Mormon TikTok star Taylor Frankie Paul speaks out about her arrest for domestic violence following her infamous swinger sex scandal.
Paul is a member of Mormon MomTok, a group of Utah-based wives and mothers who rose to fame on TikTok for their viral dance and lip-sync videos. The now 30-year-old sent shockwaves across the internet in a 2022 TikTok livestream when she announced her divorce from now-ex-husband Tate Paul and shared more about her “soft swinger” lifestyle, which included some of the friends featured in her videos.
In February 2023, Paul was arrested and charged with domestic violence. Paul, who stars in the new Hulu reality series “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives,” recently gave an interview with Fox News Digital where she discussed her brush with the law and the impact it has had on her.
“It was super hard,” Paul said during a joint appearance with co-star Jessi Ngatikaura. “It was the worst thing I’ve ever experienced.”
‘MORMON MOMTOK’ INFLUENCER ACCUSED OF HOUSEWEAR MAKES PLEA: ‘MUCH CONDEMNED’
“The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” star Taylor Frankie Paul spoke about her arrest for domestic violence. (Taylor Frankie Paul Instagram)
She continued, “I went into more depth on this very emotional subject on the show. But I felt like I learned from it.”
“It was a regret,” Paul added. “When you hit rock bottom, there’s only one way to go, and it helped me get back up. So, honestly, as bad as that night was, I think it was also a blessing in disguise and maybe in a weird way could have saved my life when I was just drowning in misery. You’ll see more of that on the show.”
Following her arrest, Paul was charged with aggravated assault, two counts of domestic violence in the presence of a child, child abuse resulting in injury and criminal damage to property, according to Herriman Police in Salt Lake County.
Taylor Frankie Paul was previously married to Tate Paul, with whom she has two children. (Taylor Frankie Paul Instagram)
A complaint filed in Salt Lake County In March 2023, Paul claimed he threw a phone, a wooden playset and “heavy metal chairs” at her boyfriend Dakota Mortensen. One of the chairs allegedly hit one of her children, who was sitting on the couch next to Mortensen, during their argument, an affidavit states.
In August of the same year, she pleaded guilty to aggravated assault. The other four charges were rejected with prejudice.
Paul has said that she and Tate, who share Indy, 6, and Ocean, 3, “get along well.” After their split, Paul began dating Mortenson. Seven weeks into their relationship, Paul revealed that she and Mortenson were expecting their first child together, but she suffered an ectopic pregnancy.
Although Paul and Mortenson’s relationship has been marked by ups and downs, including her arrest for domestic violence, the two are still together. Mortenson regularly appears in Paul’s videos and photos, and the couple welcomed their son, Ever, in March 2024.
The TikTok star is dating real estate agent Dakota Mortenson. The two had their first child together in March. (Taylor Frankie Paul Instagram)
“The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” follows the aftermath of Paul’s revelations about her “soft swinging” and the sex scandal that changed the lives of the other women in her videos.
In her explosive 2022 TikTok livestream, the influencer said she and Tate had agreed to a lifestyle that included multiple partners. She said they engaged in “soft swinging” with a group of their friends made up of other married Mormon couples.
Paul said the group had an agreement that they would not “go to extremes” with their other partners. However, Paul admitted that she “went back on the agreement” with one of the group’s other husbands.
“That’s where I messed up and obviously lost everything I had,” Paul said during the livestream.
Paul claimed that “no one was innocent” in the swinger group and that “everyone was doing something with everyone else.”
She further explained that she and Tate had “other issues” that led to their separation, but “that was like the tip of the iceberg.”
WATCH: ‘SECRET LIVES OF MORMON WIVES’ STAR TAYLOR FRANKIE PAUL REFLECTS ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ARREST FOLLOWING SWINGER SEX SCANDAL
Following the scandal, other MomTok members were also inundated with speculation about whether they had also participated in “soft swinging.” Some denied the allegations on social media, others remained silent, but so far no one has confirmed their involvement.
Speaking to Fox News Digital, Paul elaborated on the overlap between MomTok and her swinger group, explaining that the two were “a little bit intertwined.” However, she added that “maybe only one” member of MomTok was part of the other group, which she said were “all intimate with each other.”
“I came out,” she recalled. “It got on the internet and it kind of broke the internet. MomTok was involved and then – I guess the public kind of thought that everyone on MomTok was swingers. And then it kind of went through the roof. People analyzed it. It was like a thing.”
“And then we were offered this television show and I felt like it gave me the opportunity to tell my side of the story, whether those involved were there or not and who was affected by it,” Paul said.
Paul stars alongside other MomTok members in Hulu’s new reality series. (Natalie Cass/Disney)
Ngatikaura told Fox News Digital that the entire MomTok group was “shaken” by the scandal.
“Since we were all like close friends online, people just assumed that everyone was involved in MomTok,” Ngatikaura explained. “So it was hard to deal with all those people suddenly throwing accusations at you because they had the wrong idea. And the circle of friends definitely disintegrated.”
She continued, “The cast of the show is a little different than the actual MomTok group because of that. There were a lot of people who didn’t want anything to do with Taylor or MomTok anymore. So I just focused on making sure the friendship stayed intact and that Taylor was OK. But there were definitely ups and downs. And you see that in the show.”
WATCH: ‘SECRET LIVES OF MORMON WIVES’ STAR WANTED TO ‘TELL MY SIDE OF THE STORY’ ON THE SHOW AFTER SWINGER SEX SCANDAL
In addition to Paul and Ngatikaura, “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” also stars Mayci Neeley, Mikayla Matthews, Whitney Leavitt, Demi Engemann, Jennifer Affleck and Layla Taylor.
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A description of the show states: “The scandalous world of a group of influential Mormon mothers implodes when they become embroiled in a swinger sex scandal that makes international headlines.”
“Now their sisterhood is shaken to its core. BelieveFriendship and reputation are at stake. Will #MomTok survive and continue to defy the rulebook, or will this group fall from grace?”
“The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” follows the consequences of the swinger scandal. (Disney/Fred Hayes)
The women’s husbands and partners will appear in the show and will examine how they have dealt with the aftermath of the scandal.
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Paul told Fox News Digital that Tate was “shocked” after revealing her swinger lifestyle on TikTok.
“I think when it hit the internet, everyone was in survival mode, thinking, ‘What’s going on?'” she recalls. “(Tate) kind of calmed down and just wanted to mind his own business.”
Paul continued: “He just said goodbye to social media and is living a happy life now and I’m really happy for him.”
WATCH: ‘SECRET LIVES OF MORMON WIVES’ REPORTS EX-HUSBAND WAS ‘IN SHOCK’ AFTER HER SWINGER SEX SCANDAL CRASHED ON THE INTERNET
Ngatikaura explained that some of the husbands had begun to feel insecure in their marriage because of the scandal.
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“I would say that a lot of the husbands in the group who didn’t know about it until the swinger scandal broke, they thought, ‘Oh my God, could this happen to me now?'” she said. “And I think that led to jealousy among the husbands, and you see some of that on the show. Now there’s uncertainty because you never know what could be happening behind the scenes, you know? So I think it definitely rocked a lot of relationships. But also maybe it needed to happen to strengthen those relationships.”
All eight episodes of “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” will be available on Hulu starting September 6.
Audrey Conklin of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.
