Mikayla Matthews is spelling out why she says she is stepping away from Hulu’s The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives: Taylor Frankie Paul’s return to filming.
One day after saying she was leaving the reality series, Matthews addressed the decision in a set of Instagram Stories, saying her exit was tied to being told “a certain person” would be coming back. The source material confirms Matthews was referring to Paul.
“The ONLY reason I’m leaving the show is because I was told a certain person was coming back,” Matthews wrote. “I told them before agreeing to do [Season] 6 that I wasn’t going to film if that certain someone came back because it’s UNETHICAL and kids are involved.”
The Hulu series is currently filming Season 6. Season 5 was truncated due to Paul’s domestic violence claims from her ex, Dakota Mortensen.
Matthews said her decision was not prompted by watching Season 5 back, but by what she described as an ongoing situation she no longer wanted to be part of. She referenced “the Barstool video everyone else saw,” adding that she first saw that video in March, and said there were “other things with it” that made her question what she had previously been hearing.
“I’m being put in an unfair position because of the things I’ve seen and heard that I don’t agree with,” Matthews wrote. She added that the material she encountered made her reconsider “the one side” she said she had been hearing and “unknowingly enabling.”
According to Matthews, she initially participated in filming Season 6 because Paul was not filming with the rest of MomTok. That changed, she said, when the cast was informed Paul would return.
Matthews described her response as immediate: “As soon as we were told she was coming back, I said great, then I will not be participating, god bless and goodbye, haven’t filmed a day since.”
Matthews Says Season 5 Rewatch Did Not Drive Her Exit
Matthews pushed back on the idea that her choice came from rewatching Season 5 after the fact. In her Instagram Stories, she said the emotional difficulty viewers may have had watching the season was only part of the picture for those involved in making the show.
“If you guys thought, ‘Wow this is hard to watch, incredibly triggering and frustrating,’ imagine having it be your reality everyday,” she wrote. “Why would you willingly agree to put yourself back in that environment that has cause all that discomfort for every single person on this cast and crew.”
Matthews also said she did not issue an ultimatum about Paul’s involvement and emphasized that she does not have “control” over casting decisions. Her position, as she presented it, was that she would remove herself from filming rather than participate under the changed circumstances.
The reality personality said she still intends to complete what remains required of her for the work she already did. Matthews said she would fulfill her “contractual obligations and interviews for what I have filmed and that’s the end of it.”
What Happens Next?
The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives remains in production on Season 6. Matthews’ comments indicate she has stopped filming new material since being told Paul was returning, while still planning to complete obligations tied to footage she has already shot.
For now, the key confirmed development is Matthews’ own explanation: she says her departure is not about a rewatch, not about an ultimatum, and not about having control over casting. She says it is because Paul is coming back to the Hulu series.