A shocking sex scandal involving the Mormon church, TikTok stars competing to be queen bee and a cast member (allegedly) distantly related to Ben Affleck: The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives has all the makings of a classic reality TV guilty pleasure.
It all started with #MomTok, the TikTok craze that took off in 2020 in which a gaggle of groomed, glamorous but kind-of-bored young Mormon housewives would post dances and skits to TikTok, subverting the world’s perception of supposedly strict religious communities. It all seemed sweet and innocent — until one of the #MomTok-ers, Taylor Frankie Paul, shockingly revealed in 2022 that she had indulged in “soft swinging” with other people’s partners, and that she was getting a divorce after things, predictably, went very wrong. “No one was innocent,” Taylor explained at the time. “Everyone has hooked up with, like, everyone.”
What, you ask, is “soft swinging”? Taylor recently revealed on Nick Viall’s podcast that initially, two couples had been “making out in the same bed, [having] intercourse in the same bed next to each other, the girls kissing and the husbands touching the [others’ wives].”
And that’s where the Hulu show — the streamer’s most-watched unscripted season premiere of 2024 — picks up, with Taylor, plus fellow Mormon wives Demi Engemann, Jennifer Affleck, Jessi Ngatikaura, Layla Taylor, Mayci Neeley, Mikayla Matthews and Whitney Leavitt, baring their lives, souls and sometimes midriffs to the world.
The events that unfold in the first episode alone would make anyone tune in. There’s drama straight off the bat, with bodycam footage of Taylor being arrested for domestic violence but so many intriguing backstories too from the rest of the women, who vary pretty wildly in their commitment to the church. It’s no wonder viewers are rushing to Reddit to do deep dives on the cast. (Did Demi really meet her husband when she was 9 and he was 25?! No, she tells Us: “It’s totally satire.” Though the two had family friends in common, “we never officially met until I was 20.”) It helps that the ladies’ looks — Revolve party dresses, pounds of hair extensions — are giving more Selling Sunset than Sunday best.
Like so many of our most-binged reality shows, from The Kardashians to Real Housewives, The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives is also a story about sisterhood. So, despite clashing views — “We are a genuine group of friends, and when we get together, it can be dramatic,” Jessi shares in the latest issue of Us Weekly — women at home really can see their own lives reflected back in members of the #MomTok crew. Us sat down with the stars to answer your most burning questions and debunk myths regarding Mormon norms.
It’s been two years since Taylor’s “soft swinging” revelation blew up the internet (not to mention their friendship group). How does she feel about it now?
“I think everything had to happen exactly how it did to get me here, so I wouldn’t take it back,” Taylor tells Us. But did she expect the shocking revelation to make headlines globally and ultimately end her marriage to Tate Paul? “I wish I could’ve done things differently so I didn’t hurt so many people and myself in this process.” Though she admits that the soft-swinging chapter in her life was “fun and exciting,” she has no plans to go back. “I didn’t feel bad at the time,” she explains, “but learning the after-effects of how it can destroy your life, I absolutely don’t miss that.”
Are Taylor and Dakota still together, despite all the drama we’ve witnessed?
Taylor has been in a relationship with Dakota Mortensen since 2022 — and we watched them welcome son Ever into the world back in March, as part of the show. But with cheating allegations, a woman from Dakota’s past threatening to share her story and that domestic violence arrest, things did not look good for the pair at the end of season 1. “We are not fully together but not fully done,” she exclusively tells Us. “I don’t know [what] the future holds.” According to Taylor, Dakota wasn’t pleased with his portrayal in the series, as it often showed the couple fighting during her pregnancy. “He has a really good soft side that wasn’t shown,” Taylor explains, “and he [thinks], ‘To the world, I look like this awful person.’” Executive producer Jeff Jenkins, who also worked on The Simple Life and Keeping Up With the Kardashians, agrees Dakota is “very charming, sweet and likable” but insists he “was represented very fairly.”
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Did Taylor’s Mormon upbringing make her rebellious?
One of the reasons Mormon Wives is so compelling is because it’s rare to get a glimpse into the real lives of religious communities — especially when they’re nothing like we might imagine. And it’s interesting to ponder whether these women’s lives might not be quite so dramatic now if their formative years had been a little more relaxed. “I think growing up in our religion, a lot of things are no-nos, [like] drinking and sex before marriage,” Taylor explains. “I feel like they didn’t experience that in college, where it’s more normal to do those kinds of things.”
Meanwhile, Jessi, the mom famously seen swigging from a flask in the hot tub scene, points to those in the Mormon church marrying and having children young as a factor. “[They] don’t get to go through that experimental phase, [so] sometimes later on in life, they’ll act out.” Demi — who stands out from the other moms by having a much older partner (her husband is 46!) — agrees that abstaining from various activities increases curiosity down the line. “There’s not a whole lot of education around sex and abuse of substances. You’re just told, ‘Don’t do it; it’s not good for you,’” she tells Us. “Then you’re an adult, and it’s like, ‘I have this autonomy that was taken away from me [during] all of my adolescence.’ You start pushing the boundaries.” Oh, yes, they do. That’s why we’re so invested!
How does the Mormon church feel about the show?
Unsurprisingly, some members of the Mormon community weren’t too delighted about The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives — especially with the potentially scandalous title. But since it premiered, the tables have turned. “It’s been either silence from those people, or they’re watching it and love it,” shares Jessi. Demi tells Us she’s only heard positive things and is proud of how the ladies represent their religion: “I think we did a really good job at navigating the nuances within the church, protecting it in times that were needed and exposing things that maybe need change and improvement.”
What do Fruity Pebbles have to do with anything?
An innocent box of cereal has become a source of major gossip on the show, with one of the more divisive characters, Whitney, presenting an unimpressed Demi with a box full of Fruity Pebbles at a party, supposedly in reference to a sex story Demi had “discreetly” shared with her. Speculation about the sex act naturally went wild on social media, but Demi is staying tight-lipped about the meaning — for now. “We’re keeping it a mystery,” she tells Us. “If people slowly start to figure it out, then maybe we’ll talk about it.”
Producer Jenkins tells Us the scene of Whitney trying to explain the situation is his favorite. “The actual story is pretty outrageous, but just Whitney’s acting it out and Mikayla’s innocence [of] not understanding is a perfect example of these ladies being a bit sheltered in their faith,” he says, adding, “I’m still reading online a lot of people don’t get it — I’m like, how can you not?”
Though the scene caused “a bit of tension” with Demi’s husband, the couple is having fun with it now. In fact, she hopes to score a brand deal out of the ordeal: “I’m still waiting!” Yes, they might be new to reality TV, but these women are pros when it comes to making money off their private lives.
Why wasn’t Mayci’s backstory shown on TV?
Straight-talking Mayci has become a fan favorite, but details of her traumatic past were not included as part of her story arc. Mayci, now 29, became a single mom at the age of 19 when her partner was tragically killed in a car accident while texting. “My son’s father [the late Arik Mack] passed away when I was pregnant, and I was navigating a lot of trauma in my life.” Mayci also opened up to Us about some other difficult experiences from past relationships, including, “I’ve dealt with an abusive relationship, sexual assault and domestic violence.” She hopes viewers will get to know her better in the future. “We filmed a little bit of it in season 1, but it all got cut,” she shares. “I’m really hoping [in] season 2, I can dive into what makes me who I am.”
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Why did Layla’s marriage end?
Another wife who is yet to step fully into the limelight is Layla, the youngest of the moms at 23. Layla did grab our attention when she freely admitted to the #MomTok gang that she’d never had an orgasm, but she has yet to share the full story about the demise of her three-year marriage to Clayton Wessel. Layla tells Us that she and Clayton got pregnant and rushed into tying the knot after a year of dating, despite having an “extremely toxic” relationship. “I felt like we owed it to our unborn baby to give our family a chance,” Layla explains. “[But] we fought more than we were ever happy with each other.”
Eventually, after Clayton threatened divorce one too many times — “It was kind of a scare tactic to get me to fall back in line,” she says — Layla agreed to end things. “He ended up being the one to call it off, but I didn’t go back.” Tensions remain at an all-time high: Coparenting has “gotten a lot worse recently,” she adds. “Hopefully we can get to a more peaceful place.”
… And the big question: Has Layla experienced an orgasm yet?
Sadly not! Layla tells Us that although “it hasn’t happened yet,” she and her current boyfriend, who is also a Mormon, are “working on it.” (Layla slid into his DMs on Instagram!) She teases that he’s open to making an appearance if the series gets renewed. Hopefully then, she says, “I can update with positive news.” Watch this space!
Is Whitney really done with #MomTok for good?
In season 1, Whitney caused more drama than a high school prom night — and during the finale, she made sure all eyes were on her when she turned up, uninvited, to Mikayla’s birthday party at a roller rink. Having made her peace (kind of!) with her closest ally, Mayci, Whitney exited the event without even acknowledging the other moms. In her confessional, she explained, “I want to be surrounded by people who are supporting me, uplifting me, and that’s why I’m going to take a step down from #MomTok.” Will she rejoin the group for season 2? “I don’t know,” she tells Us. “We’ll see.” Despite their frosty relationships at the end of this season, her costars are mostly supportive of the turn. “She should come on and get her redemption story,” Taylor says. However, Mikayla had previously told Us Whitney’s departure “takes a lot of stress off a lot of us. No one’s trying to force her to be friends with us or be in the group.” Every reality show loves a dramatic return, so we think she’ll be back — especially if Jenkins has his way: “She’s one of those people [where] the camera loves their energy, and she’s evolving.”
How did the show end up getting made in the first place?
Executive producer Danielle Pistotnik was “confident” the ladies were destined to entertain — even before the swinging scandal blew the show into the stratosphere. “Within a week of working with them, I was like, ‘They are truly the funniest, most entertaining and also smart people I’ve ever met,” she tells Us. Producer Jenkins credits the cast for sharing their highs and lows, even if they almost backed out a few times. “I’m pretty sure Jen quit once or twice and then came back,” he says. “To her credit, she saw the bigger picture and understands the importance of [the story] she was telling.” She wasn’t the only one: Jenkins notes Whitney quit “a couple of times” during shooting as the tides turned against her. Ultimately, “She thought better of it and stuck with it.”
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There’s got to be a second season, right?
While a second chapter has yet to be confirmed, Pistotnik already knows whose story she’d like to explore: “What Mikayla is going through now, being so young and [struggling with] autoimmune disease, I think a ton of people could benefit from not feeling alone.” Though Taylor knows there’s a chance others involved in the swinging scandal could also make an appearance — and that it may be “triggering” to relive — “It’s out of my control, and they have a show to do,” she says. “I’ll have to face it.” And come on, every juicy reality show has at least three seasons in it, and then all the spinoffs!
For more on the Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, watch the exclusive video above and pick up the latest issue of Us Weekly — on newsstands now.
With reporting by Christina Garibaldi & Amanda Williams
