When we first found out that The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star Taylor Frankie Paul was going to be the lead on The Bachelorette, there were questions. With so many hints that she was still with Dakota and her reactive personality throughout the first two seasons, would she make a good lead to help boost the franchise?
After all, there are questions about the Bachelor Nation franchise as a whole. So many couples just aren’t making it after being on the show, leading to questions about whether it’s a series that should keep going.
But if it’s going to succeed, it could be via Taylor Frankie Paul. The reality show has made it clear that she’s a different person on The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives season 3.
Taylor shows she has done the work on The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives season 3
At the start of the third season, Taylor shared that she had been away for a therapy retreat, and it gave her the tools she needed to be a healthier person. After the rollercoaster couple of years since sharing the details about the swinging scandal, she realized that she needed to start dealing with her mental health.
And throughout The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives season 3, we’ve seen her put the tools she learned from therapy in action. She wasn’t as reactive as she once was, and while she did make a mistake in getting back with Dakota, once she realized he had been with someone close to her, she stepped away in a healthy way.
Past Taylor would have lashed out and argued with Dakota in front of the cameras, but Taylor took a step back. She got the details from her mom’s friend, and then she made it clear that she and Dakota were done. After that point, there were no comments about whether they would get back together or not, helping to settle some fears about her going on The Bachelorette and dragging other men into her dramatic life.
Taylor listened and offered grace to multiple people
We’ve seen Taylor get into arguments with various members of #MomTok before. She is one of those to speak her mind rather than talk about people behind their backs. That continued on The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives season 3, but she went a little further in a positive way. Becoming the leader of #MomTok, she stepped up when others needed her to handle the harsh conversations.
Yet, she didn’t completely argue with people when they were down. While she and Whitney won’t ever see eye-to-eye about the swinging scandal — and no, Taylor did not say the whole of #MomTok was involved — Taylor was able to listen to Whitney’s side when it came to Whitney’s dream of being on Dancing with the Stars.
We got to see her be an understanding person, rather than feel like Whitney was coming at her. That doesn’t mean they have to be friends, but they can have a civil business relationship.
And it wasn’t just Whitney. She spent time listening to others and offering them grace, including Jessi during the whole affair arc we got at the start of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives season 3. Not once did Taylor tell Jessi that she shouldn’t have done what she did, because that doesn’t help the current situation, but she was raw and honest about what it’s going to be like moving forward — and she made it clear that she would be there to support her in this time.
This side of Taylor is something we haven’t fully seen, considering her more dramatic moments in the first two seasons. Now that we see this side and the work that she has been doing with her therapy, it’s clear to see that now is the perfect time for her to be the lead of The Bachelorette. She’s not there just for fame, but for a chance to find a healthy love, and she’s in the place for it.
The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives is available to stream on Hulu.