MomTok May Survive Without Taylor Frankie Paul, But Can Mormon Wives?

The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives is basically a game of musical chairs at this point, just with dirty soda in hand. Just days after Mikayla Matthews announced she was leaving the Hulu series over her controversial MomTok cohort Taylor Frankie Paul’s return to filming Season 6, Paul now seems to be bowing out of the show. But her departure doesn’t feel as final, and if Hulu has any sense, they’d make sure Paul stays — at least for a little while.

In a statement posted to Instagram, Paul expressed gratitude for “all the networks that supported me throughout this and gave me the chance to return” to Mormon Wives. “However, I don’t desire to move forward like this,” she wrote, saying her castmates have led a social media “pile-on” and that “laughing about my kids is disgusting.”

Hulu paused production on Mormon Wives in March when Paul was involved in a domestic violence investigation stemming from an incident with her ex Dakota Mortensen in February, and while she’s not being charged, the situation led to ongoing custody battles over her three children. Filming resumed in July without Paul, with plans for her to rejoin later, and when that process began, Matthews left the show.

Over the weekend, Paul traded barbs on TikTok with co-stars Layla Taylor and Miranda Hope, who used her custody issues as clapbacks. This has seemingly changed her mind about filming the show, writing that she “originally was willing to be removed to let them all continue on with less stress, and I’m back to that point.” However, it’s hard to imagine Mormon Wives without Paul.

Of course, Mormon Wives is an ensemble series that’s created multiple reality superstars, and what a cast it has. Taylor and Hope are becoming standout voices, while Matthews and her BFF Mayci Neeley are the show’s comedic relief. Jen Affleck is always vulnerable about her life, and if anyone can keep up with Paul’s chaos, it’s Jessi Draper, with her recent divorce and divisive rebounds.

But by all of their own admission, it’s Paul that brings the most stories and scandal to Mormon Wives, for better or worse. The show only came to fruition after her swinging scandal as a MomTok influencer went viral on TikTok, and over five seasons in, she keeps fueling drama both within the group and in her personal life, as icky as it may get.

Fans are tired of DadTok in general, and that frustration centers on Paul’s “toxic” dynamic with Mortensen. Viewers spent years watching him refuse to leave her alone after multiple attempted break-ups, ruining huge opportunities for Paul and enabling her own bad behavior. Now that restraining orders are keeping them apart, viewers deserve to see Paul finally free to answer our questions about the situation and tell her side of the story.

Mormon Wives already has a huge loss in Whitney Leavitt, who announced her exit in May to focus on acting and theater, and it’s no wonder she wouldn’t want her burgeoning career tied to Paul’s scandals. However, depriving viewers of an ending to Paul’s saga would simply make the series feel incomplete.