Hulu’s Vanderpump Villa will edit out Dakota Mortensen in its forthcoming season.
The decision comes as Mortensen, a regular presence on The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, is part of a domestic violence investigation in Utah with his former partner and Mormon Wives star Taylor Frankie Paul. She was set to be the lead of The Bachelorette on ABC, but the network pulled the season three days before its scheduled March 22 premiere after video surfaced of a previous incident between Paul and Mortensen.
Vanderpump Villa follows the staff and guests of Lisa Vanderpump in a series of historic locals in Europe. Mortensen and several other of the “DadTok” contingent from The Secret Mormon Wives are set to appear as guests in the coming season, which is scheduled to premiere April 16.
Just how the show will cut around Mortensen remains to be seen, as he was seemingly slated to be a big presence on the coming season. The most recent season of Mormon Wives, which debuted March 12, dealt in part with the fallout from his time filming Vanderpump Villa.
Mortensen is also set to appear in a YouTube reality series called Unwell Winter Games from Alex Cooper’s Unwell production company. Both that show and Vanderpump Villa have faced some backlash for Mortensen’s inclusion given the volatile history he has with Paul.
The 2023 incident between Mortensen and Paul that led to ABC yanking The Bachelorette was public knowledge well before Paul was cast — in fact, it was a key part of the first season of Mormon Wives. TMZ released video of the incident on March 19, which shows Paul throwing a bar stool at Mortensen that struck Paul’s then 5-year-old daughter.
Police in Draper City, Utah, are also investigating another incident involving Paul and Mortensen that occurred in late February. Filming on season five of Mormon Wives was halted due to the investigation, which involves “allegations … in both directions,” a Draper City police spokesperson told media outlets.
Variety first reported the news.
