When news broke that Taylor Frankie Paul would be the next star of “The Bachelorette,” some were surprised to see the dating series name a newcomer as lead of the show for the first time. But Paul’s “Secret Lives of Mormon Wives“ co-star Jen Affleck wasn’t one of them.
“I’ve been saying this for a minute now. In fact, I literally mentioned this to Taylor, I want to say even like last year. I was like, ‘What if you were the next Bachelorette?'” Affleck tells TODAY.com during a recent video call.
Affleck, who has had a front row seat to Paul’s complicated relationship history in recent years, says she’s always thought her co-star would bring a fresh perspective to “The Bachelorette,” which has been airing since 2003.
“Especially because I feel like ‘The Bachelor’ and ‘Bachelorette’ have been slowly dying, like the franchise itself has been dying,” Affleck says.
ABC’s “The Bachelorette” stars Taylor Frankie Paul.Michael Kirchoff / Disney
The reality star put her producer cap on and imagined what a reimagined “Bachelorette” could look like if her friend was the star.
“I was like, ‘If Taylor went on there, I think she would save the franchise, and that’s exactly what happened. I think I manifested it for her,” Affleck says.
Affleck and Paul’s co-star Jessi Ngatikaura says the entire #MomTok team is “so excited” for Paul to embark on her “Bachelorette” journey.
“She’s going to bring such a unique twist to the show. It’s going to be like Taylor’s version of ‘The Bachelorette,’ and we’re so excited to watch her and cheer her on,” she says.
Typically, “Bachelorette” leads are chosen from a prior season of “The Bachelor.” Paul’s casting marks a first for the ABC show.
Before Paul began filming the dating series, Ngatikaura had the opportunity to bestow some advice on her friend.
“I was kind of on the journey with her leading up to her leaving. She hadn’t really watched the show, and I grew up watching it. So I feel like I gave her a lot of advice just from being a viewer on what to expect,” she says.
Paul’s on-and-off relationship with Dakota Mortensen has been a focal point in the first two seasons of “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives,” which returns for Season 3 on Nov. 13.
After calling it quits with Mortensen, Paul was ready to move on when she began filming “The Bachelorette,” Ngatikaura says.
“She went into it just excited to have a fresh start and to just see that there are other options out there besides Dakota. I think she needed to get out of that bubble and just open up her world, so I’m excited to see what happens.”
Paul, who was previously married to Tate Paul, went public with her relationship with Mortensen in 2022 amid a soft swinging scandal that rocked the #MomTok community.
In a TikTok Live video, Paul admitted that she and her ex-husband had engaged in soft swinging with other members of the group. The show’s other cast members denied the allegations.
Paul later introduced her followers to Mortensen as the man she “cheated with” during the soft swinging scandal. The couple’s son, Ever, was born in 2024.
Throughout their relationship, Paul and Mortensen navigated cheating rumors and what some members of Paul’s family described as a volatile communication style.
In the Season 2 reunion special, Paul said she and Mortensen had broken up and were working on themselves.