Season 2 of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives started filming one month after the show premiered on Hulu — yet so much changed in the cast’s personal lives already.
The reality show premiered in September 2024 and became an overnight success as viewers tuned in to see Taylor Frankie Paul, Whitney Leavitt, Jen Affleck, Demi Engemann, Mikayla Matthews, Mayci Neeley, Jessi Ngatikaura and Layla Taylor navigate their personal highs and lows. The eight-part season followed Mormon mom influencers who were caught up in a swinging sex scandal and the ensuing aftermath, including the fallout with their significant others.
It didn’t take long for viewers to demand more — and executive producer Danielle Pistotnik promised to deliver.
“There’s so many stories that these women have to share,” Pistotnik told Us Weekly for a September 2024 cover story. “Their upbringing is unbelievably heartbreaking — a lot of them — and it is so inspiring to listen to.”
Pistotnik recalled there not being “enough time” to share everyone’s story in season 1, adding, “If we get to do another season, I really, really want these women to be able to talk about what brought them to where they are today. [Scenes that ended up on the cutting room floor] was really just a function of the amount of time that we had.”
But by the time cameras started rolling in October 2024, the cast went through friendship falling outs, splits and subsequently three pregnancy announcements. Keep scrolling for everything that happened to The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives before season 2:
Whitney Welcomes Her 3rd Baby
During season 1, Whitney found out she was pregnant in the aftermath of a cheating scandal with husband Connor Leavitt. Their son Billy was born one month after the show aired, joining their daughter, Sedona, and son Liam.
Jen and Zac Affleck’s Ups and Downs
All viewers wanted to discuss after The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives premiered was Jen and Zac’s controversial marriage. Some people questioned the way Zac spoke to his wife, considering he had his own issues that were largely kept off screen.
Jen defended Zac until filming picked back up, when rumors swirled about their relationship status. In February 2025, Jen confirmed she was expecting her and Zac’s third baby. She later completed an 11-day wellness program to help heal her past trauma.
“Not the pregnancy journey I expected, but definitely what baby and I needed,” Jen, who shares daughter Nora and son Luca with Zac, wrote via Instagram in March 2025 before quoting a proverb by an unknown speaker. “‘When we heal ourselves, we heal the next generation that follows. Pain is passed through the family line until someone is ready to feel it, heart it and let it go.’”
Taylor’s Split From Dakota After an Unclear Relationship Status
Are Taylor and Dakota Mortensen together or not? That was the question all of Us — including Taylor — were asking when season 1 dropped in September 2025. At the time, Taylor hinted to Us that Dakota wasn’t happy with how he was portrayed on the show and that led to an off-and-on romance.
Taylor appeared to reconcile with Dakota but by the end of the year, they appeared to be over for good. Taylor and Dakota have since documented their attempts at coparenting while figuring out next steps in their respective personal lives.
“When I realized I haven’t been in the dating scene since I was 20 and eventually will have to go back to that,” Taylor, who shares two kids with ex-husband Tate Paul and a son with Dakota, wrote via Instagram in February 2025 before answering questions about the next chapter in her life. “The more you resist the pain coming through, the longer the suffering, learned this the hard way.”
An Us Weekly Cover
Weeks after The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives became a pop culture phenomenon, Us spoke with everyone from MomTok — and the producers of the hit Hulu series — about what would come next.
“The vision for the show never changed in that it is one part very loud and frothy soap opera with a little bit of cheating. But then at the same time, you have this fascinating exploration of a religious faith,” executive producer Jeff Jenkins told Us about keeping the story lines “balanced” on screen. “Another producer might have just went with the salacious scandal of swinging and ignored the religion. Or another producer might have really focused on the religion and downplayed everyday life and all the other stuff.”
He continued: “The vision was always a balance. We tinkered with that balance but we certainly didn’t want to just condemn the Mormon faith. Not at all. Religion has challenges within it and things that some folks would like to be changed. So it’s finding the balance between the soap opera and this very real conundrum that they’re bumping up against their faith.”
Mikayla Expands Her Family
In February 2025, Mikayla announced she is expecting her fourth baby with her husband Jace Terry amid an unknown chronic illness. (The duo are also parents to daughters Tommie and Haven and son Beckham.)
“I’m a lot better than I was, but I still have my ups and downs, so it’s just frustrating to not get any answers and feel like I’m on my own and then have to navigate being in this really exciting time while not feeling my best,” Mikayla told Us in September 2024 about her health issues. “And so that’s kind of been the trickiest.”
Mayci’s Pregnancy
After filming on season 2 wrapped, Mayci revealed in February 2025 that she is expecting baby No. 3 with her husband, Jacob Neeley.
“It’s been really exciting. I think when you do IVF, it’s not a fun process. Usually you tell your friends and family that you’re doing it, so there are no secrets or surprises,” she told People at the time. “We decided this time not to share it with anyone, not even our family.”
The pair already share daughter Harlow and son Hudson.
Another Member of the Soft-Swinging Scandal Enters the Chat
While Taylor’s soft-swinging scandal was mentioned in season 1, it wasn’t until the show aired that Miranda McWhorter and Camille Munday were brought up as potential participants. Taylor didn’t rule out one — or both — of them making appearances in season 2 and Miranda was ultimately confirmed as a new cast member.
“It’s out of my control and they have a show to do. So I don’t see how it wouldn’t be happening,” Taylor shared with Us in September 2024. “A lot of those things will be triggering — and when it comes to it — I’ll have to face it. At this point it’s just out of my control.”
According to Taylor, Camille reached out to congratulate her on the show. Miranda, however, hasn’t been as friendly.
“There’s some animosity there from me exposing my story and knowing that she’s probably the one people allude to. So she probably feels all this animosity toward me,” she explained at the time. “I’ve called her out on certain things so I don’t know if she’s a huge fan of me. I could imagine it’s extremely uncomfortable for her to have to come on if she chose to. I think she knows that she’d have to talk about things if she is never talked about as well.”
Demi and Jessi’s Surprising Feud
There were several falling outs while the cast filmed season 1 — and after. But Demi and Jessi remained on great terms up until cameras started rolling on season 2. Gone were the days Demi and Jessi posted TikTok videos poking fun at how similar they looked. Instead, both of them have shared cryptic clips hinting at their friendship coming to an end.
Every Other Cast Feud
When season 1 originally aired in September 2024, viewers wanted to know whether Whitney would return to MomTok. Jen’s future with the friend group was also up in the air until they confirmed their appearances in season 2. From there, Taylor’s friendship status with each cast member was called into question after she claimed they weren’t supporting her.
“Not a single one of my girls from MomTok said anything on my CMA post, such a big night for me,” she wrote via Instagram in November 2024. “Awkward.”
Jessi, Demi, Mikayla and Mayci defended themselves while denying the drama was for a story line.
“One thing about me, I’m not playing into anything online or a storyline,” Jessie wrote via her Instagram Story. “What you see is what you get. If only you guys knew what’s really going on behind the scenes. We don’t need to make things up — our group just has things happen. Case in point — today.”
Taylor ultimately clarified her perspective, saying in a video later that month, “I guess I ruffled some feathers, a little too much. But first off, we are not allowed to talk about any storyline, so this is not made up by any means. That little concoction I made myself, I guess. I thought it was awkward that every single one of my friends was silent. That’s all I meant by that. I have a lot of supportive girls in this group, and I never said anyone specifically is not supportive because they are. Not a single one. I just felt off by it, so I made a petty post, and are we shocked?”
She continued: “Sure you don’t have to like my stuff. That’s fine. Again, nowadays, it’s your message without saying a message, and we can, I think, all agree. For all the girls telling me I should have handled this differently and offline as they’re literally eating me alive online right now, maybe they feel justified but don’t come at me if you’re going to do the exact same thing.”
