Yahoo News The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives: The 5 Most Dramatic Moments From the Hulu Reality Series
What do Fruity Pebbles, soft swinging and Chippendales all have in common? Each took center stage at some point during Season 1 of Hulu’s Secret Lives of Mormon Wives.
The series, which dropped all eight episodes on Friday, follows social media stars Taylor Frankie Paul, Demi Engemann, Jennifer Affleck, Jessi Ngatikaura, Layla Taylor, Mayci Neeley, Mikayla Mathews and Whitney Leavitt as they navigate the demands of family, friendship and their careers. (The women have all formed a TikTok collective, called #MomTok.)
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You may have seen a trailer online, or you may have heard about a #MomTok sex scandal within the last couple of years, but there’s so much more to unpack! Whether you’ve watched the show and want to relive all the best moments, or simply want the abbreviated version to stay in the know, below we’re breaking down the five most dramatic storylines from The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives.
#MomTok Swinging Sex Scandal
The scandal that started the series revolves around Taylor Frankie Paul’s 2022 admission that she and her husband would be divorcing. Why? Because they were secretly swingers and she had violated the terms of their swinging agreement. (Yikes!) As part of the group of Mormon, Utah-based mom-fluencers (aka #MomTok), Taylor prompted backlash online as fans embarked on a witch hunt trying to identify her fellow swingers. Despite the entire series sort of hinging on this swinging scandal, it remarkably occupies a small amount of real estate throughout the series’ eight-episode Season 1, being mostly introduced and concluded all within Episode 1. Spoiler alert: All of the other cast members deny having been involved in the swinging scandal.
Taylor goes on to have more drama, however, in her new relationship with Dakota Mortensen. In February 2023, Taylor was arrested for domestic violence in the presence of a child after a drunken argument. While we don’t watch the conflict play out in real time, the first episode does chronicle the incident through body-camera footage after police responded to the scene. Taylor’s relationship to drama becomes a major theme in the series, with the rest of the group wondering how — or if — they should continue to work together.
Fruity Pebbles Fiasco
Once the series gets going, a villain quickly emerges: Whitney. (We’ll get to her later.) Like the good Mormon mother that she is, Whitney knows to never turn up to a party empty-handed. She decides to bring her pal Demi a huge box of Fruity Pebbles cereal during a Galentine’s Day party in Episode 3. Why Fruity Pebbles, you ask? Well, apparently Demi has knack for transforming the benign morning munchie into scandalous bedroom candy — the details were not explicitly shared, but Demi does confirm she has a kink for the Pebbles. Whitney wants to poke fun at her friend, but the joke, of course, goes awry, leaving Demi shocked and offended at the public display of an intimate detail. And thus, Whitney becomes the subject of the cast’s disdain for the rest of the series.
Chippendales Disaster
Perhaps the most dramatic moment in The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives Season 1 occurs at Chippendales, of all places! As the #MomTok group celebrates Layla’s birthday in nontraditional Mormon fashion, Jen’s husband sends her a flurry of texts declaring their marriage is over, he is taking the kids and she has no values whatsoever — all because she shared space with a group of topless men. A bit dramatic, we’d say, but Jen becomes distraught and leaves the event. She mysteriously disappears later that night, only resurfacing the next day to say she and her husband had worked everything out. All is well — how easy!
Jen told TVLine earlier this month that the pair have since gone to therapy and their relationship is much improved. (Watch video above.)
Whitney’s Excommunication
Whitney is the main antagonist of the series and finds herself at the center of all the drama, without really even doing much to actively cause it. The #MomTok women don’t feel close to her, and they confront about her lack of commitment to their friendship. Even to viewers, Whitney is pretty hard to read. She’s distant and does not seem to be enjoying her time filming the series, but does that a villain make? We aren’t sure.
Oh, also Whitney reveals to the other ladies that her husband suffered a porn addiction and created a Tinder profile to cheat on her — something she initially denied. She isn’t satisfied with their reaction to this news, however, which adds to the rift in the group.
It all ends with Whitney leaving #MomTok — whether she leaves on her own or gets kicked out by the group remains murky. After she fails to show up at Mayci’s product launch party in the finale, all the women decide to unfollow her on social media at the exact same time. Elsewhere, Whitney declares she’s done with the group.
Dakota’s Wandering Eye
In an explosive cliffhanger, Mayci decides to investigate whether or not Dakota has cheated on Taylor in the past. She calls his alleged mistress, who picks up the phone and says she’s willing to talk. Season 1 ends, however, before we get any answers!
Mayci told TVLine that the contents of the call are “definitely juicy,” but details will only be revealed in a possible Season 2. Taylor did say during the series that if she found out Dakota had not only slept with this woman — but also lied to her about it — she would end things immediately.
Which moment shocked you the most in The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives Season 1? Let us know in the comments!
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