On September 6, 2024, Hulu introduced the newest reality TV show sensation: The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives. The series’ eight-episode season is chock-full of scandal, cattiness, and the truth about MomTok—and Latter-Day Saints Mormonism. With a 5/10 rating, you may be skeptical of whether the show is worth your time. Even though it’s not awarding-winning television, people are still tuning in—and here’s why you should too.
Kicking off the show with a cast of eight Utah MomTok influencers, this series centers around the lives of Whitney Leavitt,Mikayla Matthews, Jennifer Affleck, Mayci Neeley, Layla Taylor, Jessi Ngatikaura, Demi Engemann, and Taylor Frankie Paul. Does that last name sound familiar to you? Yes, it’s the Taylor Frankie Paul who got swept up in the viral “soft-swinging” scandal in 2022, resulting in her very public divorce from Tate Paul. She tells Nick Viall of the Viall Files everything about her swinging days in a recent episode.
Swinging is a kind of non-monogamy in which individuals in a relationship sexually engage with others. Taylor and Tate first began doing so with Taylor’s best friend and her husband, but quickly escalated to include parties and more couples, until it got to the point that Tate was ready to call their arrangement off. What you’ll learn in the show is that Taylor broke an agreement that she and her now-ex made: To them, swinging wasn’t considered cheating only if the other was present when it happened. If you want another recap of the “soft-swinging” (which wasn’t really “soft”), check out this TikTok:
The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives starts off on this messy note, introducing us to Taylor after the swinging scandal has gone public. The show also quickly jumps into drama involving Whitney Leavitt’s husband. In December 2022, Connor Leavitt was caught on Tinder as a married man. Whitney, after just coming back from Hawaii, reveals to her MomTok friends in the first episode that she has chosen to stay with him despite this.
Later, we realize that Whitney going to Hawaii or going on trips when scandals arise is just typical Whitney-behavior. Her friends call her out on this multiple times throughout the episodes, saying that she runs away when things start to get complicated. And oh boy, are things complicated with this bunch—the moms deal with arrests, pregnancies, fake friends, toxic relationships, and more. Every episode is a new story: sex-toy sponsorships, trips to Vegas, girls’ weekends away, divorce parties, and so many other things we wouldn’t typically expect from Mormons.
So, you may be wondering—how are these people the face of the LDS Mormon Church? Do their values even align with what we hear about this devout sector of Mormonism? According to an article by LSE Religion and Global Society titled, “The perilous promise of cyberspace: Introducing the world of the Latter-day Influencer,” the Mormon Church is relying on young missionaries and their social spheres to spread the Mormon message. This, in effect, allows influencers to mostly do whatever they want—they just have to be charismatic enough to get viewers’ attention. These influencers are tethered to the Mormon Church, and then spread the church’s message all over the internet.
If any of this sounds at all interesting to you, check out The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives on Hulu. Despite its low ratings, even people who don’t enjoy reality TV are eating the drama up. It’s short, it’s sweet, and oh-so messy. By the end, you’ll be asking the same question as everyone else: who’s Jenna?!
Major drama
No dull moments
Bingeable
Friends go behind each others backs!
Only eight episodes
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