Picking Up the Rubble from the ‘Mormon Wives’ Slash ‘Bachelorette’ Explosion

Oh, you thought your work day was bad? Imagine being the new Disney CEO, Josh D’Amaro, two days into his job, and you have to cancel an entire season of a beloved franchise and torch millions of dollars because of some very secret lives of some very messy Mormon wives?

On the heels of the cancellation of Taylor Frankie Paul’s season of The Bachelorette—following the release of the video tied to the incident that led to her 2023 arrest—more puzzle pieces are falling into place about how this production disaster spiraled so out of control. Buckle in! The “Mormon Wives” drama unleashed this week is likely to reverberate for years. 

After the video was shared (aka, leaked), ABC pulled the plug, which will cost them up to tens of millions of dollars. Earlier this week, People reported that filming of Season 5 had been halted due to an incident between Paul and her ex, Dakota Mortensen—whom she shares one-year-old son, Ever—involving “domestic assault” allegations from both sides. On Tuesday, Mortensen also filed a restraining order against Paul and filed for full custody. 

What makes this even messier is that ABC and anyone watching The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives already knew about the 2023 incident since it was covered in Season 1. Still, they hedged their bets on getting some good television, I guess. 

Now, according to NBC News, a secret meeting took place on March 7 between TSLOMW cast members and producers, where the cast raised concerns about continuing production with Paul still attached—one reportedly said they didn’t feel comfortable filming during an active investigation.

“It’s a dangerous situation, it’s a sad situation, and we don’t know how to navigate it, because Taylor is our friend,” another cast member said.

And because one Mormon wife’s life imploding isn’t enough—and surely because Jordan Ngatikaura wanted some attention for himself—the drama is now expanding into the wider Mormon Wives cinematic universe.

Ngatikaura, #DadTok member and contender for worst TSLOMW husband, announced on Thursday night that he’s filed for divorce from Jessi Draper Ngatikaura, alleging emotional abuse. Whether or not these two were going to call it quits was a huge storyline of Season 4—with Draper breaking down in one scene after realizing their prenup wasn’t properly signed, meaning she could lose millions. 

At this point, you do have to ask: what the hell is going on in Utah? Is it something in the water or something on the MomTok? And why are television executives so eager to profit off these people?

The “secret” lives of these Mormon wives are doing a terrible job of staying secret, but time will tell whether Hulu actually pulls the plug on the Mormon Wives. Probably not, since the buzz from this week alone already reeks of cash.

Hey, if Disney wants to blow millions producing a season of television just to scrap it, be my guest. Because then it will be time for my favorite show: watching Disney lose money!

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• Dave Grohl is going to therapy six days a week. Good for him! [Rolling Stone]
• Whoopi Goldberg doesn’t date; she just does “hit-and-runs when I need it.” [People]
• Justin Bieber and Usher got into a skirmish at Beyoncé’s Oscars after-party. Can they work it out on the remix? [TMZ]
• Also, who turned up the brightness at the Vanity Fair Oscars after-party red carpet? The stars are fuming! [PageSix]

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