dakota because she “gave it up so easily.” Watching her sob about her life and the betrayal she felt from Dakota felt like a punch in the gut — and what made it even worse was that no one in her family, sans her sister Aspen, could show their support when she clearly needed it most.
What unfolded at the barbecue was a true play into the misogyny of the LDS church that ex-member Heather Gay has been yelling from the rooftops about since she began her tenure on The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City — and that MomTok openly aims to break. Why didn’t anyone question why Dakota would lie to Taylor when she was pregnant with his child? Why isn’t anyone (besides Aspen) supporting her decision to walk away from a toxic situation to avoid yet another potential failed marriage? And, most importantly, why are they giving Dakota so much grace and none for Taylor? Liann might reference the LDS church’s core familial values when trying to convince Taylor to stay with Dakota, but what she fails to realize is that some families are better left separated — especially when it starts to affect the kids, as Aspen rightfully points out.
Having only seen the first three episodes of Season 2 at the time this was written, I imagine there is much more to come in the Taylor/Dakota saga. But if there’s one thing that’s clear, it’s that Taylor is very obviously hurting — and despite what her parents may think, a tumultuous relationship seems to be the last thing she needs. #TeamTaylorFrankiePaul.
The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives Season 2 is currently streaming on Hulu.