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The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives: Hulu's controversial reality show about 'swinging' Utah TikTok moms sparks fierce backlash in the LDS church
A controversial reality show about a group of Mormon momfluencers in Utah has sparked fierce backlash from some members of the LDS church over its depiction of the religion.
Although The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives doesn't premiere until September, it's already caused a firestorm online and ignited discussions about what it means to be a modern day Mormon.
The series follows a group of glamorous influencer moms who have their faith and friendships rocked by a couple-swapping scandal.
The cast's social media accounts have been flooded with negative comments since Hulu announced the show on July 29.
Some naysayers have taken issue with the fact that the cast includes influencer Taylor Paul, who went viral in 2022 after she revealed that she and her Mormon friends had engaged in 'soft swinging' parties - which eventually led to her divorce.
A controversial reality show about a group of Mormon momfluencers in Utah has sparked fierce backlash from some members of the LDS church over its depiction of the religion
'These girls are obsessed with monetizing being 'Mormon' yet NONE of them actually represent an LDS wife,' one person commented.
'What's sad is none of these girls actually live the values of the LDS church, so this will only give the church more negative attention,' wrote another.
'Where do they find these people? What a terrible representation of our faith,' added one.
Multiple threads about the series have also popped up on Reddit, including on the ExMormon subreddit, which has been filled with hundreds of comments about the series.
'Real Housewives of Salt Lake City was the same thing,' one user wrote.
'None of the cast on that show talked like any Mormon I've ever met. These people are definitely not representative of the typical Mormon experience.'
However, some members of the LDS church came to the cast's defense on social media.
'I was thinking that it might be more like a documentary of a deconstruction of their faith, what it was like growing up in the church, and why they lead the lives that they do now - which I would find super interesting,' Utah mom Elizabeth Parry said on TikTok.
Although The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives doesn't premiere until September, it's already caused a firestorm on social media
'These girls are obsessed with monetizing being 'Mormon' yet NONE of them actually represent an LDS wife,' one person commented
'From one imperfect Mormon to another... love you Taylor,' one fan commented on Taylor's page.
The series is produced by the team behind Netflix's My Unorthodox Life, which followed designer Julia Haart after leaving her strict orthodox Jewish community behind to become a hotshot in the fashion world.
'The scandalous world of a group of Mormon mom influencers implodes when they get caught in the midst of a swinging sex scandal that makes international headlines,' teases a press release.
'Now, their sisterhood is shook to its core. Faith, friendship and reputations are all on the line.
'Will #MomTok be able to survive and continue to give the rulebook a run for its money, or will this group fall from grace?'
Some fans have also defended the show and expressed their excitement over the premiere
The series follows a group of glamorous influencer moms who have their faith and friendships rocked by a couple-swapping scandal
The cast already contains a number of controversial figures, including influencer Whitney Leavitt, who was slammed in 2021 for doing a TikTok dance next to her ailing baby in the NICU
The cast already contains a number of controversial figures, including influencer Whitney Leavitt.
The momfluencer sparked extreme backlash in late 2021 after she performed a TikTok dance to a Kendrick Lamar song in the NICU next to her ailing newborn, who was hooked up to breathing tubes and suffering from a respiratory issue.
The Mormon mom-of-two is still raising eyebrows online, most recently getting slammed by her own followers for promoting a sex toy on Instagram.
'Well... I'm LDS and I believe sex is for only making babies not for fun,' commented one.
'Is she the dancer that was dancing with her baby on critical care?' quizzed another.
The Mormon monfluencers first came to national attention in 2022, when TikTok star Taylor Paul, now 30, publicly revealed that she was part of a group of Utah couples who indulged in 'soft swinging' – a practice where partners are swapped but only with the understanding that they don't have full penetrative sex.
The Mormon mom-of-two is still raising eyebrows online, most recently getting hammered by her own followers for promoting a sex toy on Instagram
The group first came to national attention in 2022 when Mormon TikTok star Taylor Paul (pictured) exposed her swinging friend group on social media
But Taylor caused a sensation when she admitted that she had broken the cardinal rule and ended up losing her husband and father of her two children Tate Paul, who divorced her over the incident.
She also lost a lot of her friends, who turned on her and denied their involvement in the couple-swapping situation.
While The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives has a large cast, it's unclear which of the ladies - if any - were involved in the swinging shenanigans.
One thing the cast does have in common is their enviable social media followings, with many of the women already boasting hundreds of thousands of fans across Instagram and TikTok.
The current cast, who are all aged in their 20s and early 30s, include Demi Engemann, Jennifer Affleck, Jessi Ngatikaura, Layla Wessel, Mayci Neeley, Mikayla Mathews, and Whitney Leavitt.
Taylor lost her husband and the father of her two children Tate Paul (pictured) after she broke one of the rules in their 'soft swinging' arrangement
The 30-year-old was also arrested last year after a drunken domestic dispute with her new boyfriend resulted in her five-year-old daughter Indy accidentally being hit with a chair
Taylor is pictured filming a scene with one of her castmates for the new series
The women are already embracing their impending reality TV fame by teaming up for group TikTok dancing videos and gushing about the gig on their social media pages.
Taylor has certainly been in her fair share of drama since exposing the secret swinging in her Mormon sisterhood.
After divorcing husband Tate, the mother-of-three found love with real estate agent Dakota Mortensen - a former reality star and fellow TikTok star who went viral for sharing his struggles with drugs and alcohol on social media.
However, things took a turn for the worse in February, 2023, when Taylor was arrested in a domestic violence dispute after throwing a chair at Dakota that ended up striking her five-year-old daughter Indy.
She also threw her phone at him, and made him 'fear for his life,' according to court records.
The records say Dakota told Taylor to stop throwing things at him because he was standing next to her five-year-old daughter, but that she carried on.
Eventually, one of the chairs hit the child in the head and left her with a 'goose-egg' injury, the records claim.
The sizzling hot cast includes glamorous boy mom Layla Taylor, who has 26,000 TikTok followers
Self-proclaimed 'cool mom' Jen Affleck already has over 1.1 million TikTok followers
Bodycam footage obtained by DailyMail.com later revealed that the fight was sparked when Dakota refused to take a heavily intoxicated Taylor to a concert - causing her to fly into a rage.
The Mormon mom 'went ballistic' and eventually threw the chair that would accidentally hit her daughter.
When police arrived at the scene in a Salt Lake City suburb, the influencer told them she was so scared she had 'peed' herself.
She was charged with two counts of third degree felony domestic violence in the presence of a child with injury, a Class A misdemeanor of child abuse with injury, and Class B misdemeanor criminal mischief.
However, she was able to reach a plea deal after pleading guilty to aggravated assault, and the rest of the charges were dropped.
Blonde bombshell Mayci has 1.3million TikTok followers and has launched her own brand of gummies
Hairstylist Jessi Ngatikaura (left) has over 100,000 followers on both TikTok and Instagram, while Mikayla Matthews (right) boasts 2.4million on TikTok alone
The stylish Demi Engemann already has over 300,000 followers on TikTok
Dakota spoke with DailyMail.com after the incident, insisting that Taylor is a 'good mom.'
'She's so broken right now. I tried to help her,' he said.
'She's a good mom, she's going through a lot in her life right now. Taylor's been struggling, it's been a hard year for her. She is racked with guilt on her cheating scandal that cost her her marriage.'
The couple have since repaired their issues and in April, they welcomed their first child together - a son named Ever True.
Taylor already has daughter Indy, six, and Ocean, three, with her ex-husband Tate.
All eight episodes of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives premieres on Hulu on September 6.