Ketamine, swinging, teen pregnancies & cheating scandals – the shocking scandals of the modern day Mormon church
LIFE in the Mormon Church has been kept behind closed doors for the most part – that is, until a fly on the wall Disney show took over our TV screens.
Our favourite reality shows need a generous dose controversy to keep the audience engaged – which is exactly what Taylor Frankie Paul and her gang provide in Secret Wives of Mormon Wives.
Strict Mormon rules dictate no sex before marriage, a ban on coffee and booze whilst adultery ‘’is unequivocally condemned by the Lord”.
But Taylor Frankie Paul, 30, the creator of ‘MomTok’ claims these rules get regularly broken.
It all started on TikTok, where many Mormon wives, including Taylor Frankie Paul, Nara Smith and Hannah from Ballerina Farm, were able to make mega cash.
Men are typically the breadwinners in the Church, while many (although not all) women stay at home with the kids.
Like any other religion, Mormonism, or the Latter Day Saint (LDS) movement, has a clear set of values and moral codes its worshippers have to follow and abide by.
But while alcohol and caffeinated drinks, including black tea, are off the table for its followers, what really goes on inside the community is a life of debauchery.
From soft swinging to drug taking, cheating scandals and teen pregnancies, Disney’s series 2 reveals even more about the dark side of Mormonism.
FULL SWING
‘MomTok’ exploded on TikTok during lockdown, but SLOMW star Taylor blew the whole thing up in May 2022 – when she posted a video announcing her split from her husband.
She later revealed she, her husband and other Mormon couples (who she has never publicly named) were “soft swingers”.
Camille Munday and Miranda McWhorter, who Taylor had often previously joked were her “sister wives”, were drawn into the scandal by internet sleuths.
Both women denied being a part of the parties and declined to be on the resulting reality show… until now.
Miranda’s explosive appearance on SLOMW was one of the big draws of the new series, and her former friends were soon grilling her on camera.
Miranda, who is now a single mum, admitted she DID go to the parties but insisted the furthest she went was games of Spin the Bottle.
She continues to deny that anything more sexual happened.
Speaking on the Viall Podcast, Taylor said she was “drinking and partying” with her friends when “the guys were like, ‘You girls should make out. Make out. It’s hot.’ And we were like, ‘OK, it’s hot.’ So we make out.
“And that’s that and I feel like I had done that in my younger years so it wasn’t a big deal to me.
“And then it was like, ‘Let’s take off your clothes and do lingerie pictures together while making out.’ It just escalated.”
A game of blindfolded spin the bottle came later, with Taylor revealing how the other women’s husbands would kiss her and she’d have to guess who it was.
But there was one couple in particular she and her husband were invested in – and discussed going all the way with, before deciding not to.
Taylor claims she had already developed feelings for her friend’s husband and he had felt the same – leading to them going ‘all the way’ and directly causing her divorce.
She has never named him or his wife.
Who is Taylor Paul?
Taylor Frankie Paul is a social media influencer primarily known for her presence on platforms like TikTok and Instagram. Here is a general timeline of her career:
Rise to Fame
2020: Taylor begins to gain popularity on TikTok. Her content primarily features comedy, dance routines, and lifestyle videos. She quickly amasses a large following due to her engaging and relatable content.
Late 2020: By the end of the year, Taylor has become one of the more recognisable faces on TikTok, especially within the “Mormon MomTok” community, which consists of Mormon mothers sharing their lives and experiences.
Career Highlights
2021: Taylor continues to grow her influence on TikTok and expands her presence to other social media platforms such as Instagram. She collaborates with other influencers and brands, further increasing her visibility.
2022: Taylor’s personal life becomes a topic of interest as she shares more about her experiences and challenges, resonating with many of her followers. Her authenticity helps her maintain a loyal fan base.
2023: Taylor remains active on social media, continuing to create content that appeals to her audience. She explores new opportunities, including potential partnerships and brand deals.
Personal Life
Taylor is open about her life as a mother and often includes her children in her content. She also shares insights into her marriage and family dynamics, which are a significant part of her online persona.
Current Activities
As of 2023, Taylor Frankie Paul continues to be a prominent figure in the social media landscape. She is active on various platforms and engages with her audience through regular posts and interactions.
Please note that specific dates and events may vary as Taylor’s career is continually evolving, and new developments can occur.
KETAMINE USE
Despite alcohol and caffeine being banned, Utah mum Jen Affleck claimed ketamine use is a “grey area” for the Church, while filming herself using the drug with her husband.
Jen, 25, met her future hubby Zac Affleck on a Mormon dating app when she was 18.
After getting tying the knot in 2019, they had their first child, a daughter named Nora, in 2021, and a son named Luca in 2023.
When the #MomTok ladies ended up at a Chippendales show in Las Vegas, she and Zac had a huge row, which played out on series 1 of the show.
Jen told her co-stars Zac said he “didn’t want to be married to her” if she “does stuff like this”.
Season 2 sees the couple to attempt to work this out, with controversial ketamine therapy.
“Zac and I will definitely have a lot to work on, and ketamine therapy is supposed to reset a lot of past traumas or habits you’ve created,” Jen explained in a confessional.
Ketamine is a “dissociative anesthetic that has some hallucinogenic effects,” according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
The drug “distorts the perception of sight and sound and makes the user feel disconnected and not in control,” and “can induce a state of sedation (feeling calm and relaxed), immobility, relief from pain, and amnesia”.
In 2019, America’s Food and Drug Administration approved a nasal spray called esketamine, derived from ketamine, as a medication for depression.
Ketamine therapy – which is currently not legal in the UK – is a treatment that uses low doses of the drug in order to manage various mental health conditions, such as depression, anxiety disorders, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Ketamine is in the gray area when it comes to the church
Jen Affleck
Acknowledging that people might have strong feelings about a member of the Mormon Church trying such unconventional methods, Jen explained: “Ketamine is in the grey area when it comes to the church.
“Yeah, the church doesn’t promote ketamine, but it’s definitely not like a commandment exactly,” she noted.
“Ketamine is a pure example of how much he’s willing to do to show up for the relationship,” Jen concluded, before the couple were each given an IV dose in a special facility.
“Never thought we’d get to this point where we’d be doing drugs together,” Jen laughed.
TV viewers also saw the mum lose focus for a second before sharing, “Oh, it hit me. It’s hitting me right now. The room is spinning.”
The couple could be seen napping during the therapy, and later connected through dreams they had about their early dates.
CHEAT SHEET
With adultery being utterly condemned by God, you’d think those in the limelight would be more careful.
But it seems that some can’t resist a bit of danger – including Whitney Leavitt’s husband Conner, who was caught using Tinder to flirt with other women on Secret Wives.
Whitney clarified that while there was no physical cheating, the issue has been going on for “our whole marriage.”
“Full on conversations with women and pictures and all of that stuff,” she said, explaining Conner was both sending and receiving nude photos. “It makes me feel like my whole marriage was just like a lie.”
Of course, there’s also the issue of Taylor swinging with her ex-husband and a group of their friends.
And her latest relationship, which led to the birth of her third child, is now in trouble too.
After months of denial from baby daddy Dakota, episode 1 of season 2 sees Taylor sit down with Jenna – who is rumoured to be his ‘other woman’.
Jenna confirmed Dakota had hooked up with her while dating Taylor, in the early days of their relationship and before she got pregnant.
“I was the night girl that you came over to at night, and you were asking her (Jenna) on day dates and telling her cute things. I feel like a piece of f***ing trash,” Taylor sobbed on camera.
GETTING DRUNK
According to the church, coffee and tea were banned as part of the Word of Wisdom from God as they claim in the 18th century it was used as a substitute for alcohol – also a big no-no among believers.
However, some of the rule-breaking Mormon wives are seen enjoying vodka and wine, especially Jessi who says it doesn’t affect her belief in the church.
Taylor even shared a recent TikTok video of herself sipping a cup of coffee as she went to clean her house – and we can’t blame her being a busy mum-of-three with a newborn.
She was also arrested in 2022 which was captured on the show after getting drunk and throwing a chair at her partner, but has now been sober for over a year.
Many Mormons, and the church, claim that some rules shouldn’t be questioned and simply taken as the Word of God.
TEEN PREGNANCIES
They say that good things come in threes, and that certainly seems to be the case for the cast of this reality TV series.
Back in February, within the space of ten days, three of the eight MomTok creators announced that they are expecting.
Jen Affleck, Mikayla Matthews and Mayci Neeley each uploaded wholesome snaps with their families dressed in shades of white and cream – and their baby bumps on full display.
One of them, Mikalyla, currently has three children with husband Jace Terry – son Beckham, seven, and daughters Tommie, three and Haven, five.
The 24-year-old became a mum for the first time as a teenager.
“I had my first kid at 17. I didn’t even know what I liked to do anymore because I was just a mum. That’s what I did,” she told TODAY.com in September 2024.
Sharing the wonderful news of the latest family addition, Mikayla told People: “It was definitely a surprise!
“We were not planning or trying. I miss my period a lot with my health issues, so for me it’s normal to sometimes be off track.
“It’s so wild to me that we’ll be a family of six. I feel like it’s the Mormon in me coming out,” the 24-year-old added.
“I’m surrounded by Mormon culture still and my husband’s siblings all have so many kids,” she continued.
“They’re like, ‘Once you hit three kids, you can have 10 kids,’ That’s kind of the mindset I have.”
CHURCH’S SAY
In a statement released by the church prior to the TV show’s release they called out recent “productions” that depict Latter-day Saints in an inaccurate fashion.
“The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, like other prominent global faith communities, often finds itself the focus of the attention of the entertainment industry,” the statement read.
“Some portrayals are fair and accurate, but others resort to stereotypes or gross misrepresentations that are in poor taste.”