Dakota Mortensen Sets Record Straight on Taylor Frankie Paul Relationship Timeline and Where They Stand Now
On June 4, Dakota Mortensen appeared on an episode of The Viall Files to discuss her personal background and all that has gone down between him and MomTok's Taylor Frankie Paul
As fans have seen on seasons 1 and 2 of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, the pair have been in an on-again, off-again relationship that was tense from the start, when Paul was arrested on charges of aggravated assault
Mortensen looked back on their early difficulties and noted how Paul was still speaking with the man she had an affair with when they got together. He also spoke to the podcast hosts about his own cheating and liesDakota Mortensen is clarifying some of the good, bad and ugly things that played out between him and Taylor Frankie Paul.
In an episode of The Viall Files released on Wednesday, June 4, The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star, 32, opened up about his personal evolution and how Paul, 31, came into it. The reality show's first season saw her dating Mortensen while she was recovering from the infamous 'soft swinging' scandal that ended her previous marriage.
Mortensen told podcast co-hosts Natalie Joy and Nick Viall that he felt "scared" in the early days of his relationship with Paul because of how much he liked her. He just wasn't sure if all of those strong feelings were mutual.
"I was so afraid of how much I liked Taylor and how afraid I was of her and knowing that I didn't know really what she wanted, or if this could even be a thing," Mortensen said, noting how there was one factor that made him question whether or not their relationship was going to work out: Paul was "still talking to the man she had an affair with," he recalled.
"I'm not stupid. I can obviously read those things. I still knew there was something going on there," said the reality star. "I didn't really necessarily want to give her 100 percent of me because I was afraid of that. I didn't want to get hurt by that, because that's how I am. When I'm all in, I'm all in."
He continued to say that the situation "led to some of those dumb mistakes" in the early stages of their romance. Fans of the series know that their relationship was filled with tension from the start, including an altercation that led to Taylor being charged with aggravated assault in 2023, a miscarriage and subsequent pregnancy with their now-1-year-old son, Ever.
Season 1 concluded with a cliffhanger after fellow MomToker Mayci Neeley learned that Mortensen had been unfaithful. The Hulu show's sophomore installment began with Paul rehashing what she discovered about her boyfriend's behavior.
"Right after Ever was born, Dakota and I were living together and in bliss with our new baby, and I was even considering engagement. And then I learned that he was lying this entire time," she revealed in the season 2 premiere.
Generally, the two have continued to see each other in an on-again, off-again style. In season 2, Paul's family and faith added pressure on her to make things work between them, despite her grappling with Dakota's infidelity.
During his appearance on The Viall Files, Mortensen once again had to face the reality of his actions in conversation with Viall and Joy. They asked him how many lies Paul believed Mortensen told, and he totaled the number at four, though only two relate to things that happened while they were actively in a relationship.
He indicated where they stand now when he referred to one lie that is "really fresh right now," but he wasn't able to specify any further details.
Speaking with PEOPLE last month, Taylor also shared an update on where she and Dakota stand, revealing, "I feel like right now we are individually working on ourselves and trying to heal, for not only ourselves, but for our son. So that's been the main focus the last few months, last half of a year."
She continued, "But to me, I don't know, I never say never, but right now it's just individually trying to heal and work on things we needed to work on."
Read the original article on People
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