Cast members of controversial ‘Secret Lives of Mormon Wives’ ask viewers to give show a chance

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — The trailer for a new Utah-based reality TV show called ‘The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives‘ was released two weeks ago, causing controversy across social media, especially in LDS spaces.

Taylor Frankie Paul, Jennifer Affleck, and Jessi Ngatikaura, prominent TikTokers and three of the eight cast members, spoke with ABC4 ahead of the show’s release about their experience and answering questions that have circulated online.

The trailer for the Hulu reality show has triggered a wave of backlash — including petitions calling for the show not to air — over concerns about whether or not the women are active members of the church and the standards they do or do not portray in the episodes.

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The women are now encouraging people to watch the show claiming the trailers rarely give the full picture.

“Seeing the backlash from our community has been rough, but I also think that if they gave it a chance they would realize it’s just an empowering show about women in this religion and culture but navigating it differently because we’re all imperfect humans,” Ngatikaura said.

The three cast members told ABC4 they were all raised as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — colloquially known as ‘Mormons’ — and Paul and Affleck still attend church.

They said all the cast members were raised in the church and the majority remain active members of the religion.

As for the controversy over them depicting different standards than the church holds, Paul said that it is a realistic representation of what some Mormons, albeit not all, experience.

“There are people that live like that,” Paul said. “Mormons do live those lives as well as the ones that they are trying to represent. People do have affairs that are Mormon, they do drink, they do struggle with addiction, and that’s the point of it … not everyone lives this one way.”

Affleck added that the difference between them and other Mormons who deviate from the church’s standards is that they are talking about it publicly.

“I think we need to remember what we believe in, and what we believe in is that we are technically all sinners, we’re all imperfect … and that’s what the Atonement is for,” Affleck said. “We look to Jesus to be better, and we’re all on our different journeys with our faith.”

Paul lies at the center of the drama that led to the reality show, as she admitted to swinging with other members of the MomTok community and having an affair on her social media platform. Paul said she is the only cast member who was a part of the swinging.

While many people may be upset about the show associating the Mormon community with swinging, the women said the show is about much more than that.

“I think people are assuming that we’re coming on this show saying Mormons swing, and that’s not the message we’re trying to send. We’re just sending a message that we all have made mistakes and we’re sharing them and we’re growing as we learn,” Ngatikaura said.

Jennifer Affleck said that while she didn’t personally expect Hulu’s name for the show to lean so heavily on their religion, she is embracing it because it will allow for more people to learn about their religious beliefs.

“As a member of the church, I think the more people who watch it — which the title is used for clickbait and I feel like is going to bring a lot of people — … the more that people will want to learn and know more about the LDS faith, and I think it’s a win,” Affleck said.

The women said they are both excited and nervous for the show to air, as they have not seen it yet.

“It was so fun to film this show because it was just our organic lives and our friendships, so it’s gonna be fun to watch it back ’cause when do you ever get to watch your life back?” Ngatikaura said. “I’m excited, but I know we all are a little nervous too.”

Paul said the pilot was shot two years before the other episodes and she did a lot of healing during that time. She said due to the personal nature of the show, she feels like it is going to be hard for her to watch it.

“I feel like I struggle internally with a lot of it still,” Paul said.

The cast members are planning to watch the first episode together with all their family and friends. The show will drop on Hulu on Friday, Sept. 6.