Without Taylor Frankie Paul, there might not be a 'Secret Lives of Mormon Wives.' She has no regrets.

Yahoo

15-05-2025

If you've been glued to the Hulu reality show The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, you have Taylor Frankie Paul to thank. It was Paul who propelled #MomTok, a group of Mormon mom creators, into the spotlight when she revealed that some members of the group were involved in intimate relationships with each other. Drama exploded, marriages — including her own, with ex-husband Tate Paul, with whom she shares daughter Indy and son Ocean — ended and reality TV gold was struck.
The first season of Secret Lives followed the fallout of the "soft swinging" scandal and Paul's tumultuous relationship with on-again-off-again boyfriend Dakota Mortensen and the birth of their son, Ever. What will she get up to in Season 2, which premieres on Thursday? Paul says she hasn't watched it yet, but she isn't nervous. After all, she's been through worse.
While Paul had her hair done for the Season 2 promotional events she has ahead of her, we talked about co-parenting, giving birth on camera and holding on to her Mormon identity. A big part of the reality star's journey onscreen has been documenting her co-parenting journeys with both Paul and Mortensen — with different results.
'With my first baby daddy, my ex [Paul], we've always got along great,' Paul says. 'He does prefer not to do anything on camera, so that has never [been] seen. But that relationship has always been great.' As for Mortensen? Well, that's a little more complicated. 'Obviously, [it's] harder. … I mean, you see it in the show, how our dynamic is. So that just speaks for itself.'
Despite the show centering around a group of moms, the stars' kids are rarely shown on camera. 'There's that balance where we want to have them to show our motherhood, but also we want to give our kids some privacy and not to always be on camera. It's nice to not always have to be on camera,' Paul explains.
Though her children have mostly stayed offscreen, Paul hasn't hesitated to let the cameras film some of the most intimate moments of her life — like when she gave birth to son Ever, who is now 1. 'Honestly, I don't think I thought too much of it until after, and I was like, Oh shoot, I gave birth on camera,' Paul says with a laugh. 'It's emotional to watch it. But I didn't think too much of it — not until after the fact, but hey, it's too late now."
The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives revolves around a cast of Mormon women, all of whom seem to be at different points in their faith journey. There are two groups: the Saints, who more strictly adhere to the pillars of Mormonism, and the Sinners, who are more lax about the rules of their religion. Though Paul (a Sinner, in case you were wondering) may not be the poster child for Mormonism, she still considers herself to be of the faith.
'I am not by the book, obviously,' she says. 'I think that goes without saying. But I don't go and be like, Oh, I'm a good Mormon girl. No. But it's there when I want to go to church. Church is for the sinners. I would hate for someone to go into church and feel bad for what they've done. That's where they're going because they want to feel better — or I would think that's why they're going, right? That's where I go. And that's that.' Plus, Paul goes to church for her own reasons — and it's not to please other people. 'I also have the mindset, I'm not here for you; I'm here for myself and the man above. That is it.'
When Paul came out with the shocking "soft swinging" scandal, her life — and the lives of many people around her — changed dramatically. Would she take it back? 'No,' she says. 'Do I regret anything? No, because I am where I am today. But if I could have something be different and do things differently to hurt someone less, I would.' That's not to say that she wouldn't change anything. 'If I could go back and not hurt my ex-husband like that, I would take that back in a heartbeat. But also, it got him where he's at today with his wife and his baby. So, no; my answer would be no, because it got us all where we're at today. And as hard as it was at that time, I think all of us could say that we're in better places.'
As Paul gets ready for Season 2 to premiere, she's ready for the world to learn more about her. Despite watching her onscreen (both on TV and on TikTok, where she has more than 5 million followers), there's still so much she wants to show people. 'Over the course of the years, I might have looked crazy or not the best mom or any of these things,' she tells me. 'And there might be truth to that. But now, I'm in a much better place. I've learned so much, and I've been given so many tools. You can learn from that and become a better person.'