Taylor Frankie Paul

Taylor Frankie Paul was raised in Pueblo and moved to Utah with her mother and stepfather when she was 16. She grew up in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and later described herself as having been raised Mormon.

Paul was raised by her mother, Liann, and stepfather, Jeremy May, who came into her life when she was 2. She said that she met her biological father only once before his death.

Paul launched her TikTok account in January 2019 and started the MomTok community in 2020. She invited Mormon mothers in Utah to create content together, including viral dance videos, beauty and lifestyle routines, and discussions about motherhood and religion.

The original MomTok group included Whitney Leavitt, Mikayla Matthews, and Mayci Neeley. By 2022, the group had become a prominent social media community, and Paul was recognized as its self-described founder.

Paul made international headlines in 2022 after revealing during a viral TikTok livestream that she and her then-husband, Tate Paul, had participated in a form of non-monogamy known as “soft-swinging.” She explained that the arrangement involved couples being intimate together while setting limits on sexual activity outside the marriage.

Paul said the arrangement became complicated when people developed feelings and became jealous. She also disclosed that she had an affair with one of the men involved, which contributed to the end of her marriage. Miranda McWhorter later acknowledged that she and her former husband, Chase McWhorter, had been involved in the group.

Hulu's The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives premiered in 2024 and followed Paul and other Utah-based Mormon mothers whose TikTok community had become widely known. The series explored the fallout from the soft-swinging scandal, Paul's changing relationships within MomTok, and her efforts to rebuild her reputation.

Paul became a central figure in the show and was described as a breakout star and the MVP of its first season. Her appearances also covered her relationship with Dakota Mortensen, motherhood, her arrest, and her attempts to address patterns in her personal life, including a two-week mental health retreat.

In February 2023, Paul was arrested after an argument with Dakota Mortensen became physical. She admitted throwing metal chairs and a wooden play set toward him, with one object inadvertently striking one of her children. She was initially charged with aggravated assault, domestic violence, child abuse with injury, and criminal mischief.

Paul pleaded guilty to aggravated assault in August 2023, while the other charges were dismissed. She received a one-day jail sentence with credit for time served and was ordered to complete substance-abuse and domestic-violence evaluations. Footage of the arrest later appeared in The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives and resurfaced publicly in 2026.

Paul was selected as the lead of the 22nd season of The Bachelorette. She was positioned as the first lead of the series who had not previously competed in The Bachelor franchise, and she discussed the opportunity on Call Her Daddy and with other entertainment outlets.

Paul said the role felt surreal and expressed concerns about dating publicly while co-parenting three children. ABC canceled the season after video from the 2023 incident was released. Paul had also considered joining The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City, but said she was told after an interview that she did not have enough drama for the series.

Paul has two children with Tate Paul, a daughter named Indy and a son named Ocean. Indy was born in August 2017, and Ocean was born in June 2020.

She later had a son named Ever with Dakota Mortensen, who was born in March 2024. Her relationships with Tate and Dakota, along with the challenges of co-parenting, have been recurring subjects in her reality television appearances.

Paul announced that she was leaving the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints after The Bachelorette season was canceled. She said she retained love and respect for the church while choosing to detach herself from it.

She has also said that her faith is personal and that she intended to follow what she felt was right for her rather than accept pressure from the church, family, or the outside world.