CNN
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What’s to say a couple of present that includes Mormon mother TikTok influencers, a intercourse scandal and Ben Affleck’s cousin? Loads.
Buckle in for “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives,” which debuts Friday on Hulu. The collection follows present and former members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) embroiled in drama over alcohol use, unwed pregnancies, male strip reveals and partner-swapping.
All of it begins with influencer Taylor Frankie Paul, who’s credited with forming “MomTok,” by pulling collectively a gaggle of fellow Mormon moms on TikTok. Most of the members have hundreds of thousands of followers, sharing glimpses of their lives for profitable sponsorships.
Paul induced a scandal in 2022, when she introduced that she was getting divorced after she mentioned she violated the phrases of her open marriage. She additionally shared that she and her now ex-husband had participated in “mushy swinging” with different {couples} of their Utah group, which concerned buying and selling sexual companions of their social circle.
The storyline of the present heaviy includes the fallout from Paul’s revelation, in addition to her subsequent being pregnant with boyfriend Dakota Mortensen, whom she grew to become concerned with whereas married.
“I don’t remorse the place I’m proper now,” Paul instructed CNN of her relationship selections. “I’m completely satisfied to be the place I’m. However do I want I had went about issues differenty? Completely.”
“I might have by no means opened my relationship and my marriage. I really feel like that was a catastrophe ready to occur,” she added. “I feel asserting it to the world, I want that hadn’t needed to occur as properly, but in addition it bought us the place we’re right this moment.”
The season highlights a feud between Paul and solid member Whitney Leavitt, who appears to be aiming for Paul’s MomTok throne, as the ladies work to restore friendships and safe their continued influencer work.
“I by no means actually felt a aggressive nature with Taylor,” Leavitt instructed CNN. “I feel it was extra so I missed getting along with the entire women and creating content material collectively. So I simply began planning content material days after which it became one thing that wasn’t what it was.”
The previous and current LDS affiliation of the ladies has sparked each controversy and curiosity. Whereas the Church has not commented on “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” straight, the group appeared to allude to it in a message on their website the identical day a trailer for the present debuted final month.
“The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, like different outstanding world religion communities, usually finds itself the main target of the eye of the leisure business,” the assertion learn. “Some portrayals are honest and correct, however others resort to stereotypes or gross misrepresentations which are in poor style and have real-life penalties for folks of religion. Whereas this isn’t new, a lot of latest productions depict life and practices blatantly inconsistent with the teachings of the Church.”
Forged memberJennifer Affleck, who’s a distant cousin of actor and director Ben Affleck, instructed CNN she’s taking on-line criticism to their portrayal in stride.
“It’s most likely good that we’ve gotten a bit little bit of backlash [early] simply so we are able to put together us for when the actual stuff comes out,” Affleck mentioned.
“There’s eight episodes for folks to provide extra backlash on,” her castmate Mikayla Matthews added. “I feel we’re going to should undergo it with every episode.”
Forged member Jessi Ngatikaura instructed CNN she understands the blended response given come of the conservative teachings of the LDS religion, however discovered the uproar earlier than the collection even aired to be “wild.”
“We knew the title was going to get controversial opinions, however I actually hope as soon as folks see it they may give it a second probability and notice it’s a lot greater than a two-minute trailer and a reputation,” she mentioned. “I’m tremendous happy with what we did…and I feel as soon as they watch it, they’re going to comprehend it’s an excellent empowering present about ladies and our struggles.”
The eight episodes of “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” are actually streaming on Hulu.