Taylor Frankie Paul on Monday revealed that she is leaving Hulu’s The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, the reality show that catapulted her into the limelight after castmates bullied her, including insulting her about her kids.
In a statement on Instagram on September 21, she began by thanking the networks for the opportunity to return to the show.
“My gratitude goes to all the networks that supported me throughout this and gave me the chance to return,” she wrote.
But she said she could not continue under the current conditions.
“However, I don’t desire to move forward like this,” she added.
She also pointed out that this was not the first time she had considered walking out of the show so the remaining cast could carry on without her.
“I originally was willing to be removed to let them all continue on with less stress, and I’m back to that point,” she wrote.
She then accused some castmates of having turned against her, though she knew about the personal and legal troubles she had been having that year.
“Some of the girls know what I’ve been through and then to turn and collectively pile on with their ‘statements’ knowing there has been ongoing abuse through the system the last 8 months on top of what I’ve endured,” she wrote.
According to her, the criticism came from almost the entire cast, and even from some castmates, about her kids.
“Almost the entire cast plus some, going at me… laughing about my kids is disgusting,” she wrote.
She also wrote that she didn’t want to react publicly at the time.
“And I bit my tongue there,” she wrote.
Paul also talked of a feud among the cast members over salary. She said that castmates had asked her to do something for them to negotiate salaries.
“These same people had meetings telling me I need to lead the way of pay… my voice was the only one that can make it happen and then they would work from what I demanded,” she wrote.
However, she decided not to press the issue.
“I’m grateful I never followed through with their requests of demands and I’m grateful I kept the same pay out of fairness and integrity,” Paul wrote.
She concluded by defending her behavior on the set. She wrote that she had been good with the production crew and crew throughout the whole ordeal.
“I treated production and crew with respect always, in fact they are ones who checked on me throughout this,” she wrote.
She said that the behavior of her castmates towards her had become that of bullying for months.
“I agree it’s to the point of bullying for months now,” she wrote.
She also pointed out that some of her critics had held her to standards they hadn’t always lived up to.
“What makes it harder to take in is some of these parents have made mistakes that would result in the same judgement I’m receiving yet pointing a finger,” she wrote.
However, she admitted she had also played a role in getting into that situation.
“However it’s a pleasure to remove myself so they can continue, because I’ve almost convinced myself I’m deserving of all this pain and to a certain degree absolutely this is consequences of my actions,” she wrote.
Paul ended her statement by saying she was tired of the public scrutiny and felt relieved to be out of it.
“My question has been how much suffering and scrutiny is going to be enough… I’m just relieved to be out,” Paul wrote.
Her departure comes after recent controversy involving other cast members. This came a few days after Mikayla Matthews said Paul was supposed to return in the upcoming sixth season, so she left the show.
Matthews wrote that she told the producers before agreeing to film Season 6 that she would not participate if “a certain someone” came back. Since then, Layla Taylor has openly parted ways with Paul in an Instagram comment, and Miranda Hope has said that none of the cast members remain friends with her anymore.
It also comes at a time when it is being alleged that Paul has failed drug tests ordered by courts in her custody disputes with her ex-husband and boyfriend. TMZ reported last week that Paul was restricted from seeing her children more as she had tested positive in custody disputes with her ex-husband and boyfriend.
According to the report, Paul was restricted from having 8 hours of parenting time in a week – four hours with the two children she had from her marriage to Tate Paul and four hours with the child she had with Dakota Mortensen. What kind of substances Paul tested positive for are not known, as the case involves a strict gag order.
A Utah judge ordered drug and alcohol tests in July with the condition that, in case of a positive test for any substance apart from prescription drugs, Paul will not be allowed to meet her kids alone and will be required to have the supervision of a caretaker.
These custody battles were triggered by a series of domestic incidents involving Paul. TMZ obtained video footage showing her throwing barstools during a 2023 incident with Mortensen, in which a barstool struck her daughter. Paul had pleaded guilty in abeyance to an aggravated assault charge and had received a three-year probation term, and prosecution withdrew four additional charges against her.
Mortensen sought a protective order against Paul in Utah in March this year, citing that a February fight at Paul’s house had culminated in physical conflict between the two of them. In April, Mortensen and Paul got mutual three-year protective orders.
This controversy has also affected Paul’s career prospects. After the barstool video went viral, ABC canceled her season of The Bachelorette, and filming of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives was paused for a month before resuming without Paul and Mortensen.
