The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives has fans seeking out information on the MomTok scandal and how the show's cast was involved with the swinging drama.
This new Hulu reality series follows eight popular Mormon influencers who gained popularity on TikTok in 2020, largely under the hashtag, "MomTok." The group's lifestyle, which was largely centered on going against the classically strict Mormon culture, gained a massive following as fans kept up with their lives.
The group is headed up by self-proclaimed MomTok founder Taylor Frankie Paul and became known for their V-formation TikTok dances. They perform in leisure-style athletic wear and hold the widely popular Stanley Cups, which led to the entire group gaining millions of collective followers online.
Mormon Wives MomTok Swinging Drama
In 2022, the MomTok influencer group became the center of attention in what was known as the soft-swinging scandal. This incident, for all intents and purposes, led to the group's implosion after its rise to fame on social media.
The break-up began when founder Taylor Frankie Paul announced on TikTok Live that she and her husband, Tate Paul, were divorcing. She then revealed that they had an open relationship, which included both of them engaging in soft-swinging practices with other members of their friend group.
For clarification, the soft-swinging agreement allowed both parties to have romantic intimacy with other people outside of their marriage with certain restrictions. In their case, they did not engage in full sexual intercourse with other people.
In the video, Paul revealed to her fans that she had "stepped out" of the agreement, leading to her separation and divorce from her husband.
Who Was Involved In the MomTok Swinging?
The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives details the events of that scandal along with how each member of the MomTok group was affected. Below are some of the details on how each member of the group was involved:
Taylor Frankie Paul
As mentioned above, Taylor Frankie Paul is at the center of the Mormon Wives swinging scandal, as she and her ex-husband had a soft-swinging arrangement that led to their divorce.
In the first episode of the Hulu documentary, she explained the struggles she had with all of the other women complaining to her about her scandal "ruining [their] lives." However, they then proceeded to joke about it on social media, leaving Paul confused and frustrated:
"What was frustrating though was, like, all of the moms coming at me, like, crying like, "This is ruining our lives, take it down, blah blah blah,' and then they're joking about it on their, like, TikToks. I'm like, 'This ruined your life and now you're joking about it? Like, I'm confused.'"
Over the course of a couple of years, Paul and her ex-husband engaged in soft-swinging practices with people from their friend group. However, once things got too far and a little too personal, this excursion ended.
Speaking with Decider after the show released, she addressed how she would have handled the scandal differently.
Calling it a "blessing in disguise," she described her actions as "very on-the-spot" decisions that she did not realize would be seen be so many people:
"I would say both, I think blessing in disguise because it is the reason we’re here today and where I’m at today in life. But also, do I wish I could have done things differently? Absolutely. I look back on it, and it was a very on-the-spot decision, and then the whole world…not the whole world, but a lot of people watched it. Millions of people. And so, I didn’t know that it would get to that point. It was a lot, and if I could do things differently, I probably would have, but at the same time, it’s where we are today."
Paul is currently dating Dakota Mortensen, and they have one child together.
Whitney Leavitt
Whitney Leavitt is married to her husband Connor and they share two children together with a third on the way.
In the premiere episode, Leavitt gave insight into an incident where she found her husband was secretly on the Tinder dating app in 2022. She explained that he was on the app for their entire message but had never met up with anybody; he had only exchanged messages and photos.
Later, he opened up to his wife about having a porn addiction, and he eventually left Utah because of that incident rather than the swinging incident. She also denied being part of the swinger group.
Additionally, in speaking with toofab, she shared that she was not worried about the backlash her husband would get from fans who watched the show.
Layla Taylor
Layla Taylor is a divorcee who shares two sons with her ex-husband, although she has been open about her experience with divorce.
Speaking to Today, she explained how divorce is not encouraged in the Mormon church as women are "taught to keep [their] families together." Through her own trials and tribulations, she's learned that the best thing in life is to make sure she is happy no matter what:
"Divorce isn't something that's encouraged in our church. We're definitely taught to keep our families together. Families are forever. It's not something that I think they love, but I'm all for and I'm an advocate for making yourself happy."
She also shared that her sons would not appear in the show's first season, as agreed upon by her and her husband.
Demi Engemann
Demi Engemann is in a unique position due to the age gap between her and her husband, Brett, who is 17 years older than her. They share parental duties over three children from previous marriages — a daughter from Demi and two sons from Brett.
She explained in the series that she was at some parties where swinging was taking place. However, she further noted that she was completely unaware of what was happening.
Brett admitted that he had "picked up the vibe" from other husbands in the group, but he never got involved either.
In a confessional, Demi confirmed that she and Brett are not open but that Taylor Paul said she thought it would have been fun to get together with them.
Jessi Ngatikaura
Jessi Ngatikura is currently in her second marriage with her husband, Jordan, and they have three children together. In the series premiere, she firmly denied having any involvement with the swinging scandal.
She made it clear that she was "way too busy and tired" to get into swinging with other people, even noting she did not have the energy to do much with her husband alone:
"I'm way too busy and tired. By the end of the night I barely want to have sex with my husband half the time. I just don't know if I could handle, like, four other guys."
Ngatikura is also already looking forward to Season 2, as she told toofab that she hopes to be able to "speak her mind" more and "be a little more outspoken" moving forward.
Jennifer Affleck
Jennifer Affleck is part of the show along with her husband Zac, who is known to some as former Batman star Ben Affleck's cousin once removed. She previously shared on Instagram how she met her husband when she was only 18 years old.
In that post, she explained how she's "definitely not your typical Mormon," having made some choices that many in the community would not agree with:
"I'm definitely not your typical Mormon. I've made choices that some might consider outside the lines, like drinking and having sex before marriage. However, those experiences taught me about the atonement. I'm not perfect, but I believe Jesus is."
In an Episode 1 confessional, Affleck stated she was not involved with the swinging in which some of the other couples partook.
She even joked with toofab that it makes her laugh hearing people ponder whether she was a swinger:
"For me, it’s so far from true that it makes me laugh. Like, if you actually think I’m a swinger, that’s so funny to me, it just makes me laugh."
Mikayla Matthews
Mikayla Matthews has been part of the group for a long time and details how she has been with her husband, Jace, since she was 16 and he was 21 At the start of the series, they had been married for six years and have three children together.
According to Matthews, she was part of the swinging scandal.
Mayci Neeley
Mayci Neeley was a single parent following the death of her first husband, Arik Mack, before she met and married her second husband, Jacob Neeley.
In May 2022, Neely posted a TikTok video taking herself out of the drama.
The video started with her on-screen and the text, "When MomTok drama becomes public" hovering over her. She then punches the words, "People talking on Reddit" and swings an even harder punch towards the phrase, "Everyone now thinking you're a swinger."
The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives Season 1 is now streaming on Hulu.
