The “MomTok” queen has officially set the Bachelor mansion on fire before the first limo has even arrived.
In a “viciously” honest interview with Us Weekly on March 11, 2026, Taylor Frankie Paul addressed the “shady” rumors regarding her readiness for Season 22 of The Bachelorette. The 31-year-old Utah native confirmed what eagle-eyed fans suspected after a recent trailer for The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives dropped: she was still sharing a bed with her toxic ex, Dakota Mortensen, just days before leaving to film the ABC dating show in October 2025.
The “vile” revelation has ignited a full-blown scandal across Bachelor Nation, with many questioning if Taylor is truly there for the “right reasons” or if she’s simply looking for a distraction from her “disturbing” past.
“I think people will be surprised by how raw I’m being about this,” Taylor admitted during the interview. “Honestly, I think it was just still in the same cycle that I’ve been in for a while now, and it’s been really hard to get out. It’s been so hard to remove myself from that. If I could just snap out of it, trust me, I would.”
“It’s a hard pill to swallow for the men who signed up to date me. I’m making the decision to leave for two months and try, but I’m human. I’m a single mom of three who has been through a ‘vicious’ public divorce and a ‘vile’ domestic violence arrest. My past with Dakota is ‘viciously’ complicated because we share a son, Ever,” she added.
According to those close to the production, the “shady” energy followed Taylor to the mansion. Rumors from the set suggest that Dakota actually drove Taylor to the airport to film, with “vile” allegations surfacing that she told him to “wait for her” while she was away.
“It started as a few ‘shady’ comments from Dakota’s new girlfriend, Emma Shippen, who basically called Taylor a fraud on social media,” a production insider admitted. “But the ‘disgusting’ truth is that Taylor herself isn’t hiding it. She’s admitting that the toxic cycle was still ‘viciously’ active right up until the moment she stepped out of the limo. It was like the worst kept secret in the house that she was still ‘reeling’ from her last breakup.”
“Taylor wasn’t lying when she said she doesn’t fit the ‘Bachelorette mold.’ She’s bringing 20 weeks of ‘chaos’ to the screen,” the insider continued. “Ultimately, she decided that being misunderstood was better than being a ‘calculated fraud,’ but the ‘vicious’ reality of her being in bed with Dakota right before filming is something the guys in the house are going to have a ‘vile’ time processing.”
Although Dakota has publicly “shady-ly” dragged Taylor on TikTok—bopping his head to music with captions about dating 30 girls without being on a TV show—Taylor is reportedly focused on finding “a better version” of herself.
“She decided to just be open with it,” a close friend explained. “The last thing Taylor wants is to be fake. She’s proud of the fact that she’s a ‘maker’ of her own destiny, even if the patterns of her life are currently ‘viciously’ messy. She’s fighting both the public and her own heart at the same time.”
Regarding the “shady” intentions, Taylor’s Mormon Wives co-stars, including Mayci Neeley, have expressed doubt about her readiness, noting that Taylor has “too much baggage” to give herself fully to the 22 men vying for her heart.
“We don’t know if the guys will accept this ‘vile’ truth. There’s no playbook for a Bachelorette who was ‘viciously’ hooking up with her baby daddy the week before night one. We were very much on the same page as a fanbase where we wanted ‘chaos,’ but this ‘No Mercy’ admission is changing the game,” a commentator reasoned.
That said, Taylor has confirmed she reassured the men on her season that she was there to try, even if the “shady” cycle with Dakota was hard to break.
“Taylor’s gonna do what she does—she’s going to own her story. This isn’t just a dating show; it’s a total reclamation of her life from a ‘vicious’ cycle,” the source shared. “She cares about her kids. She still has feelings for Dakota, so in a world where she ‘couldn’t snap out of it,’ she’s hoping a bunch of roses will help her finally turn the page.”
Taylor’s season of The Bachelorette is set to premiere on March 22, 2026, on ABC and Hulu.