Taylor Frankie Paul’s Bachelorette Winner Almost Didn’t Propose

Taylor Frankie Paul gave her friends (and fans) the inside scoop on her Bachelorette experience during The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives. Now, the man who won her final rose is sharing his side of the story.

Doug Mason opened up about his relationship with Paul on her unaired Bachelorette season, including the events surrounding his proposal to the mom of three, during an Oct. 13 appearance on the Bachelor Happy Hour podcast.

Mason had his reservations heading into the finale. He felt like a “replacement” who reminded Paul of her ex, Dakota Mortensen, and he’d learned that the on-and-off pair slept together before filming. Still, the two had off-camera conversations about how they wanted the show to end. “I guess I just believed that we would make it work. But I definitely wasn’t about to propose,” he told co-hosts Charity Lawson and Rachel Recchia, adding that his heart felt “strained” at the prospect. “It just didn’t feel that this was the Bachelorette experience that granted, that merited, a proposal.”

Though Mason said the pair needed more “time to actually get to know each other,” he admitted he “got caught up in romantic gestures” and decided to propose anyway. “I got to a point where I realized, How all in are you?” he recalled thinking. “This girl came here for a proposal. Damn, she’s gonna get one. That’s actually it.”

So Mason jumped off the speedboat carrying him to the final rose ceremony. “I felt like I was walking into my next life, literally. I just jumped up there and told her exactly how I felt, and I made a grand gesture — basically to eliminate any doubt she could have about me coming on the show,” he said.

The engagement didn’t last long. The newly engaged pair were asked if they wanted to stay a few extra days, but “Taylor decided that it’d be best if we left the next day,” Mason said. As Mormon Wives viewers know, Paul reconnected with Mortensen after returning home from The Bachelorette.

Mason’s Bachelor Happy Hour appearance comes two weeks after he shared on Instagram that he had “moved on” from the Bachelorette saga and was focused on his future. Some fans still hope Paul’s season will see the light of day, but Mason's green light to share such in-depth spoilers on an official Bachelor Nation podcast suggests the franchise may be closing the book on this chapter for good.