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She was the name on everyone’s lips on the first season of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, but before she became one of the faces of Hulu’s controversial new reality show, Taylor Frankie Paul almost starred on another reality show set in Utah: Bravo’s The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City.
“I was actually interviewed for it, and I was told I didn’t have enough drama in my life, so I didn’t get it,” Taylor told StyleCaster in a joint interview with her Secret Lives of Mormon Wives cast mate, Mayci Neeley. “But that’s OK because now I have this show.”
However, Taylor suspects that the lack of drama in her life wasn’t the only reason she wouldn’t have made a good Housewife. “There was an interest there. That’s why I interviewed, but I also don’t think I would have fit in. They’re known for having really big houses—very extravagant. I’m not really extravagant.”
Though Taylor and Mayci haven’t watched The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City, they have met a couple cast members around the SLC area. “I met Jennie [Nguyen]. She was on it for one season and then got kicked off,” Mayci said. Taylor added, “I met one who was kicked off as well. Dark long hair? I think I met her too.”
Mayci continued, “I’ve seen another one at an influencer event. I think it was Meredith [Marks]. Dark, long hair, and she’s still on the show. There are two that look really similar to me, and I can’t tell them apart. [Secret Lives of Mormon Wives co-star] Jessi [Ngatikaura] does some of their hair, so she’s more the girl you’d want to ask.”
Taylor, Mayci, and Jessi are three of eight cast members on The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, Hulu’s Real Housewives-esque reality show following a group of Mormon (and ex-Mormon) TikTok moms—known as #MomTok—as they navigate friendships, marriages, pressures from the church, and the drama that comes with everything in between.
Though Bravo didn’t think Taylor had enough drama to be a Salt Lake City Housewife, Hulu (and fans) certainly disagree. The first season arguably revolved around Taylor—who has the most followers in MomTok—and the fallout of her “soft swinging” scandal, which went viral in 2022 when Taylor revealed in a TikTok that she and her then-husband, Tate Paul, were swingers. The controversy led Taylor to file for divorce from Tate that same year and eventually meet her now-boyfriend, Dakota Mortensen.
If her life wasn’t dramatic enough, Taylor was also arrested in 2023 for domestic violence following a fight with Dakota, who she welcomed a baby with in March 2024. But the drama didn’t stop there. The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives Season 1 finale ended on a cliffhanger with Mayci calling Jenna, a woman Dakota was accused of cheating on Taylor with. Just as Jenna was about to tell her side of the story. The screen cut to black. So what happened next? Well, if The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives is renewed for a second season, Taylor and Mayci assure that the Jenna drama will be the first thing addressed.
Now that the show is out, have either of you received any angry texts from your cast mates because of something you said on the show that they didn’t know about?
Mayci: There’s definitely drama going on behind the scenes with cast members in the show, but not that specific situation. There’s a lot going on. But I think for some people, watching the edit back was harder than others.
Can you say who?
Mayci: I think you can probably guess.
I want to move onto that cliffhanger. Mayci, what can you say about that phone call with Jenna and what happened after that we didn’t see?
Mayci: I really can’t say anything. My lips are sealed. It has to wait for Season 2, but definitely was a good cliffhanger. Let’s put it that way.
What was your reaction to Mayci calling Jenna?
Taylor: I was fine with it. If you’re a person that has nothing to hide, there’s nothing to worry about there. Anyone that was worried in that situation, it’s kind of like, “Oh, what do you have to lose?”
Mayci: They cut it out of the show, but we had a conversation. She was like, “Yeah, I don’t care if you call her.” That was cut out, so it wasn’t me going rogue just calling Jenna. I had her full permission to do that.
I think a lot of people are wondering who is Jenna.
Taylor: She is so irrelevant to my life, but so relevant at the same time. She was just a girl. It’s not even her. It’s the feelings that came along with it at that time. Basically, Dakota dating both of us, lying and ending up at her house, t makes me feel worthless, unloved, not good enough. I was so open at that time and in such a low time in my life. That’s how you can get me triggered. Just ask me these questions. At the end of the day, it’s just a girl I’m butthurt over. It has nothing to do with her. It’s a timeline issue.
Would you film with Jenna if there was a Season 2?
Taylor: Yeah, I don’t think I’d have a choice, honestly. I would love to. I have some things to say but I’ll just hold that. We gotta wait for if there’s another season.
If there’s someone who’s been talked about the most from the show, it’s Whitney. Mayci, I know you and Whitney were both at The Bachelorette “Men Tell All.” Where do you both stand with Whitney today?
Taylor: I don’t even care if the girl hates me. I like Whitney, and I actually texted her this the other day. I’m like, “I know you’re going through it. I know you’re getting dragged through the mud right now, but you were the one girl that reached out to me when I was at my lowest, and so for that, I will always be here for you.” I don’t really care what she says behind my back or anything because she was the one girl that helped me out of a dark place.
Mayci: I would say we are still… I don’t know. We went to The Bachelorette together, and it was fine. We’re still friends, but she has been doing some interesting things online, which are not cool. I don’t know where I stand with her right now. To be honest, I thought we were chill, but maybe we’re not. I did reach out to her when the show came out to check in on her, and she didn’t respond. But then she’s bringing beef to the internet, so I really don’t know where we stand, to be honest.
What did she do?
Mayci: She was just posting personal texts between the two of us, which is very slimy and not OK to do. It’s really invasive to post personal messages. It was interesting because it really didn’t prove her point. It proved mine when she posted them. Basically, because in my interviews, I said that she wasn’t there. She didn’t text me or call me the night of my event at all, and she didn’t. She tried to post receipts, but she doesn’t show the top date on the receipt. She didn’t text me that night, so I don’t know what she was trying to prove.
Is she a part of the group chat again?
Mayci: Nope.
Does the group chat still exist?
Mayci: Yup. And it’s very active right now. I can promise you that.
I was surprised no one grilled Whitney more about the Tinder story with her husband and whether or not he actually met up with someone. What do you think about that story?
Taylor: It’s hard to say because I’m not in that situation, but I’m a nosy person. I like to know every detail. That’s probably what messes me up in my head. I would have wanted to know a lot more. So when I asked her on film, “Did he hang out with anyone?” I would want to know everything. She was one that didn’t want to know and that’s OK. To each their own. But for me, I think we were all just wanting to know more. Because I think you can kind of navigate your decision if you know more you know. But that’s my personal preference.
Mayci: I’m probably the same with that. She said she didn’t dig too deep into it. That’s her own personal decision. She decided I’m staying with him, and honestly, Connor is a very nice, genuine guy. It was a situation where it’s like, if that’s what makes you happy and you’re good with everything and not knowing, then good for you.
Do you think Whitney would come back for Season 2?
Taylor: It’s hard to say.
Mayci: She changes her mind everyday. I bet this week it’s no. Maybe in two weeks, it’s yes, It depends.
Something else that was talked about so much from the show was the Fruity Pebbles story with Demi. The way it’s shown leaves a lot of room for interpretation. So can you shed light on what the real Fruity Pebbles story is?
Taylor: I’m keeping that one in my sleeve if she comes at me. Because if she ever does, I’ll be like, “Do we want to talk about Fruity Pebbles?”
Mayci: She’s sworn us to secrecy on that one. I’m keeping that one up my sleeve too if I need to. I’ve had family members ask, “Just tell me.” I’m like, “I ain’t saying nothing.”
Have you seen any theories on the internet that are correct?
Mayci: Not yet, actually, I don’t think I’ve seen one where they got it right. There’s this one girl who was like, “They’re Mormons and they’re really vanilla, so it must just mean this.” I was like, “No, baby. That’s not what it is. Not even close, honey.”
Around the time the trailer came out, the church of Latter Day Saints issued a statement on the show. What was your reaction to that?
Taylor: It was kind of annoying because they hadn’t seen it yet. So they’re judging us before they even see the show. But it wasn’t surprising at the same time. For some reason I felt this was gonna happen.
Mayci: I feel like they had to say something because everyone was freaking out online. They had to do something to put out the fires. I did like how they were like, “Come to us for resources in the church.” Because, yes, we’re not trying to be spokespeople or mouthpieces. We’re just filming this show that happens to have a title with Mormon in it. I don’t think anyone’s really worried. It was a little bit like, “OK, we’re judging a book by its cover.” But I think once they watch the show too, they’ll realize, the church isn’t the show, like, it’s sprinkled in. Religion is involved in our lives, but the show is not about being Mormon.
The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives is available to stream on Hulu.
