Once Hulu dropped the trailer for the scandalous series it was clear there would be big drama on the way but nothing could have prepared us for what was in store once these ladies took their TikTok fame to the small screen.
All eight episodes of the scintillating reality show were rolled out on September 6 and introduced those of us who have managed to stay off of TikTok to eight very interesting ladies. Taylor Frankie Paul, Demi Engemann, Jessi Ngatikaura, and Layla Wessel are portrayed as the bad girls of the bunch while Mayci Neeley, Mikayla Mathews, Jennifer Affleck, and Whitney Leavitt are a bit more traditional. Together, they’re an empowered and outspoken group of modern, Mormon women who are hell-bent on changing their religion’s rigid reputation.
Here are 7 of the most shocking surprises on ‘The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives’:
Swinging and swapping is not on the menu.
Considering the promos promised to tackle the fallout from a sex scandal that rocked the #MomTok world back in June 2022, many viewers were expecting to get some specifics on the “soft-swapping” lifestyle. While Taylor Frankie Paul, who was at the center of the drama that kicked off when she announced her divorce is a star of the series, her swinging days are over by the time the cameras start rolling. Even more surprising is the fact that none of the other women on the cast had anything to do with the ordeal that served as the basis for the show. Many of them explain they were affected by the backlash from the public and even lost out on some brand deals as a result, but there’s not cat fighting over husbands or dirty details on what was really going down.
Teen Mom 2.0?
While we knew that many Mormon women opt to get married and start families pretty young, we were blown away by the fact that many of these ladies had babies before they could buy a legal drink. Mikayla revealed that she was a teen mom who found herself pregnant before graduating high school. Layla Wessel is 22 when we meet her and she already has two kids and a divorce under her belt. Jennifer Affleck was just 21 years old when she had her first child and after some IG research, it seems Mayci Neeley had a baby while in college and before she was married.
Talk about a plot twist.
Most of the first episode focuses on Taylor Frankie Paul and her attempt to get back into the group’s good graces after the sex scandal erupted and she serves up plenty of shockers throughout the episode. In it, we learn that despite being newly divorced, she’s already thinking about getting serious with her new beau, Dakota, who wants her to live a more wholesome life and ditch the booze even though he’s an addict who nearly lost his life to Fentanyl. Taylor’s mom is skeptical about her daughter’s choices and cautions her to slow things down but her words are wasted because Taylor is already in need of a pregnancy test. The newly single mom is indeed expecting but sadly, she has an ectopic pregnancy and vows to be more careful in the future.
Next thing we know, we’re watching body cam footage from an officer who is speaking to a distraught and visibly drunk Taylor after neighbors call in a domestic violence complaint. At first we assume it’s Dakota who lost his cool but it turns out Taylor is arrested and charged. Just when we think we’ve got this girl’s storyline pegged, we get a glimpse of her growing baby bump and episode 2 picks up at least seven months later as her due date approaches.
We’ve been doing soda all wrong.
While some of the women are serious about shunning alcohol and caffeine, most of them are OK getting their fix from soda and it turns out, there’s a whole other world of carbonated concoctions we never could have imagined. Throughout the show, soda pop is on full display and we’re not talking about the typical fountain beverages found in most places. Apparently in Utah, brick-and-mortar soda shops are as poppin’ as your local Starbucks and these babes take their bubbles quite seriously. Their custom orders would make the most badass barista break a sweat. At some of the fancier events on the show, bars are set up with signature soda drinks, and at other times we follow the ladies as they indulge in their daily 44-ounce guilty pleasures.
Nips and tucks and fillers aren’t frowned upon.
For some reason, we assumed cosmetic surgery and weekly Medspa visits would be a no-no for Mormon women since so many of their guidelines are centered around modesty but boy were we wrong. These girls get Botox like nobody’s business and for them, the best part is the laughing gas. While it’s easy to understand why someone so sheltered would sign up for a legal high, it’s baffling that they believe they need so much medical intervention before they hit 30. While all of these women are beautiful moms it’s hard not to wonder where a few of their original faces went. Between the lip fillers and the boob jobs and the tummy tucks and the labiaplasty (yes-you read that right) we can’t help but wonder what the social media world has done to these ladies’ self-image.
Whitney’s Naivety is Astounding.
Whitney Leavitt is portrayed as one of the show’s villains because she holds a grudge and likes to judge. Still, what we found most interesting was the fact that this woman took her husband’s “word” that his time spent on Tinder didn’t lead to any in-person meet-ups. Last time we checked Tinder is not intended for “talking” but she decides to forgive her hubby for exchanging nudes and holding years-long convos with random women. It’s also pretty shocking when Whitney reveals that she had no idea what was coming on her wedding night because her mother (and apparently every other woman in her life) neglected to give her the low down on the birds and the bees. Given the fact that sex talk is THAT guarded in this day and age, how can we fault these women for not knowing how NOT to get pregnant?
The Mormon men are not a monolith.
Even though the women are the main characters of the series we do get a glimpse of their husbands’ personalities and these guys couldn’t be more different. Demi’s husband is a 46-year-old tall drink of water who doesn’t hold her to the standards of traditional Mormon wives. Jessie’s husband seems pretty chill as well and even sneaks some liquor in the hot tub without shame. Other men on the show wear their toxicity like a badge of honor leading to some very intense moments for many of the women.
Jennifer Affleck is one of the younger ladies in the group but her husband is anything but modern. Even though he’s cool with her making all the money they need to support their family while he focuses on his studies, he demands she respect all of his rules and goes ballistic when she doesn’t. An impromptu trip to Chippendale’s during a Vegas getaway almost leads to divorce and showcases just how controlling this religion can be for women and the picture it paints is deeply disturbing. His reaction to her merely entering the venue and leaving before the show begins hinges on abuse and he threatens to leave her and take their kids because of her bad behavior.
The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives definitely delivered on the drama its promos promised, and the glimpse we got into this wild world left us looking for more. It also posed some bigger questions and illuminated struggles unique to the Mormon experience yet universal to the plight of many women outside the religion. It raised the bar for what a reality show should look like in 2024, with its gorgeous shots, top-notch pacing, and editing, all while offering an inside look at life behind the hashtags.
