Taylor Frankie Paul will be the first to tell you she was spiraling in the wake of a “soft-swinging” sex scandal. The popular Mormon #MomTok influencer revealed in 2022 that she and her now ex-husband Tate Paul were getting a divorce after breaking the rules of a swinging sex arrangement within her marriage and circle of friends.
What happens after is at the center of Hulu’s reality series The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, which not only follows the 30-year-old but other fellow Utah-based influencers who were affected by the wild sex scandal. Those include Demi Engemann, Jennifer Affleck (who is married to a relative of Ben Affleck), Layla Taylor, Mayci Neeley, Mikayla Matthews, and Whitney Leavitt.
Then there is Jessi Ngatikaura, who at 32 could be considered the elder of the cast. She was also divorced before marrying again. Ngatikaura has a hair empire running a salon, school, and extension company JZ Styles. Here the two open up about their journey this season.
Taylor, early on you are at the center of this show. Talk about how you were mentally preparing for this experience coming off the scandal.
Taylor Frankie Paul: I didn’t mentally prepare. You kind of see that on the show. It’s chaos. I feel like I did have the time post-divorce and filming so I had some space. I feel like I did a lot more healing work than preparing for anything. It kind of was learning from my mistakes. I went to therapy. I was prepared in that sense with what I had to navigate. Things I had to talk about now I wasn’t able to talk about before. Now I am. I think that is how I prepared for it.
JESSI NGATIKAURA (Disney/Pamela Littky)
Jessi, you’re very outspoken for women’s empowerment. How would you say you break down these preconceived notions within your community?
Jessi Ngatikaura: I think in Mormonism and even for some of the girls within our cast, it’s taught that the man is the head of the household. The woman is kind of the quiet one who just listens to what he says. In our cast, we have a lot of outspoken women. Me being one of them. I’m a business owner. I have no problem telling people how I feel and running the show. I do that within my own marriage. I think it’s okay. I want to teach women that it is okay to use your voice and stand up. Every marriage should be a partnership. I’m not above my husband. He is not above me. We both entered into this 50-50. So, I hope if there are any women out there feeling that way, I want them to know they can stand up and feel empowered. I think we’re in such a modern day where women’s empowerment is so huge. I hope to keep inspiring that.
Taylor, you go through a lot this season. From weathering a turbulent new relationship to getting arrested to having a baby. How do you reflect on going through all that with cameras on you?
Taylor: I feel like I have this same feeling today of what is life. It has been an emotional rollercoaster. I took it day by day honestly. I feel like it was hard going through it all, but you don’t really realize you’re in this darkest moment until after the fact. I look at it now as a really crucial time. No wonder I was so low. I don’t think I realized that during the filming process but as I’m talking about it now. It has been like therapy for me. It was almost like I couldn’t contain it. I feel like I cried almost the whole show because I’m thinking this is stuff I barely talk about now.
JESSI NGATIKAURA, JENNIFER AFFLECK, MAYCI NEELEY, TAYLOR FRANKIE PAUL, MIKAYLA MATTHEWS, LAYLA TAYLOR, DEMI ENGEMANN (Disney/Fred Hayes)
There are many things the cast does on this show including going to Las Vegas. Have you gotten any pushback from the Mormon community regarding what is being presented?
Jessi: Yeah, especially me in the trailer. I was drinking, on a pole at one point. I was definitely the one in the group that pushed the boundaries. I’m not claiming to be a perfect Mormon or even an active Mormon. So I hope people watch the show and realize I’m not claiming that is what Mormons do. I was Mormon most of my life and now I’d say I’m experimenting outside of it. I hope anyone going through a faith crisis or journey can relate to me and see we all make mistakes. It’s about what is in your heart that matters at the end of the day. Going to Vegas on a girls’ trip does not make you a bad person. I think we had a lot of fun.
Taylor, how would you describe what viewers will see in your relationship with Dakota [Mortenson]? The two of you are tested no doubt.
Taylor: You’ll see our rocky relationship. We have a baby on the way and still can’t see eye-to-eye on certain things. I feel like this is in part from past trauma and past incidents that happened. You get an inside look at our relationship and how it’s not as good as it looks online. Also, there are some good parts of it. You see that we do come along way since the arrest. You see we’re still going.
Taylor, what do you make of the issues Whitney has with you after the scandal and how it divided the group? Where do things stand today?
Taylor: With Whitney, I had no idea those were her feelings. That she felt that way. It all came out of nowhere for me as you’ll see. All I can do is apologize for making her feel that way unintentionally. Today I don’t know where we stand. I think we’re okay, but I’m not sure. We’ll see.
The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives premiere, September 6, Hulu