Taylor Frankie Paul Seeks Protective Order Against Ex-Boyfriend Dakota Mortensen

Taylor Frankie Paul filed a temporary protective order against ex-boyfriend Dakota Mortensen in Salt Lake District Court on Tuesday, her attorney confirmed, turning a legal dispute between the two into a parallel set of competing filings. The action came on the same day a Utah judge heard arguments about Mortensen's own protective order against Paul, the star of Hulu's "The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives" and a canceled season of ABC's "The Bachelorette."

A temporary protective order, known as a TPO in Utah civil court, is an emergency civil remedy issued ex parte, meaning a judge or court commissioner reviews only the petitioner's account without the other party present. The evidentiary threshold to obtain one is low by design: petitioners must show, typically by a preponderance of the evidence, that they face a credible threat of harm from domestic violence or harassment. Once granted, the order carries immediate legal force, but it is provisional. Both parties are then summoned to a full merits hearing where each side can present evidence and cross-examine witnesses, and a judge decides whether to convert the TPO into a long-term order.

That merits question is already teed up for Mortensen's filing. A Utah court commissioner approved his TPO on March 20, prohibiting Paul from contacting Mortensen and requiring her to stay at least 100 feet away from him at all times. His filing, which detailed incidents he alleged occurred on February 23 and February 24 of this year, described the situation as "chaotic" and "frightening." Mortensen alleged that Paul choked him and shoved him into a window during the February 23 dispute, and that the following day she threw his phone into a wall, physically blocked him from leaving, and "grabbed and squeezed" his face when he attempted to exit in his truck. The TPO also granted Mortensen temporary custody of the couple's two-year-old son, Ever, with the court order stating "no parent time is allowed" until further hearing. A merits hearing on that protective order is scheduled for April 30.

The Draper City Police Department has confirmed an open domestic assault investigation stemming from the late-February incidents, noting that "allegations have been made in both directions," a formulation that leaves open the question of who, if anyone, faces criminal charges. The Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office has confirmed the incidents are being screened for possible prosecution.

The legal maneuvering sits against a backdrop of a longer history between Paul, 31, and Mortensen, 33, who dated on and off from 2022 to 2025. In February 2023, Paul was arrested and later charged with felony aggravated assault, two counts of felony domestic violence in the presence of a child, misdemeanor child abuse, and misdemeanor criminal mischief following a separate altercation with Mortensen. She later pled guilty. A video of that 2023 incident, in which Paul appears to punch, kick, and throw metal barstools at Mortensen while her young daughter watches, became public on March 19. ABC's parent company Disney cited the footage when it announced the unprecedented cancellation of an already-filmed Bachelorette season featuring Paul.

Tuesday's April 7 court hearing, at which both Paul and Mortensen participated remotely while their lawyers appeared in person at the Salt Lake City courthouse, addressed custody and "parent time provisions" for Ever. Details of Paul's newly filed TPO against Mortensen have not been made public, as protective order filings in Utah are typically sealed at the time of initial petition. The competing filings place both parties in a legal posture common in contested domestic violence cases, where each side seeks the court's protective machinery simultaneously, leaving a judge to weigh the credibility and specificity of allegations on both sides when the April 30 hearing arrives.