Taylor Frankie Paul appears to be stepping away from The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, only weeks after news that the reality TV personality and content creator would return to the Hulu series.
Paul signaled that she no longer wants to continue under the current circumstances in a lengthy Instagram post shared Monday. While she did not explicitly announce a formal departure, her statement cast serious doubt on her future with the show.
“My gratitude goes to all the networks that supported me throughout this and gave me the chance to return,” Paul wrote. “However I don’t desire to move forward like this.”
Paul said she had previously been willing to remove herself so that others could continue with “less stress,” adding that she had returned to that position. She accused nearly the entire cast and others of collectively targeting her, and described the situation as having reached “the point of bullying for months now.”
“Some of the girls know what I’ve been through and then to turn and collectively pile on with their ‘statements’ knowing there has been ongoing abuse through the system the last 8 months on top of what I’ve endured, Almost the entire cast plus some, going at me … laughing about my kids is disgusting,” she wrote. “And I bit my tongue there.”
The sixth season of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives is currently in active production. It remains unclear whether Paul had already filmed any material for the upcoming season before making her statement.
Paul addresses pay and production
Paul also suggested that fellow cast members had encouraged her to seek higher pay on the grounds that her “voice was the only one that can make it happen” before they would support the demands.
She said she did not follow through with those requests and maintained the same compensation. “I’m grateful I never followed through with their requests of demands and I’m grateful I kept same pay out of fairness and integrity,” Paul wrote.
Although her post criticized other cast members, Paul spoke positively about the people working behind the scenes. She said she had always treated the production and crew respectfully and that crew members had checked on her during the dispute.
Paul’s apparent exit comes one week after cast member Mikayla Matthews revealed that she would be leaving the Hulu show. Matthews framed her decision around her morals and her concerns about continuing to benefit financially from behavior she opposed.
“There’s no amount of money worth going against my morals or changing the stance I’ve had since I first saw and heard the things that made me feel this strongly,” Matthews said in her statement.
Matthews added that continuing to “directly profit from this behavior” felt “wrong and unethical,” as well as a disservice to the children involved, people’s healing and the show’s millions of viewers.
Matthews has already filmed for season six, leaving the timing of her departure uncertain. It is not yet clear whether she will officially leave during the sixth season or ahead of season seven, which Hulu has already ordered.
More cast members weigh their futures
Paul and Matthews have been involved in a social media feud that began after ABC pulled season 22 of The Bachelorette, which was set to feature Paul. The season was removed from the schedule a few days before its release after a video emerged from a 2023 domestic violence incident showing Paul throwing barstools at her ex, Dakota Mortensen. The incident led to Paul’s arrest.
The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives had also paused production following an alleged domestic incident involving Paul and Mortensen. That pause came before ABC’s later decision to pull Paul’s season of The Bachelorette.
Other Mormon Wives cast members have publicly left open the possibility of departing after season six. Responding to Matthews’ decision in an Instagram Story, Layla Taylor said, “I just love her so much. It’s such an impossible situation for everyone involved but I’m finishing out season 6 and then tbd.”
Mayci Neeley expressed a similar position in a TikTok comment, saying she would complete the current season but was uncertain about what would follow.
What Happens Next?
Season six remains in production, but Paul’s participation and the precise timing of Matthews’ departure have not been clarified. With Taylor and Neeley also declining to commit beyond the current season, Hulu’s already ordered seventh season could face further cast changes.