Taylor Frankie Paul Didn't Tell Dakota She's The Next Bachelorette

Taylor Frankie Paul is officially the next Bachelorette. On Sept. 10, the Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star appeared on the Call Her Daddy podcast to share the exciting update. But one person might not be too happy about the announcement, Paul’s ex, Dakota Mortensen.

According to Paul, Mortensen found out with the rest of the world when the podcast episode dropped. “I have not confirmed it with him. So I don't know if he knows or if he knew I had the opportunity,” she told host Alex Cooper.

During an interview with Us Weekly, Paul dropped some hints about how her ex Dakota Mortensen will feel about her new role. “It’s just not something that’s been on, like, my priority list to confirm with him. I don’t know exactly how he’ll react or feel, but he does know that we opened the gates of dating other people. [He’ll] probably [be] sad,” she said. “I assume that it’s like, ‘Whoa, she’s gonna be dating people, a lot, and then also, in front of me,’ and that’s probably gonna be kind of hard to watch.”

“I can’t speak for him, but I’d assume it wouldn’t be the best news he’s heard on that day,” Paul continued.

Apparently, Paul’s family is happy about the new direction her love life is taking. “My family’s very supportive of this decision. You’ll see [more on their feelings about Dakota] in November, so I can’t speak much on that,” she said.

“But what I will say is they want what’s best for me, for my kids and even for Dakota himself,” Paul added. “It was the smartest decision I’ve made [to] part ways and close that chapter and start a new one. So they’ve been very on board, for sure.”

Paul has been open about why her relationship with Mortensen needed to come to an end. “Right now, we’re individually trying to work on ourselves and learn to co-parent as best as we can,” she said in an Elite Daily exclusive, published in June. “We’re working on ourselves because clearly it wasn’t working together. That’s where we stand now.”

“People think that the little things are deal-breakers for us. They think, ‘Ah, if you guys could just do this and this, it would work out.’ But that’s such a misconception. There’s so much context you’re missing,” she said at the time. “I think we both have a lot of old wounds.”

“I see people say, ‘You guys are obviously just so toxic.’ At the end of the day, there’s just a sad little boy and girl inside of us that wanted to be loved; they’re not getting what they need,” Paul continued. “If you can think of it from that perspective — and realize that we’re wanting the security and love that we didn’t get as children — you can be more sympathetic.”

At the end of the day, she said she knew they would not be able to make it work. “I do feel like Dakota is a great guy. I just don’t think we’re great for each other.”