New information about Taylor Frankie Paul and Dakota Mortensen’s toxic relationship has come to light after the former couple filed dueling restraining orders against each other.
A court hearing was held Tuesday to discuss custody plans for the former couple’s two-year-old son, Ever True, after Mortensen filed a protective order against the Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star on March 19 and was granted temporary custody the next day.
Paul, 31, filed her own protective order against Mortensen, 33, less than an hour before the court appointment began.
After a tense hour-long hearing, which Mortensen and Paul both attended virtually with their cameras turned off, the judge recommended that Paul be allowed supervised visits with her son totaling eight hours each week. The parental plan will remain in place until April 30, when another hearing will decide the next steps for Paul’s protective order.
Both Mortensen and Paul’s orders are in response to a domestic dispute between the former couple from February 23 and 24 that led them both to accuse each other of domestic violence.
The incident from February — combined with leaked footage from a 2023 incident between Paul and Mortensen — caused season five of SLOMW, Hulu’s hit reality show that made Paul famous, to pause production amid the police investigation.
Details about the incidents in February had been largely kept from the public until Paul’s attorney, Eric Swinyard, addressed it during Tuesday’s court appearance.
In an instance that Swinyard referred to as the “truck tussle,” Mortensen and Paul met in the middle of the night at her house in Draper, Utah, to talk about their relationship while her three children slept inside.
Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 day
New subscribers only. £9.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled.
ADVERTISEMENT. If you sign up to this service we will earn commission. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.
Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 day
New subscribers only. £9.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled.
ADVERTISEMENT. If you sign up to this service we will earn commission. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.
They decided to speak in Mortensen’s truck and began to argue, which escalated until he allegedly drove away with Paul still in the car. Mortensen then allegedly slammed Paul’s head on the dashboard, causing injuries to her knee and forehead, Swinyard told the judge.
He claimed that Paul then ran out of the car and locked herself in the house, but Mortensen allegedly stayed outside her front door and tried to reconcile by texting her, “Let me in.”
Swinyard added that Mortensen then texted Paul and asked for sex.
It comes after Paul’s season of The Bachelorette was canceled days before it was set to premiere last month due to the video that surfaced of a separate domestic dispute between Paul and Mortensen in 2023.
The mom-of-three pleaded guilty to aggravated assault after that event and remains on probation until this August.
During Tuesday’s hearing, both attorneys also mentioned a previously unreported incident from May 2025 in which Mortensen allegedly provoked Paul in her home while he held their son. Swinyard alleged that Mortensen used their child as a “human shield” during the incident.
“Her anger is very clearly, unambiguously directed at Dakota and has nothing to do with the children,” her attorney said.
The hearing’s Guardian Ad Litem, who is appointed by the judge to protect the best interest of the child, said at the hearing that the video Mortensen recorded of the May 2025 encounter made him concerned “about [Paul’s] ability to control herself and her volatility.”
Mortensen requested supervised visits Tuesday because he wanted a third party present so that he does not have to communicate directly with Paul. His attorneys told the Utah judge that they think the request is “appropriate for safety given it’s a domestic violence.”
His lawyer, Daniela Diaz, alleged that Paul’s anger issues are dangerous for Mortensen as well as her children “in the moments where the respondent is out of control.”
“She is completely reckless in her behavior towards the children,” Diaz alleged in court.
However, Paul’s attorneys insist that their son is safe with his mother — especially considering that in the Fall, Mortensen agreed to a joint custody agreement without any issues.
Paul requested to return to the previously established custody agreement. Her attorney alleged that the officials deciding custody should be concerned about the lack of credibility against Mortensen.
“Dakota pushes buttons, he’s excellent at that,” Swinyard said. “As long as these folks stay apart…then there is no risk to the child.”
Representatives for Mortensen and Paul have not returned The Independent‘s requests for comment on the hearing.
The national domestic abuse helpline offers support for women on 0808 2000 247, or you can visit the Refuge website. There is a dedicated men’s advice line on 0808 8010 327. Those in the US can call the domestic violence hotline on 1-800-799-SAFE (7233). Other international helplines can be found via www.befrienders.org