'The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives' Filming Has Been Halted

Anyone who has watched more than a few episodes probably saw this coming, because we’ve already seen it play out in the first season of the series. During that opening season, Taylor Frankie Paul — who is slated to be the Bachelorette on the forthcoming season, beginning this Sunday — got into a domestic altercation with her then-boyfriend (and the father of her baby), Dakota Mortensen. Police were called. Details were scarce, but by all accounts, the scene was ugly.

The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives is now shooting its fifth season, much of which presumably takes place after the taping of The Bachelorette (season four ended the morning Taylor Frankie Paul flew to Los Angeles to begin filming). At the end of that season, Taylor — who has a wildly toxic on-again, off-again relationship with Dakota — slept with him the night before leaving and seemed, at least briefly, on the verge of backing out of filming altogether.

The two are a mess — maybe the most toxic couple I’ve ever seen outside of a true-crime documentary. They actively try to hurt each other by sleeping with other people, only to drift back together for sporadic one-night stands they always regret. Two or three times every season, they swear they’re done for good. And yet, somehow, they always end up back in each other’s beds. Every other person on the show recognizes how destructive their relationship is, and several have tried repeatedly to keep them apart. It never sticks. They love each other. They hate each other. They hurt each other. And they can’t trust each other.

The details surrounding the latest domestic assault investigation aren’t entirely clear, except that “allegations have been made in both directions” and “contact was made with involved parties on (Feb.) 24 and 25.” TMZ reports there are allegations of both child and spousal abuse, and that production halted after a heated blowup. Both Taylor and Dakota have reportedly been ordered to undergo psychological evaluations.

The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives follows the trials and tribulations of MomTok, a Mormon friend group that emerged from a swinging scandal involving Taylor, which ultimately led to the collapse of her marriage to the father of her first child. Most of the show plays like a typical Real Housewives series (minus the alcohol, because they’re Mormon), but Taylor and Dakota’s relationship has frequently crossed into deeply uncomfortable territory.

Given their long, messy history — and the apparent pattern of volatility — ABC may not have thought this casting decision all the way through. Naming Taylor Frankie Paul the next Bachelorette suddenly looks like a risky bet. This is exactly why. Neither she nor Dakota appears to be in a particularly healthy place.