If you thought Taylor Frankie Paul and Dakota Mortensen’s relationship was a total rollercoaster in Season 1 of “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives,” Season 2 certainly upped the ante.

From dating to co-parenting and all the highs and lows in between, Hulu viewers have eagerly followed the couple’s rocky journey since the show premiered in September 2024.

Paul is credited as the creator of #MomTok, the loose coalition of Mormon influencers who have built up independent followings on TikTok and other social media platforms, but also collaborate.

She also was responsible for its implosion in 2022, when she released a TikTok Live saying she and her ex-husband, Tate Paul, were involved in “soft swinging” with other group members. The show’s other cast members have denied participating.

Season 1 of “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” gave a look into her relationship with Mortensen.

After welcoming a child and navigating rumors of infidelity, Paul and Mortensen’s relationship was at a crossroads at the end of Season 1.

What happened in Season 2 and where do Paul and Mortensen stand today? We’re recapping their relationship journey.

Throughout the season, viewers witnessed the turmoil in Paul and Mortensen’s relationship. On several occasions, Paul’s family and friends worried that she and her boyfriend communicated in a volatile manner.

Paul was arrested in February 2023 on charges including assault and committing domestic violence when a child was present. She reached a plea deal in her assault case in late August 2023. She pled guilty to aggravated assault, and the other charges against her were dismissed with prejudice, meaning they were permanently dismissed, according to court documents viewed by The Salt Lake Tribune.

In an interview with TODAY.com, the TikToker reflected on a moment of turmoil in her relationship, though didn’t explicitly refer to the arrest.

“I forgot the cameras were there and Dakota and I got into a fight ... My true emotions come out and I think I got a little angry and open up. I think that’s the first time I share what’s going on in my head. Not that I regret doing that. It opened up to be honest about what was going on. Maybe I regret how I said it,” she said.

During Paul’s pregnancy, Mortensen was eager to get engaged. However, Paul was hesitant to take their relationship to the next level and cited “lies” he told her at the beginning of their relationship as one of her main reasons.

In a confessional interview, she recalled a time at the beginning of their relationship when they weren’t exclusively dating yet. Paul said Mortensen lied about hanging out with his male friends but later admitted that he hooked up with another woman that night.

“I’ve been honest that I’m not ready to progress because I’m scared something else is gonna come out. But do you blame me?” she asked.

Meanwhile, Mortensen said that Paul regularly “self-sabotaged” their relationship.

Paul and Mortensen welcomed a baby boy named Ever in March 2024. Paul also has two children with her ex-husband.

Prior to conceiving Ever, the couple previously experienced an ectopic pregnancy, which occurs when the fertilized egg implants outside the uterus and the pregnancy is not viable, per the Mayo Clinic.

In one episode of “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives,” Paul’s #MomTok friend Mayci Neeley said she was “protective” of Paul’s relationship with Mortensen.

Neeley, Paul and Mortensen later had a heart-to-heart conversation and aired out their feelings. However, Neeley ended the season by calling a woman who claimed to have “accidentally slept with” Mortensen before she knew that he was dating Paul.

Paul spoke with TODAY.com following the premiere of Season 1. She revealed that she and Mortensen were still together and had taken action to strength their bond.

“We’re in couples therapy and coaching, so they’re kind of helping us to communicate and learn all these things while taking on the loud noise, which is really cool,” she said at the time.

Paul also said her relationship with Mortensen had changed significantly since their time as cast members on “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives.”

“Things have gotten a lot better. We’re obviously far from the end goal, because we come in (to the relationship) with such baggage, and now we’re doing TV and a lot comes with that,” the influencer said.

Describing the state of their relationship as “good,” Paul said Mortensen and her ex-husband “get along.”

“They’re buddies, you know, and I’m buddies with (Tate’s) partner,” she said at the time. “I don’t know if that makes anyone uncomfortable, but that’s OK, because I think it’s part of my story. It’s authentic.”

In September 2024, Paul sparked rumors that she and Mortensen had split after she posted a video of her dancing on TikTok with the caption, “Not me morphing into 2022 me.” For those who know the lore of the show, 2022 was the year her marriage to Tate Paul ended.

She also said in another TikTok, posted Sept. 23, that the show was too “triggering” to watch. The same weekend, Paul posted an Instagram story about a “new chapter” beginning.

She then spoke to US Weekly on Sept. 23 and said she had “no idea” what the future held for them.

“I would say we’re working on things, and I actually have no idea where it goes with us from here,” Taylor told Us. “We are not fully together, but not fully done. I don’t know what the future holds with him and I.”

Paul wasted no time addressing her relationship woes in Episode One of Season 2, saying she was “lied to for two years.”

Paul said Mortensen was involved with another woman in the early days of their relationship, unbeknownst to her.

According to Paul, he “swore that nothing really had happened besides kissing.” Then he came forward and said “there was more to the story.”

Paul addressed the situation head-on while getting together with her #MomTok friends, saying, “I’ve been in pure sadness but I feel like ego’s kind of kicking in being like, ‘I’m actually nobody’s f------ second choice so if that’s what you wanted, (I’m good).’”  

Later in the episode, Paul sat down for a confessional interview and said she felt “betrayed” and was “in denial.”

“I don’t even know if I want to move forward,” she said.

Paul admitted that she was considering getting engaged to Mortensen after the birth of their child since she was in a period of “bliss.”

In Season 1, Neeley made contact with the other woman Mortensen was seeing early on in his relationship with Paul. In Season 2, Episode 1, Neeley and Paul met with the woman, whose first name is Jenna, to learn the truth.

Jenna revealed she never had sex with Mortensen but did have intimate moments with him. She told the duo that Mortensen was mostly the one initiating their dates, which he had previously denied to Paul.

“I was the night girl that you came over to at night and you were asking her on date dates and telling her cute things. I feel like a piece of f------ trash,” Paul later said.

Jenna said she questioned Mortensen about his relationship with Paul when she saw a TikTok video of them. He responded that he was just talking to Paul “for clout” and to help him build his social media profile.

In a confessional interview, Mortensen said he spoke with Paul about his relationship with Jenna after he learned that Neeley had made contact with Jenna.

Mortensen admitted that he deleted some messages from Jenna out of fear that he would lose Paul.

“I did lie. I was always doing it selfishly to protect myself. I just wish I was honest with her but it’s too late,” he said.

Mortensen said he had “a lot of guilt” for their son and felt like he “let him down.”

“I would do anything to have my family, to be with Taylor. And yeah, unfortunately, I just hurt her really bad and I screwed up and these are also consequences of my own actions,” he said. 

In Episode 2 of Season 2, Paul’s family invited Mortensen over for a meal. While trying to encourage them to work things out, the conversation spiraled and turned into a fight that left Paul feeling as though her family was judging her for sleeping with Mortensen too soon and getting pregnant.

The conversation ended with the family encouraging the exes to figure things out for the sake of their son.

Before the Season 2 premiere, Paul spoke with People about the potential of getting back together with Mortensen one day.

“I feel like right now we are individually working on ourselves and trying to heal, for not only ourselves, but for our son. So that’s been the main focus the last few months, last half of a year,” she said.

Paul isn’t in a rush to jump back into a romance with her ex but she’s keeping the door open.

“But to me, I don’t know, I never say never, but right now it’s just individually trying to heal and work on things we needed to work on,” she said.

In a separate interview with E! News, Paul shared an update on how co-parenting with Mortensen is going.

“Co-parenting is great, but it’s also the worst,” she said. “It’s the worst pain a parent can experience, it’s very torturous. For me, experiencing that already with my other two, this one has been excruciating and been really hard. To make that decision for myself, because I knew the pain that was coming with it, made it a lot harder to let go of us being together.”

While addressing the possibility of a reunion with Mortensen, Paul offered the following thoughts.

“I think he has that hope still to this day. So, I think if any or both of us are holding on to even one percent chance, then I don’t want to say ‘never say never,’” she said.

During the Season 2 reunion special, which debuted on July 1, host Nick Viall asked Paul where her relationship with Mortensen stands today.

"We are just individually needing to do so much self work on ourselves to be better parents for our son. I mean, our friends all can see that I do get very giddy around him," she responded.

"I did want Dakota. And from day one, did I show it in the best way? No. Was I fully open? No, cause I always had an intuition something was off. And granted, I was very correct on that."

Mortensen admitted that he "screwed up" when he wasn't honest with Paul early on in their relationship about his relationships with other women.

Paul took responsibility for her own behavior and said, "I was awful and I was very reactive and mean because I think when you're lied to, I just became so angry."

Next, Mortensen expressed his love for Paul and said he believes he's capable of being a faithful partner. When asked if Paul agreed, she said, "Maybe one day. If I were to answer today, no."

Viall pointed out that the pair has been giving off very flirty vibes on social media in recent posts and asked what's really going on.

"It's hard because like, I never wanted this. But at the end of the day, I cannot sit in the same bed with him and have peace. So we will never be together now," she said.

"If you're never going to be together, why do you keep doing what you're doing?" Viall asked

"Because it's hard," Paul responded.

"It's confusing for me too," Mortensen added.

Viall encouraged the couple to go their separate ways.

"Someone in this pairing is going to have to stand up and do the right thing and say no to each other, say no to temptation. Someone's gotta do it," he said, leading Paul's co-stars to agree with the host.

Chrissy Callahan

Chrissy Callahan is a writer for Today.com.