Things are heating up again in Utah.
“The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” is returning for its third season, which unfolds in some different locations (no spoilers here) but lacks absolutely no drama as the women try to balance personal relationships, work opportunities and the unique dynamics of being reality stars.
The series began in 2024 thanks to Taylor Frankie Paul, who found scandal in 2022, when she announced via TikTok that she was getting divorced after she said she violated the terms of her open marriage. She also shared that she and her now ex-husband Tate had participated in “soft swinging” with other couples in their Utah community, which involved trading sexual partners in their social circle.
Paul is credited with forming “MomTok” by pulling together a group of fellow Mormon mothers on TikTok. Many of the members have millions of followers, sharing glimpses into their lives for lucrative sponsorships.
The first season of “Mormon Wives” last year focused on the fallout from Paul’s scandalous revelation, as well as her subsequent pregnancy with boyfriend Dakota Mortensen, with whom she became involved while married.
Fast forward Season 3, and lots has changed as viewers witnessed the toxicity between Paul and Mortensen over the past two seasons and the recent announcement that she is the next Bachelorette.
Paul’s fellow cast members Layla Taylor and Miranda McWhorter offered support in her attempt to find love on another reality show.
“I think Taylor deserves to find an actual pure example of love in somebody that respects her in and out of the room that she’s in,” Taylor said. “I feel like Taylor’s (Frankie Paul) just deserving of that. So we’re excited. We’re so excited.”
McWhorter agreed, which means something as she and her now ex-husband Chase were a big part of the “soft swinging” scandal that kicked the show off. She told CNN, “You gotta be okay with whatever skeletons you got in that closet coming out.”
“You have to authentic and open and real about everything. I think the more reserved you are this might not be for you. And it’s hard,” McWhorter said. “This is a hard world to be in. You have people that are judging you off of how you handle situations, off of how you operate. And it’s hard because people are only seeing such small glimpses into who you are as a person.”
New “Bachelorette” Paul is not the only one who has gotten a reality crossover.
Cast members Jennifer Affleck and Whitney Leavitt were selected to compete on the most recent season of “Dancing With the Stars.”
Affleck spoke with CNN soon after she was eliminated from the dance competition.
“It’s definitely a different vibe and it’s a different hard because with the ‘Secret Lives’ it can be very draining in the sense that there’s a lot of drama and it’s uncomfortable in that sense,” Affleck said. “But ‘Dancing With the Stars’ is uncomfortable in the sense that it’s not only mentally demanding, but also it’s very physical.”
She said she loved how positive “DWTS” was because “everyone tries to stray away from drama and that was kind of nice for me to be able to be on a reality TV show that doesn’t fixate on drama.”
Season 3 also includes the heightened drama of finding out what really happened regarding allegations of Jessi Ngatikaura being unfaithful to her husband and the unraveling of her and some of the other women’s relationship with Demi Engemann, who has had tension with more than a few of them.
Ngatikaura admitted to having “all the emotions” about her personal life playing out on air.
“I’m nervous clearly, because it’s a big story to share and I have no idea what the opinions will be,” she told CNN. “But I’m also relieved that it’ll be out there because it’s kind of been like a secret and no one’s known my dynamic and what happened in my relationship.”
“So at least it’ll be out there and I can talk about it openly, but I have no idea what the audience is going to feel,” she added.
Season 3 of “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” debuts Thursday on Hulu.
