When most people think of Mormons, it’s unlikely that TikTok influencing, swinging and boozy pool parties are the first things that come to mind. After watching the trailer for Hulu’s new series, The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, set somewhat facetiously to Sam Smith’s ‘Unholy’, that might stand to change.
The new series follows the Mormon wives behind the #MomTok TikTok trend, who went viral in 2022 after an inter-couple swinging scandal made international headlines – and caused a lot of drama on the Mormon scene in Salt Lake City.
One of the wives, Taylor Paul, took to TikTok to reveal that she and her husband were getting divorced because they had been 'soft swinging' with other Mormon couples and she had developed feelings for another husband. The video went viral and implicated her fellow #MomTok influencers – many of whom denied their involvement, some of whom remained silent.
Now these women hope to tear up the script and prove that Mormonism – known for its strict gender rules, conservative dressing, pre-marital chastity and loyalty to the church – is not always as prescriptive as it sounds. Despite having their actions described as a 'gross misrepresentation' of the faith by the Church of Jesus Christ Latter-day Saints.
‘We are trying to change the stigma of the gender roles in Mormon culture,’ cast member Mayci Neeley explains in the trailer. It's safe to say they’ve already succeeded in that department. These women do not live by the book, so it’s only right that they’ve been given a Disney+ series to lift the lid on their alternative Mormon lifestyle. Let's meet the Mormon wives fronting the show.
Taylor Frankie Paul
The Mormon mum influencer at the helm of the series is Taylor Paul. In the summer of 2022, she announced, via a TikTok livestream, that she and her husband Tate Paul had decided to get divorced because she had feelings for Dakota Mortensen.
In the video, Taylor said that Tate had asked them to stop 'soft swinging' with their friends in fear that one of the women would get pregnant and they wouldn't know who the father was. However, at that point, she had already developed feelings for Dakota, and her marriage subsequently broke down. Later that year, she revealed that she and Dakota, who are still together now, were expecting a baby together.
It goes without saying that the scandal caused a stir both online and in their friendship group, prompting adamant denials from other couples, new cheating accusations and further shocking revelations. All of which is ostensibly controversial for members of the Church of Jesus Christ Latter-day Saints – and probably a lot of non-religious people too.
Shortly after the announcement, Taylor was arrested and charged with aggravated assault, two counts of domestic violence in the presence of a child, child abuse with injury and criminal mischief after being accused of attacking her new boyfriend, Dakota. In August 2023, she pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and the other charges were dismissed.
Did Dakota cheat on Taylor with Jenna?
Given the rocky start to their relationship, Taylor asked Dakota to tell her everything that happened with a woman called Jenna at the beginning of their relationship when they were not yet exclusive.
Throughout the season, Dakota was adamant he never cheated and said he had only kissed Jenna when they weren't exclusive. Taylor told her MomTok friends that she would leave him if she ever found out he was lying despite being pregnant at the time. Later in the series, co-star Mayci Neeley posted an Instagram story asking fans to share their darkest secrets and she got a message from someone who claimed they slept with Dakota 'before' knowing he was with Taylor.
At the end of the series, Mayci called Jenna – the woman who claimed to have slept with Dakota – to get to the bottom of the story. However, the series ended on a cliffhanger and viewers didn't get to find out what Jenna had to say.
Speaking to Us Weekly, Taylor said, 'At the end of the day, I was like, "Why is this an issue to call?" I was fine with her calling her because I am like, "What is there to hide?". If there’s nothing to hide, there should be no question. But that is a very major trigger for me, and he knows that.'
On the show, Dakota denied sleeping with Jenna or cheating on Taylor once they made things official. 'It wasn’t something he was wanting to bring on the show,' Taylor added before suggesting she does not know how the call ended. 'I guess at the end of the day, we’ll see how that ends up going because I don’t know. I have no problem with it though.'
Demi Engemann
Another star of the new series is Demi Engemann, who revealed that she met her husband when she was nine years old, and he was 25. Demi and her husband Bret were both previously married to other people and Demi claims to have thought of Bret as a childhood crush. However, when she turned 18, she realised that he followed her on Instagram. Several years later, Bret reached out with a modelling opportunity for Demi’s daughter and the pair decided to meet up. ‘It was like a movie,’ Demi explained. They got married in 2021 and are one of the couples central to the new show.
Jennifer Affleck
We know what you're thinking, Affleck as in Ben Affleck? Well, despite many viewers wondering if and how Jennifer Affleck is related to Ben Affleck, and despite having the same name as both Ben Affleck’s ex-wives, this Jennifer Affleck claims to be the wife of Ben’s second cousin, Zac. It’s a small world, isn’t it? She even jokes on the show that she is ‘definitely the first Jennifer Affleck’ and says, ‘maybe we can convert them to the church.’ Although it’s worth noting that she has never met Ben or his brother Casey.
However, some social media sleuths have gone as far as to trace the genealogy of Zac Affleck and claim he has no relation to the Hollywood actor at all. Awkward.
One user wrote, 'So the claim is that Zac's dad (David) and Ben are first cousins. This would mean Gordon (David's dad, Zac's grandfather) and Timothy (Ben's dad) are brothers. According to genealogies, Timothy's only sibling is a man named Stephen. I've gone back like 2-3 generations and Ben Affleck's family has always resided on the east coast. Even Gordon's father (Zac's great grandfather) was born, raised and died in Utah. And that man's father came from England. It's just impossible.' A subplot for season two perhaps...
Fake famous relatives aside, Jennifer and Zac met on a Mormon dating app called Mutual and have two kids together. On the show, they open up about finding fame on social media, having sex before marriage and drinking, all of which are typically frowned upon by Mormons.
The Mormon influencer has more than one million followers on TikTok and while her husband is at medical school, she is the main provider for their family. Praising Zac for being a stay-at-home-dad on Instagram, she wrote, ‘Even with dedicating time to school, he’s never wavered in giving Nora and Luca everything they need. Getting to see him take on the role of stay-at-home dad this year has been truly special. Nora and Luca are so lucky to have you.’
Is Jen still living in New York and did she leave MomTok?
At the end of the series, Jessi Ngatikaura calls Demi Engemann to say, 'Jen called me and she goes like, "I just wanted to tell you my version of things and what's going on". Jen told me that she's leaving MomTok because of Zac. He doesn't want her associated with us. I am really sad that this is just a continuous pattern that's not getting better.'
Apparently, Jen felt she had to choose between her relationship and MomTok and her friends were concerned that Zac had allegedly given her an ultimatum about moving to New York. Despite the fact that she is the breadwinner of the family.
On the show Jen said, 'We also just found out that Zac got into medical school in New York, which was one of his top dream schools to get into. Medical schools are super hard on marriages, so it makes me question if going to medical school is worth it.'
Speaking to Zac directly she added, 'I think if we avoid all of our issues and just keep moving forward that, being completely honest, I don’t know if our marriage would last. Do you have hope for the future? I know that part of you thinks that New York, that’s where we’re supposed to be. But I just don’t know if it makes sense. It holds me back from business opportunities with MomTok.' To which he responded, 'I don't really care.'
Despite Jen's concerns and Zac's apparent lack of respect for her ambitions and friendship with MomTok, it seems the couple did end up moving to New York. A month after filming ended, she posted a TikTok saying goodbye to their house. However, she has since posted videos with her MomTok friends too, so it's possible she will make a return if the show gets a second season.
Jessi Ngatikaura
If you are waiting to hear about more scandalous behaviour, that’s where Jessi Ngatikaura comes in. The mum-of-two reveals that childbirth changed her vagina and left her unable to wear yoga pants, so she underwent labiaplasty and showed her castmates the results on camera.
She said, and we quote, ‘My meat curtains, they just hang low. I’ve noticed a big difference down there, to the point where it’s uncomfortable. So they’re basically cutting off the extra meat and making it so my lips are just nice and perfect again.’ Jessi then joked about making a sandwich with her ‘extra meat’.
Salon owner Jessi, who is married to Jordan Ngatikaura, has been accused of ‘clout chasing’ by some long-term MomTok fans because she grew closer to the group after the swinging scandal.
Layla Taylor
Another unconventional Mormon cast member is 23-year-old Layla Taylor, who is a single mum of two. She has used the money from the show to get a breast augmentation, rhinoplasty and a tummy tuck and said, ‘I wanted to take back my confidence and I knew plastic surgery was one of the only ways I could for myself! I don’t think I did anything too crazy, just got my pre-baby body back, minus the nose job, that was purely cosmetic!’ The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star then added, ‘I want a new husband one day, so I had to revamp!’
Mayci Neeley
Fellow MomTik influencer, Mayci Neeley, has 1.4m followers on TikTok and has always denied any involvement in the ‘soft swinging’ scandal that brought the group into the spotlight. She has been married to Jacob Neeley since 2018 and they have two children – one of which has a different father. Mayci had her son Hudson with her ex-partner Arik, who she dated when she was 19 and planned to marry. However, Arik sadly died in a car accident a few months before Hudson was born. Jacob then came into their lives when Hudson was seven months old and the pair were friends for a long time before anything happened. Mayci said, ‘I was terrified of getting hurt again but after four months I couldn’t deny my feelings any longer. He was kind and funny and made me feel safe.’
Mikayla Matthews
Leighton Meester-lookalike Mikayla Matthews is another content creator, wife and mom-of-three on the show. She had her first child Beckham when she was 17. ‘I feel like there’s so many blessings that came from being a young mom,’ she says. ‘That’s not to say it was easy, because it was the hardest time of my life. I was having to navigate a really critical time in your life when you’re realising what you want. It’s right before you go to college, and you’re like, “What do I want to do with my life?” And then, I was just thrown into motherhood.’ Like the rest of the cast, Mikayla shares parts of her unconventional Mormon family life on social media and also opens up about her unidentified chronic illness, which leaves her with red patches on her skin.
Whitney Leavitt
Spoiler alert, but at the end of the first series, Whitney Leavitt announced that she was expecting her third baby and leaving MomTok. She and her husband Connor caused a stir in episode one when it came to light that Connor had a porn addiction and was on Tinder, leading the couple to temporarily relocate to Hawaii for two months. Apparently, the dust has settled, and the couple are closer than ever – the same can’t be said for Whitney and her fellow Mormon mums. As for whether she’ll return for season two of the Hulu series, she said, ‘I want to see the show first and then we’ll see.’
Did Whitney move to the homestead farm?
Co-star Jessi said, 'Trad wife is kind of how the Mormon church has been for year. You’re a traditional wife; you cook, you clean, you stay home, and now it’s trendy. So our show has funny timing because of that. But I think out of all of us on the show, I think Whitney leaned into the trad wife trend a little harder than most of us.'
In the show, Whitney was making animal crackers from scratch and researching homesteads while the others went on a girls' trip to Vegas. She later told Betches, 'I’m looking for land right now as we speak. We owned a couple of rental properties, and we just sold one of them. So we’re looking for land right now. But I’m very picky, but I know she’s out there somewhere.' By the end of the season, Whitney had officially left MomTok. So there's every chance the pregnant reality star will be living on a farm and joining the ranks of trad wife influencers Ballerina Farm and Nara Smith in the near future instead.
Nikki Peach is news and entertainment writer at Grazia UK, working across pop culture, TV and current affairs. She has also written for the i, i-D and the New Statesman Media Group and covers all things TV for Grazia (treating high and lowbrow shows with equal respect).