The Mormon women behind the #MomTok phenomenon have turned the social media world upside down with a scandal that their content creators are also a swingers' gang.
Taylor Frankie Paul shocked the TikTok world when she announced her divorce from ex-husband Tate Paul in 2022 and shared details about her “soft swing” lifestyle, including friends who appeared in her videos.
Hulu's new series “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” explores the aftermath of the sex scandal that rocked TikTok and turned several dance influencers into high-paid mothers.
'Mormon Mom Tok' influencer accused of domestic violence pleads guilty: 'A lot of judgement'
A group of Mormon TikTok influencers have been revealed to be swapping couples in a sex scandal that has taken the internet by storm.
“I want people to understand more about who I am,” Taylor told People magazine. “I wanted to be vulnerable and show people that even when you're at rock bottom, there's still hope.”
Taylor and her ex-husband agreed to a lifestyle that included having multiple partners, but as a couple they decided not to “go all the way.” When the scandal broke, Taylor admitted to “broke the agreement” and cheated on him with Dakota Mortensen, whom she now calls her boyfriend and with whom she recently had a child.
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Taylor's world changed almost overnight, but so did the lives of many of the women featured in her videos and on her platform.
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“The scandalous world of Mormon mom influencers comes tumbling down as they're caught up in a swinging-sex scandal that makes international headlines,” the show description reads. “Now their sisterhood is shaken to its core. Faith, friendships and reputations are all at stake. Can #MomTok survive and keep up by the rulebook, or will the group fall from grace?”
Taylor Frankie Paul said she created the world of “MomTok.”
“I love the Mormon church, but there are so many rules we have to follow,” Mikayla Matthews said in a confessional interview. “We were raised to be housewives for our men, to fulfill their every need.”
“Have a baby by the time you're 21, or in my case, 16.”
“Well, I'm like, f**k this,” Taylor said, before a video montage of clips from her TikTok days played. “I created MomTok. It's a group of Mormon moms who make TikToks. It started with Whitney, Macy, Mikayla and me.”
“We're breaking new ground,” Whitney says, “and trying to change the gender role stereotypes in Mormon culture.”
Mikayla Matthews has risen to fame as a MomTok influencer.
Macy Neely to star in “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives.”
Jennifer Affleck is married to Zach Affleck, Ben Affleck's cousin.
“That's what scares me,” one husband says in the trailer. “In the church, we have rules for a reason.”
In another excerpt, Taylor explains, “Macy, I want you to shake your ass as hard as you can,” before launching into another dance routine. “My only goal was to provide for my family,” one mother said.
They became popular overnight with just their group dance moves and relatable comedy sketches, and their following quickly grew from a few million to nine million.
“Then the whole group started swinging together,” Mikayla says.
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“Nobody's innocent. Everybody relates to everybody,” Taylor said in a TikTok clip shared with the trailer.
“It was like they were standing next to each other in front of each other exchanging,” one mother explained to the group.
“There's a fight going on over mamtok right now,” another mother confesses, before cutting to footage of her husband sighing in stress. “The drama is happening between the husbands right now.”
Demi Engemann is one of several Mormon TikTok influencers sharing her story.
Layla Taylor boasts over 300,000 followers on TikTok.
Jessie Ngātikaura will be joining the female group in the series.
“The group is important to me,” Jennifer Affleck explained to her husband Zach during a tense conversation, to which Zach, whose famous cousins include Ben and Casey Affleck, responded, “It's hard to be divorced and raise two kids, so it's up to you to decide.”
“I feel like I've had 10 years' worth of marriage counseling filming this one season,” Jennifer told People magazine.
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As friendships tear apart behind the scenes, worlds begin to collide offline.
“Online it seems like we're all good friends, but in reality we're not,” Whitney says.
At one point, the issue of alcohol came up — Mormons forbid alcohol as part of their religion — and the drama reached a turning point when body camera footage showed the night Taylor was arrested in February 2023 on a misdemeanor domestic violence charge.
“The scandalous world of a Mormon mother and influencer comes tumbling down as she is caught up in a swinging sex scandal that makes international headlines,” Hulu said in a description of the series.
She was charged with aggravated assault (a third-degree felony), two counts of domestic violence in the presence of a child (a third-degree felony), child abuse (a class A misdemeanor) and criminal damage to property (a class B misdemeanor).
In August, Taylor pleaded guilty to aggravated assault, a third-degree felony, and the other charges were dropped.
Original article source: TikTok Mormon wives' swapping lifestyle exposed by 'rock-bottom' mother
