Who knew all reality TV fans needed was a few Mormon swingers to pop onto our small screens? The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives has taken the country by storm. But it makes sense because sex sells. The salacious world of a group of Mormon mom influencers was put right on display thanks to Hulu’s newest venture. The friend group implodes after a sex scandal rocks their small community. The sisterhood is tested as their faith isn’t always strong enough to see them through. There isn’t a rulebook when it comes to twerking for views, all while trying to act chaste.
Sinners vs. Saints
The premise is simple enough. The TikTok influencers are split into two groups. One is Saints, who are still on board with the Mormon Church, undergarments and all. As you guessed it, the sinners are the ladies who have fallen off the wagon. By falling off, I mean they live pretty normal, modern lives where they are equal to their husbands and don’t have to wear itchy underwear. The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives centers around its star, Taylor Frankie Paul. She is the black sheep of her family and was forced to marry young due to her promiscuous ways.
Whitney Leavitt, Mikayla Mathews, Jennifer Affleck, Mayci Neeley, Demi Engemann, and Jessi Ngatikaur round out the cast. The women all banded together years ago to create #MomTok, which was meant to be a safe space to open up about motherhood and Mormonhood. The ladies quickly learned that they could earn more than their husbands and gain some freedom. But what started off as innocent fun slowly morphed into a seedy sex ring.
The swinger scandal
The big plot point is the advertisement that this group of friends was also swingers. Before you get too excited, the show explains that it was really just one of the women, Taylor who swung. Now, the others could have been in on it too, but they didn’t admit it on camera. Taylor, however, was an open book who noted she had never believed in monogamy. While married to her now ex-husband, the two had an agreement that revolved around soft swinging. The term refers to a form of ethical non-monogamy. For Taylor and her gang, this included kissing and oral sex. But there was no penetration.
In the first episode, she shared that a small group would get together and essentially swap partners. She noted she broke the rules of their swinging arrangement and went all the way with her now boyfriend, Dakota. However, in an Interview with Time Magazine, Taylor noted, “There were a lot of fingers pointed at me as if I was the only one to instigate and participate, and I don’t know how that would even be possible. I wasn’t the only one. It was a group thing. Everyone made their own decisions. We’re all adults here.”
The swingers turned Mean Girls
As The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives went on, it became more and more apparent that Whitney had a chip on her shoulder. She clearly thought that she would step onto the throne once Taylor had fallen from grace. There was one hitch: no one actually liked her. Whitney gave off Regina George vibes, and frankly, she wasn’t enjoyable to watch because she was just manipulating. But luckily the rest of the cast saw right through her plan. The game was over once the women started connecting the dots that they were being used for views and ad revenue.
In a shocking twist, Frankie, who had blown up the swingers group, was back in good graces. And Whitney was on the outs. The women, who had once stated that their social media mantra was to be all-inclusive, decided to unfriend Whitney at the same time. As the clock literally counted down, the friend banishment became official when they got to one. The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives is a mix between Teen Mom and the Real Housewives. The drama is a bit manufactured, but the underlying message is authentic. Even though, by the end, the line in the sand was drawn, each influencer still hoped to have cracked the patriarchy and rigid rules of the conservative religion.
TELL US – WILL YOU BE TUNING IN TO WATCH THE SECRET LIVES OF MORMON WIVES?
