It's Getting Ugly for the 'Mormon Wives' and 'The Bachelorette'

Things seem to be going from bad to worse for both The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, where Taylor Frankie Paul is the leader of MomTok, and The Bachelorette, which is supposed to kick off a new season this Sunday with TFP as the show’s Bachelorette.

The trouble stems from an investigation into alleged domestic violence between Taylor Frankie Paul and her ex-boyfriend, Dakota Mortensen. TMZ reports that Taylor allegedly choked Dakota with his own necklace in front of their child over Dakota’s hook-up with Secret Lives castmember Shinia Powell. That was already a major source of contention between the two before she left to tape The Bachelorette — the fact that it remains a flashpoint says a lot about just how toxic this relationship is.

Dakota reportedly called the police to report the incident, but Taylor allegedly convinced him to change his story. When she showed up at his home the following night, however, there was another alleged bout of violence, and a friend of Dakota’s reportedly called the police after seeing evidence of his injuries. Taylor’s account differs — she alleges that Dakota was the aggressor. There are also separate reports that Dakota contacted child protective services on multiple occasions over the danger Taylor allegedly posed to their children.

Filming on the fifth season has reportedly halted, in part because the other women of MomTok didn’t feel safe working around Taylor.

None of this bodes well for The Bachelorette. There may be some morbid short-term curiosity driven by the drama, but the fact that Taylor and Dakota have clearly rekindled their toxic relationship does rather spoil the premise of the season — she self-evidently did not find lasting love. There has also been unconfirmed speculation that ABC is considering pulling the plug on the new season, though they’re still promoting it. More concretely, Cinnabon has cut ties with both The Bachelorette and Secret Lives of Mormon Wives. If the show continues to bleed advertisers ahead of Sunday night’s premiere, ABC may have little choice but to shelve it.

Amid all this, Whitney Leavitt has revealed she’s leaning toward not returning to the series. The show launched her entertainment career, but there’s probably little left for her to gain by staying on a series so mired in controversy — particularly given that she and her husband have always been the one functional relationship on the show. Leavitt not only had a strong run on Dancing with the Stars, but her stint in Broadway’s Chicago has helped push the production to its highest-grossing six-week run in its 29 year history. She also has a holiday rom-com arriving in December.

Taylor Frankie Paul’s future on The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives is clearly in doubt — and TFP’s PR work has done little to put out the flames — and losing Whitney Leavitt would be a serious blow to the series on top of it. My suspicion is that Hulu will push forward with a fifth season regardless — if only to document the chaos of the past few weeks — but it’s hard to imagine the remaining cast being capable of carrying the show without both of them beyond that.