The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives viewers had lots of thoughts about that dinner where Taylor Frankie Paul‘s family pushed her to get back together with Dakota Mortensen — but how does the reality star feel about that moment?
During an exclusive interview with Us Weekly before season 2 premiered on Thursday, May 15, Taylor, 30, called that conversation the “most difficult” scene she had to watch back.
“One of the heavy scenes is the barbecue scene with my family. I, of course, haven’t seen it yet but I remember it and I do remember it being emotional. For me, obviously I’ve worked through that a bit and prepared to see it,” Taylor explained. “I continued therapy during that and then after I did a lot of therapy. I went to a retreat right before this so I was kind of mentally preparing for that because I knew that this was all coming.”
Taylor knew that reliving the experience “could be triggering” for her, adding, “It’s just kind of like a repeat of what’s already been happening. I prepared in the sense of knowing all these things are going to be triggering and it’s like reliving the trauma.”
While recalling the ups and downs she faced on screen, Taylor acknowledged that you “can only prepare so much.”
“Therapy and using the tools for when these hard situations come up [is important]. I’ve had enough at this point that I can kind of work through [anything]. It’s been a learning experience, for sure,” she added. “The last three years of my life was very traumatic. Even prior to the show, during the show and after the show, there’s been all these experiences back to back to back that I feel like were very hard to navigate during those times because I didn’t have all the tools that I have now.”
She continued: “So of course in the very beginning I was not handling it well because I had nothing to go off of and no tools that I knew how to handle that trauma. I’ve obviously learned from certain mistakes. But also with therapy, you learn all these tools and how to navigate certain situations.”
For those who haven’t finished watching the new season — or need a refresher — Taylor’s sit-down with her family and Dakota concerned some viewers because of how her loved ones seemed to side with her ex. Taylor and Dakota, who share 13-month old son Ever, were no longer together when filming for season 2 started, which her family questioned on screen.
In the shockingly awkward scene, Taylor was asked by her stepfather whether she contributed to the issues in her personal life by sleeping with Dakota too soon. Her brother and mother also attempted to convince her to give Dakota another chance. Taylor’s family then engaged in a prayer while she cried at the dinner table and Justin Timberlake‘s “Cry Me a River’ played in the background.
Taylor confirmed to Us that she’s no longer in a romantic relationship with Dakota.
“Of course when things are heightened, you’re breaking up and it’s not something you wanted and you just had a baby,” she shared. “It was not the prettiest experience, but currently we’ve come a long way.”
Taylor was proud of how far her and Dakota have come when coparenting. (The reality star also shares daughter Indy, 7, and son Ocean, 4, with ex-husband Tate Paul.)
“We’ve obviously come a long way to navigate it. It’s different from my first husband [Tate Paul] because there’s obviously a friendship there. We adjusted,” she continued. “Whereas [with] Dakota, everything’s fresh. It’s something that we necessarily didn’t want to do but needed to separate. So it’s an adjustment and we’ve had to learn through the obstacles of this experience to do what’s best for our son.”
The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives is currently streaming on Hulu.
