ON THURSDAY, SEASON four of the reality TV series The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives landed on Disney+.

It’s been a whirlwind of a few years for the women at the helm of this show, who saw a TikTok scandal turn into a canny career opportunity. Featuring Mormon women in their 20s and 30s who live in Utah and are TikTok influencers, the series has served up plenty of drama around the participants’ families, love lives, cosmetic surgery and more. Season four sees even more drama occur. 

But what is The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives (SLOMW), and what can you expect from it?

Here’s what to know.

Online drama

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The show has its roots in online drama. In 2022, the Utah-based ‘MomTok’ TikTokker Taylor Frankie Paul went viral after saying she and her husband Tate had been involved in ‘soft-swinging’ with other Mormon couples and were now getting divorced.

That the Mormon religion dictates its members should save sex for marriage added a particularly intriguing element of voyeurism to the story, as did the fact that Taylor was only in her twenties. 

Just two years later, Taylor was starring alongside seven other members of her MomTok group in the series SLOMW. Parlaying internet virality into a reality show really is the true sign of cultural resonance these days.

It has to be noted, though, that most of the women starring alongside Taylor apparently weren’t involved in the ‘soft-swinging’ scandal. But from the first episode, her claims were a hot subject for all to discuss. The fall-out of the scandal saw Taylor able to rise to a new level of fame, but it clearly had practical impacts on her friendships too.

Gender

One of the aims of the MomTok members on SLOMW is to try and update the image of women members of the Mormon religion. All married very young, but all also chafed against the rules.

“We were raised to be these housewives for these men, serving their every desire,” says Taylor in the trailer for the first season.

While the Mormon religion has strict rules and regulations, the women on SLOMW don’t all abide by every one of them. For example, some don’t wear the prescribed ‘temple garments’ under their clothes, and some drink coffee which is forbidden (as is alcohol) under the religion. 

Within the group themselves there’s a split between the ‘saints’ – the more religious women – and ‘sinners’, who follow some of their own rules about what it is to be a Mormon woman.

A major tension in the show is how free or not these women are from gender-based rules, and what the fallout of doing their own thing might be. 

Drama

A further aspect is that many of the women are the main breadwinners in their home, again flipping the script on what’s expected of them. But how much freedom can they really have?

Most of the women experience marital drama at some point. Sometimes that’s because their husband is on Tinder or their sex life has disappeared, and other times it’s due to their feelings for someone else.

By the time the first season kicks off, Taylor claims she hasn’t seen the other MomTokkers in a few months following the scandal fallout. She’s also moved on from her divorce to new boyfriend Dakota Mortensen. But by season four, she and Mortensen have split up. Meanwhile, various members of the group are classed as the ‘villain’ at various points.

Real or not?

SLOMW claims to show the real lives of the MomTok gang. However, such shows – which are influenced by, for example, the hugely popular Real Housewives franchise – can sometimes have a tentative relationship with reality.

It’s more important to create good TV than it is to stay strictly within the boundaries of the truth.

But for viewers, that’s expected. We know that people will act as though conversations they’re having on screen are being had for the first time. We expect that friendships and drama might in real life not be exactly as they’re depicted on camera.

SLOMW heaps drama after drama into each episode, which makes it compelling – if not a little uncomfortable at times – viewing. 

And viewers are tuning in – The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives became Hulu’s most-watched unscripted premiere of 2024.

Season 4

Season one kicked off in the aftermath of the MomTok scandal, and since then there’s been plenty more scandal related to SLOMW. This includes: criticism from within the LDS church, multiple pregnancies, a Chippendale scandal, cheating, marital difficulties and strife between friends.  

Now comes season 4, and returning to the screen are: Taylor Frankie Paul, Demi Engemann, Jen Affleck, Jessi Draper, Layla Taylor, Mayci Neeley, Mikayla Matthews, Miranda Hope and Whitney Leavitt.

What makes this fourth season even more interesting is how the women’s lives have evolved over the past year.

In particular, Taylor, Jen and Whitney have been able to capitalise on their fame. Taylor is the new star of the dating show The Bachelorette, while Jen and Whitney took part in Dancing with the Stars and allegedly had their own drama behind the scenes.

If drama-filled reality TV sounds like your worst nightmare, then this show isn’t for you. But if you love nothing more than soaking up the dramatic personal lives of strangers, then rest assured we’re promised that in season four there will be marital drama, personal demons and family secrets being unearthed. Standard SLOMW, in other words.

The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives is available to watch on Disney+ now.