Hulu’s controversial ‘The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives’ is nearly here
Hulu is set to tackle the Mormon MomTok swinging scandal in a new documentary, The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, and viewers won’t have to wait long for its premiere.
The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives examines a strange controversy that broke out among a group of Mormon TikTok influencers. It’s well known that Utah, which boasts the highest population of Mormons in the United States, is a hotbed for mom influencers and family vloggers. Among those who rose to fame were Taylor Frankie Paul and her close-knit group of fellow Mormon moms, including Whitney Leavitt, Camille Munday, and Miranda McWhorter. The women started posting videos in 2020 and quickly garnered attention for challenging the gender roles and norms often promoted in the LDS church, as they became the breadwinners in their families and partook in carefree and sometimes even provocative TikTok dances and trends.
However, things took a strange turn in 2022 when Paul revealed she and her husband were divorcing. The most surprising part of their divorce was when she revealed that her whole group of Mormon moms partook in “swinging” or “partner-swapping,” in which they would engage in sexual activity with each other’s partners. Paul explained that her breakup happened because she went too far in pursuing a sexual relationship without the group. Things further deteriorated when Paul was arrested and charged with assaulting Dakota Mortensen, her new boyfriend, and accidentally assaulting one of her children in a domestic dispute. Now, Paul and her fellow Mormon moms are telling their side of the story.
When does The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives come out?
The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives is set to premiere on Hulu on September 6. As is customary with Hulu originals, the entire season will drop at once and viewers will have access to all eight episodes of season 1 by early September. Ahead of the premiere, Hulu dropped the official trailer for the docuseries.
Given the documentary’s rather controversial subject matter, it likely will attract quite a few viewers. In the trailer’s comments, many claim that the women in the documentary do not represent the Mormon community or adhere to any of the church’s teachings and principles. However, the series could be quite a useful documentary for those wanting to demonstrate to women that they can still hold Mormon beliefs without having to lead the strict, traditional lifestyle that the church often enforces.
What will be most interesting is how the documentary handles Paul’s arrest. When the story of the swinging TikTok influencers broke, it wasn’t as shocking as the media tried to make it out to be. While it may have surprised people, it’s not as if the group was accused of wrongdoing, as they all agreed to a non-monogamous relationship. However, the entire ordeal was later overshadowed by Paul’s arrest. Paul ultimately pled guilty to one count of aggravated assault in exchange for the other charges being dropped.)
The fact that The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives still invited Paul to star in the documentary makes it quite controversial. Ultimately, viewers will have to wait until September to determine how well the docuseries tackles and frames the darker aspects of its story.
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