‘Secret Lives of Mormon Wives’ EP Addresses Criticism From LDS Community, Calls for Church Leadership to Come on Show

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The second season of “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” reality series on Hulu is debuting in Los Angeles this coming Friday.

The program features Jennifer Affleck, Demi Engemann, Taylor Frankie Paul, Whitney Leavitt, Mikayla Matthews, Miranda McWhorter, Mayci Neeley, Jessi Ngatikaura, and Layla Taylor. It revolves around a circle of Mormon mom influencers known as #MomTok, who gained notoriety in 2022 due to a scandalous swinging sex scandal and have been managing the aftermath since then. The first season was successful, marking Hulu’s first unscripted series to enter Nielsen’s streaming rankings, and now #MomTok is back for more episodes.

Jeff Jenkins, the executive producer, mentioned to The Hollywood Reporter during the L.A. premiere that meeting the expectations set by season one mainly hinges on how open the women are about their personal lives. He compared this to Kim Kardashian’s early days when a significant portion of her life was documented on camera. Given his past role as an executive producer on Keeping Up With the Kardashians and various E! spinoffs featuring the Kardashians, he would have a good understanding of such sharing dynamics.

The show has garnered significant notice for its depiction of Mormons, or followers of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Jenkins mentioned encountering articles where the Mormon community has stated, “These characters don’t truly reflect who we are,” which he found a bit disheartening since all the women uphold their faith. They may vary in their level of devotion to that faith, but they are indeed part of the LDS community.

He expressed, “I’d be delighted if someone from our church community, whether they are a bishop or another leader, could join us for a shooting session and offer their unique viewpoint on this matter. Whatever their view might be, I welcome it wholeheartedly. Finding such a perspective has been quite difficult, so I strongly suggest engaging with them.

During this season, we’ll witness a blend with the freshly debuted “Vanderpump Villa”, an action which Jenkins likened to his previous endeavor of creating the Kardashian world on E!. As he put it, “Hulu is wisely replicating this strategy, aiming to construct its own Hulu universe. So, a crossover can occasionally be strategic.

Regarding his expectations for season two, the executive producer shared his sentiments about the women, “I’m rooting for each one of them sincerely; I truly care for all of them. They have my deep admiration because I believe it takes immense courage to lay bare one’s life for global scrutiny and critique. In my eyes, they are warriors, truly brave warriors.

The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives season two premieres Thursday on Hulu.

Dominoe Ibarra contributed to this report.

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2025-05-12 03:54