“Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” star Jessi Draper is speaking out for the first time since ABC pulled co-star Taylor Frankie Paul’s upcoming season of “The Bachelorette” amid allegations of domestic violence.
Paul is under investigation in connection with at least three domestic violence incidents since 2023, according to Utah authorities. Last week, ABC cancelled her upcoming season of “The Bachelorette,” hours after TMZ released a video showing Paul attacking her ex-boyfriend, Dakota Mortensen, in front of her daughter in 2023.
In a “Call Her Daddy” interview with Alex Cooper, released on Wednesday but recorded on March 20, Draper said she wouldn’t judge Paul in her “darkest moment” but admitted the newly released video was “so hard” to watch.
“It’s just…there’s so much pain underneath the surface for Taylor. And I tell her this all the time, it’s not who Taylor is,” Draper said through tears.
“She got caught in a really bad cycle and just seeing that video —yes, the child being involved is awful — and everyone involved is really hard,” Draper added. “But Taylor is such a good person, and she’s made some mistakes, and so is Dakota, and I’m not saying any of it is right…I want this to be a wake-up call for them.”
The video that surfaced last week stemmed from a February 2023 incident where Paul was charged with assault, criminal mischief, and domestic violence in the presence of a child. Court records indicate that Paul pleaded guilty in abeyance to an aggravated assault charge in August 2025, and the other four charges were dismissed with prejudice.
In the video of the incident, which does not capture what led up to the moment it began and appears to have been recorded by Mortensen, Paul is seen throwing three barstools at her ex. Shortly after a stool is thrown, her daughter, who was nearby on the sofa during the fight, can be heard crying.
NBC News has not independently verified the TMZ video or viewed the original full video.
It was released days after reports emerged of a separate domestic violence incident earlier this year involving both Paul and Mortensen that was called in last month, which spurred a pause in filming for the fifth season of “Mormon Wives.”
On Tuesday, NBC News reported Paul is under investigation in connection with allegations of a third domestic violence incident involving the former couple, who share a young son, from 2024. Police did not share the exact date of or details about the 2024 incident, citing an ongoing investigation.
Representatives for Paul and Mortensen have declined to comment on Tuesday. In a brief phone call with NBC News last week, Paul said, “I will have my truth.”
On the podcast, Draper told Cooper she spoke with Paul shortly before the March 20 interview.
“She seemed pretty positive today, and I think she knows that this is going to be a long and scary journey,” Draper said. “And the thing about Taylor, she always tells the truth. You know, she’s known for that, and I think she’s going to handle this in the best way possible, and I think she’s taking a beat to figure that out. She’s not just running to TMZ and leaking stories.”
Throughout the nearly 90-minute-long interview, Draper also addressed her ongoing divorce from her husband, Jordan Ngatikaura. Draper said she asked for the divorce, but was “blindsided” when he filed last week. She said she found out he filed a report via a TMZ article.
When asked if she thinks “Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” will return for a fifth season, Draper said: “Let’s get them healthy and happy and move forward, and I believe people can come back from things like this.”
She added that now “the world knows” about the domestic violence incidents, the cast can film “in a real way, rather than before we were like, we don’t even know if this is going to get out.”
“I feel like all of us right now are just trying to like be like ‘hey, we’re human beings first and figure that out and then we’ll get back to filming the show,’” Draper added. “Clearly there’s no shortage of drama in our lives, so if we get another season, it’s gonna be good.”
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