Dakota Mortensen Responds to Questions About His Sobriety While Filming 'Secret Lives'

The first few episodes of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives show the dysfunction in Dakota Mortensen and Taylor Frankie Paul's relationship and worries from her family about their dynamic. Some concerns that others have is Dakota's past with substance abuse and his sobriety. So when someone asked Dakota about his sobriety on TikTok and if he "relapsed" during filming, he was quick to address it.

By the end of the first season, Dakota seems to step up, though he still has some explaining to do with it comes to the mysterious Jenna, who allegedly slept with him at the start of his relationship with Taylor. All that aside, there is more to Dakota than a cheating scandal, though we suspect that will take the front seat in the couple's storyline if there is a second season.

When Dakota shared a TikTok about filming The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, a user commented to ask him if he relapsed during the season at all. He replied to share that he has gotten comments over the years about having too large or too small pupils and subsequent suspicions that it meant he was using drugs again. But, according to Dakota, he is still sober and he even attended an AA meeting during the Las Vegas trip on Secret Lives.

"My personality is very tweaky, OK? So I can understand why people would think that," he said, of viewers wondering about his sobriety and potential relapse. "Like, I'm very, I'm super energetic. I'm loud. But it's just my personality. Yeah, I should try to work on toning it down sometimes. But then again, that's not my personality. This is how I am."

In a previous TikTok, this one from 2022, Dakota urged other people with a history of substance abuse to not be hard on themselves about a relapse. He admitted that he had a relapse when he was sober for almost five years. He explained that a relapse "really messes with you," and that, in order to move forward, individuals who relapse have to "remember all the good."

The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives touches briefly on Dakota's past with substance abuse and addiction. But on social media, he has been more forthcoming about the details surrounding his past. In 2018, he shared an Instagram post to announce that, at that time, he was one year sober from both heroin and OxyContin, among alcohol and other drugs.

"After getting out of a very dark place and realizing that I actually do have value to this world it made sense to give this life another try. And boy am I so thankful I did!" He shared in a lengthy post. "I truly could not have done this without the help of my family and finding my relationship back with God… I can never repay those who helped me through this journey. I am so blessed with all [the] people who taught me things that I will never forget."