As their fame increased, so did their scandals. Taylor Frankie Paul, the creator of MomTok, went viral in May 2022 when she opened up in a video about participating in “soft swinging,” which she defined as “when you just hook up but you don’t go all the way.” She said it was practiced by others in her friend group and their husbands, but added “the majority of MomTok is not involved,” though she never shared the names of the other alleged participants.
The series picks up in the wake of Paul’s February 2023 arrest on charges that included assault and committing domestic violence in the presence of a child.
“It was obviously one of the worst nights ever,” she told the New York Post in a recent interview. “But for me, it changed our relationship because I finally got help.”
After the first episode, the show expands its focus on the broader MomTok group: influencers Demi Engemann, Jennifer Affleck, Jessi Ngatikaura, Layla Taylor, Mayci Neeley, Mikayla Mathews and Whitney Leavitt.
A lot of women on the show talk about how they’re the breadwinner for their family as an influencer. What does being the breadwinner mean to you?
Affleck: It’s been empowering, especially as someone who didn’t graduate from college and have all the credentials in the world. For goodness’s sake, I’m dancing on my countertops, but it looks different for everyone. If it’s paying the bills, it’s paying the bills. My intention was to be able to provide for my husband through medical school, then to provide for my parents. My goal is to be able to tell my kids that you really can do it if you really want to, and you can do it all by yourself, even if that looks different from what you expected.
What do you hope people take away from the show?
Neeley: We’re all moms, we’re all making money and most of us are the breadwinners, so hopefully that can inspire women who grew up in a more traditional household. Hopefully, people can find someone in the cast they can relate to and hopefully learn from. The goal of this is to empower people.
Engemann: For the longest time, we’ve pitted women against each other. “Who wore it better? Who’s dating who? Who stole whose husband?” and other [positioning] like that create a natural divide. I want us to swing the pendulum back to see that women need other women.
Affleck: I’m hoping everyone can hear our story and learn and grow from that, rather than just having all these preconceived ideas of how Mormons are supposed to be. I hope everyone can see us for who we are and take religion out of it, and feel comfortable enough to share their stories about what they’ve felt shamed or guilted by in the church.
Mathews: Hopefully, people watch it and feel like we’re they’re friends and like they’re one of the MomTok girls.
All eight episodes of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives are now streaming on Hulu.
This article contains affiliate links; if you click such a link and make a purchase, we may earn a commission.
