The Bachelorette season 22 contestant Brandon Perce appears to be shooting his shot with Jessi Draper after attempting to find love with Taylor Frankie Paul.
“Alright, so this message is for Jessi from the Secret Lives of Mormon Wives now that you are single. I have a friend who is interested. He is a dad. He’s got tattoos, likes to workout. He has a job. Doesn’t like to golf,” Brandon said in a Tuesday, March 31, Instagram video. “He’s got a history with one of your friends.”
He continued, “So Instagram, if you could do what you do and tag her in the comments so she sees this. Let’s make it happen.”
Hours later, Jessi, 33, wrote in the comments section, “Hi,” to which Brandon replied, “Oh hey there, I think my friend sent you a DM 👀.” Brandon also shared a screenshot via his Instagram Story of Jessi following him on Instagram.
News broke on March 19 that Jessi’s husband, Jordan Ngatikaura, had filed for divorce after five years of marriage. He also filed a temporary restraining order, but his request was denied.
Jessi, for her part, claimed she got a head’s up about Jordan’s divorce filing after getting a message from TMZ. She claimed that her “heart sunk” after the correspondence.
“We agreed to tell our children together before filing, and we haven’t done that,” she said during a March 25 episode of the “Call Her Daddy” podcast, calling it “a betrayal.”
Luxury Handbag Shopping later confirmed that Jessi kissed costar Miranda McWhorter’s estranged husband, Chase McWhorter, at a party. The insider noted that “it’s not serious.”
Taylor, meanwhile, has also been making headlines. Reports surfaced in March that indicated Taylor, 31, and ex Dakota Mortensen had been involved in a domestic violence incident the previous month, which led to season 5 of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives halting production.
A spokesperson for the Draper City Police Department in Utah confirmed to Us at the time that there was an open “domestic assault investigation” concerning the pair stemming from two incidents in February, noting that allegations were “made in both directions.”
Days later, TMZ released footage from 2023 of Taylor physically assaulting and throwing multiple chairs at Dakota. In the video, Taylor’s daughter could be heard crying in the background. (Taylor was arrested following the 2023 incident and charged with aggravated assault, domestic violence in the presence of a child, child abuse and criminal mischief. She pleaded guilty to felony aggravated assault in exchange for the other charges being dropped.)
Hours later, ABC announced their decision to pull the mom of 3’s season 22 of The Bachelorette. (Taylor shares daughter Indy, 8, and son Ocean, 5 with ex-husband Tate Paul. She’s also the mom of son Ever, 2, with Dakota.)
“In light of the newly released video just surfaced today, we have made the decision to not move forward with the new season of The Bachelorette at this time, and our focus is on supporting the family,” a Disney Entertainment Television spokesperson told Us in a statement at the time.
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, please call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 for confidential support.
