NEED TO KNOW
Dakota Mortensen is poking fun at his ex being ABC’s newest Bachelorette.
On Thursday, Sept. 11, the reality TV star, 32, shared a light-hearted Instagram video pretending to be the next Bachelor. The post came following the announcement that his ex, Taylor Frankie Paul — with whom he shares 17-month-old son Ever True — will be the next lead on The Bachelorette.
Lip-syncing to the audio from Lindsay Lohan’s mock dating video released in 2009, Mortensen wrote over the clip, “Is this how it works to be the next Bachelor?”
“Hi, my name is Lindsay and I’m searching for love,” he mouthed. “I’m recently single, I think, and I’m looking for someone whom I can spend the rest of my life with, or at least the rest of my probation with.”
Dakota Mortensen/Instagram
Having moved from his kitchen into his car, Mortensen continued, “A little bit about me, I’m an actress, a singer, an entrepreneur.”
Despite the mocking video, the The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star assured his followers that he is happy for his ex, 31.
“It’s a joke.. everyone relax lol that being said I am happy for Tay and I hope she finds happiness no matter what ❤️🩹🫶🏽,” he captioned the video.
It isn’t the first time that Mortensen has reacted to Paul’s announcement that she will be the lead for season 22 of The Bachelorette.
“Had so many curve balls today and every time [sic] I am always reminded there is nothing more important than God and family,” he wrote on his Instagram Stories across a selfie. “Life is to [sic] short.”
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Commenting under a Call Her Daddy TikTok clip of Paul discussing the ending of their relationship, he also wrote, “over.”
In the clip, Paul admitted to hooking up with Mortensen after they had split.
Cristian Lopez/Disney via Getty
“1 or 2 times….Got it lol,” she added in the comment section.
The comments came after Paul said on the show that she didn’t tell her former partner about her Bachelorette news.
“I have not confirmed it with him. So I don’t know if he knows or if he knew I had the opportunity,” she told podcast host Alex Cooper. “So he’ll know Wednesday.”
When asked about his reaction, Paul said her ex would be “probably sad.”
“If anything he says is real, I would say sad,” she said. “He does know that I was dating and, you know, meeting people, so that we’ve already had that first hurt, I guess. I think that’s the hardest part is when you see their first dating or hookup or whatever it is. That’s gonna always take a toll no matter what.”
In addition to Ever, Paul shares daughter Indy May, 8, and son Ocean Paul, 5, with her ex-husband Tate Paul.
Paul and Mortensen began dating on and off from September 2022, following her split from her ex-husband.
