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Taylor Frankie Paul says she has spent the past 10 months single and celibate, a change she admits she never expected from herself given her previous approach to relationships.
The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star, 32, shared the update on Instagram on Sunday, November 8, alongside a video of herself dancing. Reflecting on the period, she said being on her own for so long had been one of the biggest surprises of the year.
"The fact that I remained single and celibate during the 10 loneliest months of life has me shocked but progress I guess," she wrote.
Paul acknowledged that the decision was particularly unexpected for those who have followed her romantic life over the years.
"If you're familiar with how I am, you know it's the opposite of what I would have normally done. (I hate to admit)," she added, explaining that the experience had taught her to become comfortable with being alone.
Her latest comments come amid renewed attention on her complicated relationship history, particularly following her admission during the fifth season of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives that she had slept with her former boyfriend Dakota Mortensen while still engaged to Doug Mason.
Mason was the contestant Paul developed a connection with during her season of The Bachelorette, which was filmed but never aired. She accepted his proposal, but their relationship eventually fell apart.
During the Hulu series, Paul told her co-stars that she and Mortensen had continued communicating while she was engaged to Mason. She recalled that Mortensen eventually came over to her home, where the two slept together. When her friends clarified what had happened, Paul confirmed it, although she said she did not like describing the encounter as cheating.
Her personal life has remained in the spotlight following the cancellation of her Bachelorette season after a previously surfaced 2023 domestic violence video involving her and Mortensen prompted renewed scrutiny. The former couple has also been involved in custody disputes concerning their son.
In September, Paul had already hinted at a decision to step away from romantic relationships, saying she wanted to focus on herself rather than return to familiar patterns.
"Sorry to those that thought they were going to see my redemption arc," she wrote at the time. "That has slowly just begun. I've stayed in, single and celibate this entire time and nobody will have intimate access to me again unless he's my person and that's a promise to myself."
She added that she still had a long way to go but was taking things one step at a time.
