When most people think of Mormons, they envision trad wives or missionaries in buttoned-up outfits. But besides strange quirks like hot drinks and baptizing the dead, some Mormons look just like regular people and veer far away from the conservative, family-centric reputation that the Church of Latter-day Saints has acquired thus far.
The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives reality show does a deep dive into the lives of women who are members of the LDS Church, and it’ll turn everything you think about Mormons on its head. They first came to fame via dance and motherhood content on TikTok, going viral, but soon found themselves in the middle of a swinging scandal. But it looks like wife swapping was just one small scandal in a much larger mountain of scandals… from cheating allegations to urine fetishes, these wives have experienced some scandals so bad, their reputations might not ever recover.
The original swinging scandal
Now infamous on MomTok, this is the scandal that brought these women to fame. It started when Taylor Frankie Paul announced her impending divorce on TikTok in 2022, and while explaining the reason for the split, let it slip that much of the Mormon MomTok community participated in soft swinging, aka partners engaging in sexual activities outside the relationship. Apparently, Taylor crossed a boundary during her soft swinging, leading to the divorce.
Taylor Frankie Paul had a domestic incident which cost her a “Bachelorette” season
Somehow, Taylor is always at the center of a scandal or a feud. She’s the self-proclaimed founder of MomTok and the origin of the soft swinging story. She’s also known for her on-and-off relationship with Dakota Mortensen, whom she has now officially split with. Season 5 of the show was put on hold after police opened a domestic assault investigation involving the couple, and just days before her season of “The Bachelorette” was set to premiere, the original video of the domestic incident was published by TMZ, leading to ABC cancelling the season.
Jessi Draper had an emotional affair before she was officially divorced
Jessi Draper was invited, alongside her co-stars, to make a cameo on the “Vanderpump Villa” episode called “Momtoks and Mormons, Oh My!” What ensued was people from two very different backgrounds with a commonality of messy drama. Jessi admitted that she had an emotional affair with Marciano Brunette, a lead server in “Vanderpump Villa,” while she was still married to her husband. She even admitted to kissing him but said that the divorce was also a culmination of emotional abuse on her ex’s part.
The ‘Peegate’ scandal involving Jessi Draper and Demi Engemann’s feud
There are no shortage of feuds in this TV show, but one of the most memorable ones is when Whitney Leavitt gave Demi Engemann a box of Fruity Pebbles as a gift, saying that it was a reference to a sexual act that Demi had spoken to her about privately. Viewers speculated on what the colorful cereal could mean, but it all came bubbling to the surface on Instagram when Jessi Draper wrote in an Instagram story, “I think I’m just going to go ahead and say that Grandpa Bret likes to drink her piss like it’s dirty soda and he gulps it down like water, and that’s what ‘Fruity Pebbles’ is. Shockingly, Demi confirmed that this was true.
Whitney Leavitt filmed a TikTok dance in the NICU, earning backlash
When Whitney’s newborn son was placed in the NICU, she filmed a video addressing controversy about her dancing, which earned criticism related to her parenting style. The response was a cringeworthy dance filmed in the NICU, where viewers could see her son in a hospital bed wearing a nasal cannula. She danced to a Kendrick Lamar song energetically while her baby lay in front of her, and the public started to ask questions about why she would be filming TikTok dances next to her ill child. She ultimately removed the video, but it was still stitched and recorded countless times.
Jen Affleck lied about her husband being related to Ben Affleck
Jen Affleck claimed that she was related to Ben Affleck through her husband but kept the details vague, saying, “He’s my husband’s cousin, but we’ve never met him. Zac’s dad has met him], when [Ben] was very little. I’m hoping to meet him one day, too!” Jen later bragged about being the original Jen Affleck before J. Lo married the actor in 2022, but internet sleuths soon found that there was no clear link between Ben’s family and Zac’s family. In Season 2, she’d filmed saying to Zac that Ben is his second cousin, but Zac denies the claim, saying that it was a joke. Awkward!
