Taylor Frankie Paul Responds To Critics Who Say She & Dakota Are “So Toxic”
Their co-parenting relationship was a roller coaster in Season 2.
Taylor Frankie Paul and Dakota Mortensen’s tumultuous relationship was the catalyst for plenty of drama in Season 1 of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives. Season 2 was less chaotic for the duo, but it still had some moments of conflict, as they figured out what their relationship would look like going forward. Ultimately, Paul and Mortensen decided not to be together after information came out about another woman he had been seeing, but Paul still doesn’t agree with the haters who simplify their dynamic as “so toxic.”
“Right now, we’re individually trying to work on ourselves and learn to co-parent as best as we can,” Paul says. “We’re working on ourselves because clearly it wasn’t working together. That’s where we stand now.”
Paul is well aware of the negative comments about their relationship. “People think that the little things are deal-breakers for us. They think, ‘Ah, if you guys could just do this and this, it would work out.’ But that’s such a misconception. There’s so much context you’re missing,” she adds. “I think we both have a lot of old wounds.”
“I see people say, ‘You guys are obviously just so toxic.’ At the end of the day, there’s just a sad little boy and girl inside of us that wanted to be loved; they’re not getting what they need,” Paul says. “If you can think of it from that perspective — and realize that we’re wanting the security and love that we didn’t get as children — you can be more sympathetic.”
Paul got some support in Episode 7 of Season 2, when the MomTok husbands came to her defense in a surprisingly tender moment. At a large group dinner, Paul opened up about her and Mortensen’s status, explaining the “ultimatum” he had given her to decide whether to be with him after finding out about his secret fling. As Paul explained to the MomTok husbands, “If I can’t give him an answer, then he needs to move on.”
After hearing the story, Conner Leavitt and Bret Engemann gave Paul a much-needed pep talk about deserving love. “I watched that scene back, and I cried,” Paul says. “That one was a very emotional dinner for everybody. I think five of us were crying. You really only get pieces of it.”
According to Paul, the husbands’ response helped her put her relationship with Mortensen in perspective. “Everyone is saying, ‘You deserve someone good.’ In my head, I’m like, ‘Why can’t I believe that?’” Their support was reassuring. “I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh, there are good men out there,’” she says. “I do feel like Dakota is a great guy. I just don’t think we’re great for each other.”
