{"id":358154,"date":"2026-04-01T06:56:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T06:56:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/358154\/"},"modified":"2026-04-01T06:56:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T06:56:11","slug":"dakota-mortensen-appears-to-find-himself-in-a-love-triangle-in-unwell-winter-games-trailer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/358154\/","title":{"rendered":"Dakota Mortensen Appears to Find Himself In a Love Triangle In \u2018Unwell Winter Games\u2019 Trailer"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dakota Mortensen<\/a> has seemingly found himself in a love triangle while filming Unwell Winter Games amid the fallout of an alleged domestic violence incident with ex Taylor Frankie Paul.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cShe hooked up with him, then hooked up with me,\u201d Dakota, 33, said in a Tuesday, March 31 trailer<\/a> for the competition series, after being filmed getting in a hot tub.<\/p>\n

In another moment, Dancing with the Stars pro Gleb Savchenko pointed to Dakota and said, \u201cBad guy,\u201d before pointing at himself and repeating the sentiment. Dakota seemingly responded, \u201cBad guy,\u201d while nodding and laughing.<\/p>\n

News broke on Monday, March 30, that Dakota was cast in Alex Cooper\u2019s new reality show despite his recent legal issues with Taylor, 31.<\/p>\n

Secret Lives of Mormon Wives\u2019 Dakota Mortensen Breaks Silence on Alleged Taylor Frankie Paul Dispute<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThe four-episode series brings together 16 of the most polarizing figures in pop culture to compete in a series of mental and physical challenges over four days, filmed against the backdrop of a luxury chalet in Park City, Utah,\u201d the show\u2019s official description reads. \u201cThe show promises fierce competition, unexpected alliances, and the kind of unfiltered drama that has defined Unwell across its programming slate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dakota will also reunite with<\/a> The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives\u2019 Demi Engemann, Love Island USA star Huda Mustafa, former Dancing With the Stars contestant Anna Delvey, Siesta Key\u2019s Juliette Porter and Love Island alums Ekin Su C\u00fclc\u00fclo\u011flu and Eyal Booker.<\/p>\n

Rounding out the cast is influencer Alissa Violet, Bachelor Nation\u2019s Joe Amabile and Serena Pitt, reality TV star Louis Russell, WWE\u2019s Saraya Bevis, influencers Hallie Batchelder, Hannah Stocking and more.<\/p>\n

Weeks before Dakota\u2019s casting was revealed, the reality TV star made headlines when reports indicated that he had been involved in a domestic violence incident with Taylor in February. The alleged incident led to season 5 of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives halting production.<\/p>\n

Dakota Mortensen Breaks Silence on New Footage of Incident With Taylor Frankie Paul<\/a><\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the Draper City Police Department in Utah confirmed to Us Weekly at the time that there was an open \u201cdomestic assault investigation\u201d concerning the pair, with allegations \u201cmade in both directions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Days later, TMZ released footage from a 2023 incident<\/a> of Taylor physically assaulting and throwing multiple chairs at Dakota while in the presence of her daughter. ABC then announced their plan to pull Taylor\u2019s season 22<\/a> of The Bachelorette. (Taylor was arrested following the 2023 incident and charged with aggravated assault, domestic violence in the presence of a child, child abuse and criminal mischief. She pleaded guilty to felony aggravated assault in exchange for the other charges being dropped.)<\/p>\n

\u201cIn light of the newly released video just surfaced today, we have made the decision to not move forward with the new season of The Bachelorette at this time, and our focus is on supporting the family,\u201d a Disney Entertainment Television spokesperson told Us in a statement at the time.<\/p>\n

Taylor, for her part, shared in a statement via her rep that she is \u201cvery grateful for ABC\u2019s support as she prioritizes her family\u2019s safety and security.\u201d (Taylor shares daughter Indy, 8, and son Ocean, 5 with ex-husband Tate Paul. She\u2019s also the mom of son Ever, 2, with Dakota.)<\/p>\n

Taylor Frankie Paul\u2019s Ex Dakota Mortensen Seemingly Reacts to Her Becoming the Next Bachelorette<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cAfter years of silently suffering extensive mental and physical abuse as well as threats of retaliation, Taylor is finally gaining the strength to face her accuser and taking steps to ensure that she and her children are protected from any further harm,\u201d the rep said. \u201cThere are too many women who are suffering in silence as they survive aggressive, jealous ex-partners who refuse to let them move on with their lives. Taylor has remained silent out of fear of further abuse, retaliation and public shaming. She is currently exploring all of her options, seeking support and preparing to own and share her story.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dakota broke his silence on the footage in a separate statement.<\/p>\n

“As anyone who has seen the video will understand, this is a deeply upsetting situation. I am, unfortunately, used to these baseless claims about me and our relationship, which I categorically deny,\u201d he said. \u201cI am focusing on our son and his safety and hope that Taylor will do the same.”<\/p>\n

Dakota has since been granted a temporary protective order against Taylor and temporary custody of their son, per court documents obtained by Us.<\/p>\n

Dakota Mortensen Files Restraining Order Against Taylor Frankie Paul, Demands Sole Custody of Son<\/a><\/p>\n

NBC News has subsequently reported that Utah\u2019s West Jordan Police Department is looking into claims made by Dakota after an alleged domestic dispute in 2024 with Taylor. He allegedly contacted authorities last month regarding the alleged incident.<\/p>\n

The West Jordan Police Department spokesperson confirmed authorities are reviewing video footage connected to the alleged incident, but declined to give further details to NBC News due to the ongoing investigation. Us reached out to the West Jordan Police Department and representatives for both Taylor and Dakota for comment at the time.<\/p>\n

Unwell Winter Games airs exclusively on Unwell\u2019s YouTube documentary starting Monday, April 6.<\/p>\n

If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, please call the National Domestic Violence Hotline<\/a> at 1-800-799-7233 for confidential support.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dakota Mortensen has seemingly found himself in a love triangle while filming Unwell Winter Games amid the fallout…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":358155,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[183986,16811,189091,156,26060,111,139,69,24067,17679,189092,437],"class_list":{"0":"post-358154","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-dakota-mortensen","9":"tag-dancing-with-the-stars","10":"tag-draper-city-police-department","11":"tag-entertainment","12":"tag-gleb-savchenko","13":"tag-new-zealand","14":"tag-newzealand","15":"tag-nz","16":"tag-reality-show","17":"tag-taylor-frankie-paul","18":"tag-taylor-shares","19":"tag-tv"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358154","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=358154"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358154\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/358155"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=358154"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=358154"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=358154"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}