Dakota Mortensen’s future on The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives is looking less and less certain.
On Thursday, Dakota and Taylor Frankie Paul appeared in court for a custody arraignment over their 2-year-old son Ever. As we’ve been following, Dakota was previously granted temporary sole custody of the little one in the wake of shocking domestic violence allegations against Taylor. Per the order, the MomTok star was allotted just eight hours of supervised visitation with Ever per week. Around the same time, the judge granted Dakota a temporary protective order against Taylor as a result of multiple instances of alleged abuse. In April, Taylor returned fire by filing for a temporary protective order of her own, which the judge also granted.
Little progress ended up being made during the arraignment on Thursday in terms of an updated legal custody agreement, but one aspect of the contentious exes’ legal nightmare was set in stone for the foreseeable future: their respective protective orders.
Per TMZ, Commissioner Russell Minas extended both parties’ protective orders for THREE years! And according to sources, that’s going to have a direct impact on Dakota’s ability to appear on the Hulu reality series going forward.
Early reports indicated that neither of the exes would be coming back to the show following their domestic violence drama, however, Taylor recently responded to a report hinting at her return:
“Interesting, that’s not the call I got.”
A source later clarified to People that Taylor “has the option to return,” and even appear in season 5, but that she opted to focus on herself and her family for the time being:
“She’s receiving strong support from the cast and producers but is focusing on her kids and mental health issues and recovery from an abusive relationship. She’s doing great, and realizing how abusive her relationship actually was.”
So while the door may be open for Taylor for more Mormon Wives, it’s pretty much closed on Dakota, per TMZ.
Elsewhere in their arraignment on Thursday, the judge urged the exes to work towards mediation in terms of Ever’s custody before returning to court on June 1.
What are your thoughts on this news, Perezcious readers? Are you surprised to hear Dakota likely won’t be returning to Mormon Wives? Be sure to let us know in the comments down below!
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, help is available. Consider calling the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-7233, or text START to 88788, or go to https://www.thehotline.org/
[Images via Hulu/YouTube]
