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‘The Bachelorette’ Star Doug Mason Opens Up About Meeting Taylor Frankie Paul’s Children: “I Knew It Was an Important Moment”
In a revealing and emotionally charged new interview, Doug Mason is pulling back the curtain on his time with Taylor Frankie Paul, offering an intimate glimpse into the moments that defined his experience on the now-shelved season 22 of The Bachelorette. During a candid conversation on the Tuesday, October 13, episode of the iHeartRadio podcast “Bachelor Happy Hour,” hosted by former Bachelorettes Charity Lawson and Rachel Recchia, Mason detailed the overwhelming pressure and profound joy of meeting Paul’s children for the first time—a pivotal moment that he says solidified his commitment to her and her family.
Mason, 28, a California lifeguard whose affable nature and genuine demeanor made him a standout contestant, didn’t hold back when describing the anxiety and excitement that preceded that critical introduction. “When I met her children, I knew it was an important moment,” he shared, his voice carrying the weight of the memory. He immediately launched into a heartfelt and surprisingly philosophical explanation of why connecting with kids is such a raw, unfiltered test of character. “You can’t prepare for kids. Kids are crazy. Kids are so fun. And kids can tell if you got something up,” he said, emphasizing the innate intuition that children possess. “If there’s something in your head, they can tell it right away like an animal. Just automatically. Like, you cannot lie to your dog. Ever lie to a dog? That’s not happening. You kidding me? They’re like BS. Right when they see you, BS.”
Mason’s love for children was a recurring theme throughout the interview. He explained that he views kids not just as a responsibility but as the very essence of a hopeful future, calling them “the next level of life.” He pointed out that his professional background as a junior instructor for years had given him a unique comfort level around young people, a skill set that proved invaluable in this high-stakes social scenario. “So I’m used to children and they’re fun. Hello, life is fun. Why is it so heavy? Let’s have a good time. So kids and I, we’ve got along,” he reasoned.
But Mason was quick to acknowledge that this wasn’t just any ordinary interaction. This was a test of his potential to become a stepfather, a role he was actively trying to earn. “Of course, I knew I’d like her kids because I liked Taylor. So therefore, I knew [they are a] direct reflection of their mother,” he rationalized. Yet, he admitted that despite his preparation, the experience was still a leap of faith. “She didn’t prepare me for that. I just walked in and I’d basically sink or swim. And we swam. We were swimming laps in that experience. I had a great time with the kids. They’re lovely.”
Paul, a prominent figure on Hulu’s The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, is a devoted mother to three children: daughter Indy, 9, and son Ocean, 6, whom she shares with her ex-husband, Tate Paul, and son Ever, 2, whom she welcomed with ex Dakota Mortensen. For Mason, the prospect of integrating into this existing family unit was a journey filled with introspection and self-doubt. He confessed to being “terrified” of taking that next significant step, a sentiment that he wrestled with long before he ever set foot in Paul’s home.
“But I called it upon myself. I thought, ‘No, no, you can handle this. What kind of man are you?’ I was having moments at home. ‘What kind of man are you? Are you willing to put yourself in her life, and fully in her life?’ So I would ask myself that every day,” he recalled, painting a picture of a man deeply engaged in a mental and emotional battle with his own fears. By the time he was ready to meet the children, he wanted to be absolutely sure of his intentions. “I didn’t walk in there. ‘We’ll see how it goes.’ Nah, I knew I was ready, but it was exhausting, mentally draining, emotional. The emotional toll it took on me was a lot. However, I was extremely genuine throughout the entire process.”
The context of Mason’s confession is crucial. News first broke in March that Taylor’s season of The Bachelorette had been dramatically pulled from ABC’s lineup, just days before its highly anticipated premiere. The show was shelved amid a domestic violence investigation into an alleged incident involving Taylor and Dakota Mortensen. While the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office ultimately declined to press charges against either party, who both denied all allegations, the fallout was significant. Taylor has since navigated two separate and complex child custody battles, one with Dakota and another with Tate.
Despite the chaos swirling around the production, Mason revealed a steadfast loyalty to Paul. “Afterwards, I’ll just touch on it briefly, I supported Taylor,” he said. “I didn’t know she was talking about me. I didn’t know her friends were talking about me on her season. But I fully supported her because I remembered what it felt like in that moment.” He demonstrated a remarkable capacity for empathy, understanding the immense pressure she was under. “Also, it’s a lot to introduce your family to all these guys. So I saw it from her side too. But yeah, it was draining. But yes, to answer your question, I was fully invested once I met her children and her parents and her ex. We met off camera.”
That off-camera meeting with Tate Paul turned out to be another defining moment for Mason, an encounter he described as occurring during “the most exhausting week mentally” of his life. The conversation between the two men was intense and pivotal. “I don’t need to do the timeline, however, when I met Tate, he asked me the same question that you asked me, Charity — ‘You ready for this? ‘Cause it’s a lot. I live it every day. Being with Taylor will change your life,’” Mason recounted. He interpreted the question not as a challenge, but as a genuine attempt by Tate to gauge the depth of his sincerity, to look into his eyes and see if he was truly prepared for the reality of the situation. “So he really wanted to look in my eyes and see my sincerity. And like I said, at that point, I was all in. I was not going to BS. I’m not a BS-er. It was just as clear as day, this is going to be my life. So it was draining to talk to him for sure. I left that room [and was like], ‘I need 10. I need 10 minutes.’”
The crushing weight of that reality, the pressure of winning the affection of not just a woman but her entire complicated family system, was palpable. It was a mental marathon, and Mason acknowledged that he frequently felt the capacity for his emotions to overflow.
As for the fate of Taylor’s season 22 of The Bachelorette, ABC has yet to make a formal announcement regarding its future. However, the narrative has already been partially revealed. On season 5 of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, Taylor confirmed that she and Doug did indeed get engaged. But the Hulu series didn’t depict a fairy-tale ending. Instead, it showed a woman plagued by doubt. After hooking up with Dakota multiple times and reconnecting with her ex, Ben Lambert, Taylor ultimately decided to end things with Doug, sending him home and shattering the future he had braced himself to embrace. His story from the bachelor mansion and the real world is a testament to the emotional gamble of reality TV—a gamble where being all in isn’t always enough to guarantee a happy ending.
