When most people think of Mormons, it’s unlikely that TikTok influencing, swinging and boozy pool parties are the first things that come to mind. After watching the trailer for Hulu’s new series, The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, set somewhat facetiously to Sam Smith’s ‘Unholy’, that might stand to change.

The new series follows the Mormon wives behind the #MomTok TikTok trend, who went viral in 2022 after an inter-couple swinging scandal made international headlines – and caused a lot of drama on the Mormon scene in Salt Lake City.

One of the wives, Taylor Frankie Paul, took to TikTok to reveal that she and her husband were getting divorced because they had been ‘soft swinging’ with other Mormon couples and she had developed feelings for another husband. The video went viral and implicated her fellow #MomTok influencers – many of whom denied their involvement, some of whom remained silent.

Now these women hope to tear up the script and prove that Mormonism – known for its strict gender rules, conservative dressing, pre-marital chastity and loyalty to the church – is not always as prescriptive as it sounds. Despite having their actions described as a ‘gross misrepresentation’ of the faith by the Church of Jesus Christ Latter-day Saints.

‘We are trying to change the stigma of the gender roles in Mormon culture,’ cast member Mayci Neeley explains in the trailer. It’s safe to say they’ve already succeeded in that department. These women do not live by the book, so it’s only right that they’ve been given a Hulu series to lift the lid on their alternative Mormon lifestyle. Let’s meet the Mormon wives fronting the show.

The Mormon mum influencer at the helm of the series is Taylor Frankie Paul. In the summer of 2022, she announced, via a TikTok livestream, that she and her husband Tate Paul had decided to get divorced because she had feelings for Dakota Mortensen.

In the video, Taylor said that Tate had asked them to stop ‘soft swinging’ with their friends in fear that one of the women would get pregnant and they wouldn’t know who the father was. However, at that point, she had already developed feelings for Dakota, and her marriage subsequently broke down. Later that year, she revealed that she and Dakota, who are still together now, were expecting a baby together.

It goes without saying that the scandal caused a stir both online and in their friendship group, prompting adamant denials from other couples, new cheating accusations and further shocking revelations. All of which is ostensibly controversial for members of the Church of Jesus Christ Latter-day Saints – and probably a lot of non-religious people too.

Shortly after the announcement, Taylor was arrested and charged with aggravated assault, two counts of domestic violence in the presence of a child, child abuse with injury and criminal mischief after being accused of attacking her new boyfriend, Dakota. In August 2023, she pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and the other charges were dismissed.

Another star of the new series is Demi Engemann, who revealed that she met her husband when she was nine years old, and he was 25. Demi and her husband Bret were both previously married to other people and Demi claims to have thought of Bret as a childhood crush. However, when she turned 18, she realised that he followed her on Instagram. Several years later, Bret reached out with a modelling opportunity for Demi’s daughter and the pair decided to meet up. ‘It was like a movie,’ Demi explained. They got married in 2021 and are one of the couples central to the new show.

Despite having the same name as both Ben Affleck’s ex-wives, this Jennifer Affleck is in fact the wife of Ben’s second cousin, Zac. It’s a small world, isn’t it? She even jokes on the show that she is ‘definitely the first Jennifer Affleck’ and says, ‘maybe we can convert them to the church.’ Although it’s worth noting that she has never met Ben or his brother Casey.

Jennifer and Zac met on a Mormon dating app called Mutual and have two kids together. On the show, they open up about finding fame on social media, having sex before marriage and drinking, all of which are typically frowned upon by Mormons.

The Mormon influencer has more than one million followers on TikTok and while her husband is at medical school, she is the main provider for their family. Praising Zac for being a stay-at-home-dad on Instagram, she wrote, ‘Even with dedicating time to school, he’s never wavered in giving Nora and Luca everything they need. Getting to see him take on the role of stay-at-home dad this year has been truly special. Nora and Luca are so lucky to have you.’

If you are waiting to hear about more scandalous behaviour, that’s where Jessi Ngatikaura comes in. The mum-of-two reveals that childbirth changed her vagina and left her unable to wear yoga pants, so she underwent labiaplasty and showed her castmates the results on camera.

She said, and we quote, ‘My meat curtains, they just hang low. I’ve noticed a big difference down there, to the point where it’s uncomfortable. So they’re basically cutting off the extra meat and making it so my lips are just nice and perfect again.’ Jessi then joked about making a sandwich with her ‘extra meat’.

Salon owner Jessi, who is married to Jordan Ngatikaura, has been accused of ‘clout chasing’ by some long-term MomTok fans because she grew closer to the group after the swinging scandal.

Another unconventional Mormon cast member is 23-year-old Layla Taylor, who is a single mum of two. She has used the money from the show to get a breast augmentation, rhinoplasty and a tummy tuck and said, ‘I wanted to take back my confidence and I knew plastic surgery was one of the only ways I could for myself! I don’t think I did anything too crazy, just got my pre-baby body back, minus the nose job, that was purely cosmetic!’ The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star then added, ‘I want a new husband one day, so I had to revamp!’

Fellow MomTik influencer, Mayci Neeley, has 1.4m followers on TikTok and has always denied any involvement in the ‘soft swinging’ scandal that brought the group into the spotlight. She has been married to Jacob Neeley since 2018 and they have two children – one of which has a different father. Mayci had her son Hudson with her ex-partner Arik, who she dated when she was 19 and planned to marry. However, Arik sadly died in a car accident a few months before Hudson was born. Jacob then came into their lives when Hudson was seven months old and the pair were friends for a long time before anything happened. Mayci said, ‘I was terrified of getting hurt again but after four months I couldn’t deny my feelings any longer. He was kind and funny and made me feel safe.’

Leighton Meester-lookalike Mikayla Matthews is another content creator, wife and mom-of-three on the show. She had her first child Beckham when she was 17. ‘I feel like there’s so many blessings that came from being a young mom,’ she says. ‘That’s not to say it was easy, because it was the hardest time of my life. I was having to navigate a really critical time in your life when you’re realising what you want. It’s right before you go to college, and you’re like, “What do I want to do with my life?” And then, I was just thrown into motherhood.’ Like the rest of the cast, Mikayla shares parts of her unconventional Mormon family life on social media and also opens up about her unidentified chronic illness, which leaves her with red patches on her skin.

Spoiler alert, but at the end of the first series, Whitney Leavitt announced that she was expecting her third baby and leaving MomTok. She and her husband Connor caused a stir in episode one when it came to light that Connor had a porn addiction and was on Tinder, leading the couple to temporarily relocate to Hawaii for two months. Apparently, the dust has settled, and the couple are closer than ever – the same can’t be said for Whitney and her fellow Mormon mums. As for whether she’ll return for season two of the Hulu series, she said, ‘I want to see the show first and then we’ll see.’