The couple shared a series of romantic photos on Instagram on Sunday, Aug 9

NEED TO KNOW

• The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star Dakota Mortensen and Shinia Powell confirmed their relationship in an Instagram post on Sunday, Aug. 9
• The confirmation comes as Mortensen, 33, navigates a custody battle with his ex, Taylor Frankie Paul, amid ongoing domestic violence allegations
• Sources confirmed the couple’s romance to PEOPLE in July

Dakota Mortensen and Shinia Powell are Instagram official!

The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star, 33, and 29-year-old influencer Powell confirmed their romance in a series of PDA-filled photos taken on a camping trip shared by Powell on Instagram on Sunday, Aug. 9.

Mortensen and Powell were snapped kissing on top of a mountain, with their arms around each other on a cliff and embracing inside what appeared to be a tent. 

“Soaking up our last bit of summer,” Powell captioned the post.

Powell also shared photos with her daughter Sophia, 6, and son Beckham, 5, on the trip, whom she shares with her ex-husband, real estate agent McKoy Allred.

Speculation about the new couple began after Mortensen admitted to hooking up with Powell to his ex Taylor Frankie Paul during the season 4 finale of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives.

Sources confirmed to PEOPLE on July 22 that the pair were dating and “enjoying their time together while thoughtfully navigating what that means for them and their children.”

“Shinia has been a steady source of support for Dakota through some incredibly difficult times, especially when he did not have immediate family nearby,” said the insider. “Their close friendship has naturally grown into something more … They respectfully ask that people remain mindful of their privacy and feelings as they work as a team to move forward in a healthy way within an already tumultuous environment.”

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Confirmation of the relationship comes amid Mortensen’s ongoing legal battle with Taylor, 32, over custody of their 2-year-old son Ever.

Taylor appeared to address the romance by posting an AI image on Instagram on Sunday of two similar-looking women with a caption which included the words, “This isn’t news to me.”

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The reality star also shared a selfie on her Instagram Stories of herself standing in a bathroom holding a make-up brush over her face alongside the caption, “got to tell myself there better not be any tears.”

In a July 13 filing obtained by PEOPLE, Utah’s Division of Child and Family Services filed a petition asking a juvenile court to find that Taylor’s three children shared with Mortensen and her ex-husband Tate Paul are “abused, neglected, or dependent” and order protective supervision and appoint a guardian ad litem to represent the children.

During a court hearing on Friday, Aug. 7, a judge ruled that Taylor had successfully completed her three-year probation as part of a plea deal from her 2023 arrest and her aggravated assault felony charge was amended to a Class A misdemeanor. Taylor was not present at the ruling.

Taylor was arrested in 2023 for throwing a metal chair at Mortensen while her then-5-year-old daughter Indy was in the room, as seen in a video publicly released by TMZ in 2026. Taylor pled guilty in abeyance to aggravated assault and was also charged with domestic violence in the presence of a child, which was previously dismissed with prejudice.

Tate, 34, and Mortensen remain in ongoing legal battles with Taylor following a pair of domestic violence investigations opened by Utah police departments in February.

Taylor has accused Mortensen in court of stalking and slamming her head into the dashboard of his truck, while Mortensen has submitted photographs of physical injuries he allegedly received during altercations with Paul.

If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to thehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.

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