Taylor Frankie Paul is getting candid about her physical health amid the recent cancellation of The Bachelorette and her custody drama with ex Dakota Mortensen.
In a Tuesday, May 5 Instagram post, the Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star shared what appears to be an AI-generated image of herself staring into a mirror covered in band-aids and an Icy Hot patch and attached to an IV drip. In the image, Taylor, 31, is depicted with her hair in a bun and wearing a stained gray T-shirt, while in her reflection, the reality star appears more glamorous and red carpet ready.
“It’s mental health awareness month. I’ve had to be humbled to learn some experiences need to be lived through to understand,” Taylor captioned the image. “Which category should we start with?”
In a series of Instagram Stories, Taylor elaborated that she has been dealing with various ailments recently.
“I know my Icy Hot patch is comical and, yes, maybe it’s funny I added it,” she wrote over an image of an assortment of medicine and medical products. “However, I use them every day along with heat sacks and other relievers due to the amount of pain my body is in.”
While Taylor didn’t go into detail about what is causing her physical pain, in another Instagram Story, she shared that she uses the Icy Hot “patches for pain,” “heat relaxes the tension” and that the “IV [drip] helps hydrate and supplement when lacking nutrients due to no appetite.”
“Band-aids were deliberate — pain you cannot see,” she added.
In a subsequent slide, Taylor shared a screenshot of an Instagram DM in which a follower asked, “Why are you in so much physical pain, Taylor?”
“I’ll be sharing how you get to this point, just not today,” Taylor cryptically wrote over the screenshot.
The Mormon Wives star has faced personal and professional challenges over the last few months. In March, TMZ published footage of a 2023 domestic incident involving Taylor and ex Dakota in which she appeared to throw a bar stool at Dakota during a heated exchange. That same day, ABC pulled the new season of The Bachelorette starring Taylor from its schedule.
After the footage went public, Dakota, 33, was granted a temporary protective order against Taylor and temporary custody of their 2-year-old son, Ever, in March. Taylor was granted her own protective order against Dakota in April. During an April 30 hearing, a judge approved protective orders for both Taylor and Dakota for a period of three years. No changes were made to the couple’s custody arrangements for Ever at the time. (Taylor is currently allowed up to eight hours of supervised visitation with her son.)
“This has been a very toxic relationship. It’s beyond the pale in a lot of ways, the toxicity,” Utah Commissioner Russell Minas told the pair during the April 30 hearing. “What I’ve seen from the evidence even post [the] last hearing, there seems to be a continuing attraction that they have for each other. … You guys have to figure out a lot here. You have to figure out how to function as coparents.”
“I’m hoping that you’re not people who just thrive on the drama and the conflict,” the judge added. “You’ve got to put your child first and shield the child from this conflict. I’m going to leave the current order in place. I need to think a little bit more about this lifting of supervision. I have mixed feelings about it.”
In April, Salt Lake City prosecutors declined to press charges against Taylor in connection with two more alleged domestic violence incidents involving her and Dakota that were reported to police as taking place in Utah in 2024 and February this year, respectively.
