Maybe #MomTok won’t survive this…
On Monday, Mikayla Matthews announced on Instagram that she will not be returning for future seasons of ‘The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives,’ vaguely telling fans her decision was made “after hearing some news.” After fans began speculating that Mikayla was leaving the series because her frenemy, Taylor Frankie Paul, was allowed to return to the Hulu series, Mikayla returned to Instagram Stories on Tuesday to let everyone know that is exactly why she chose to exit the show.
In her original post from Monday, Mikayla wrote that she has “said from the beginning of this that I’m not comfortable being a part of something that continues to platform behavior I don’t agree [with], especially given my own experience growing up in a home with multiple forms of abuse.
“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,” she continued. “And for me personally, continuing to directly profit from this behavior feels wrong and unethical. It feels like a disservice to the children, everyone’s healing and the millions of people watching.”
(Mikayla is almost certainly referring to Taylor’s domestic violence investigation involving her ex-boyfriend Dakota Mortensen back in March and all the drama that followed, which The Ashley has reported on extensively.)
In her post on Monday, Mikayla condemned those who participated in the making (or the watching) of content featuring Taylor.
“[This behavior] shouldn’t be ‘relatable’ or entertainment in [any way],” she wrote. “Supporting an ADULT doesn’t mean constantly making excuses for toxic behavior while giving unconditional sympathy and grace with zero accountability or change. I was in that enabling cycle for years, and I’m not going to be a part of that again!”
In May, Mikayla and Taylor had a public Instagram feud over Taylor’s legal drama after Mikayla shared that she was focusing on setting a “healthy” boundary with Taylor to protect herself and her children during this time. Taylor then posted a rant on Mother’s Day about how Mikayla wasn’t showing up as a true friend by refusing to “pick sides.” (You can read the full recap of the drama here.)
On Tuesday, Mikayla ended any speculation about the reason she left ‘Mormon Wives.’
“Also to make things even MORE clear and shut down any assumptions cause there’s plenty going around and it’s still not clear to some people…the ONLY reason I’m leaving the show is because I was told a certain person was coming back.”
Mikayla wrote that, before agreeing to appear in six episodes, she informed producers that she would not film if a “certain someone” (aka Taylor) came back. She then elaborated even further about why she won’t appear on a show that promotes behavior like this.
“It’s UNETHICAL and kids are involved,” she wrote. “And I’m being put in an unfair position because of the things I’ve seen and heard that I don’t agree with.”
Mikayla mentioned the “barstool video everyone else saw,” referring to a 2023 video leaked in March by TMZ that showed Taylor kicking, hitting and throwing metal barstools at Dakota, with one of the stools hitting one of Taylor’s kids. Mikayla stated that the video, as well as “other things with it that obviously made me question the one side I was hearing and unknowingly enabling the whole time.”
She went on to state that she filmed the six episodes because “that person” (aka Taylor) was not part of them.
“Then we were told she was coming back,” Mikayla wrote. “I said, ‘Great, then I will not be participating, God bless and goodbye…haven’t filmed a day since.”
Mikayla clarified that her decision to leave the show “wasn’t a spur of [the] moment decision” and it wasn’t influenced by Season 5 coming out. She stated that she had already informed everyone that she would leave if Taylor came back.
“No ultimatums. I’m not in control of who comes and who leaves,” she wrote. “If you guys watched Season 5 and thought, ‘Wow, this is hard to watch, incredible triggering and frustrating; imagine having it be your reality every day.
“Why would you willingly agree to put yourself back in that environment that has cause[d] all that discomfort for every single person on this cast and crew,” Mikayla added.
Mikayla clarified that she will still have to do what she is under contract to do for Season 5 and slammed those who claimed she won’t stop talking about the situation.
“I ‘keep talking about it’ because it’s still [affecting] me. It’s my livelihood and I’m extremely bothered by it,” she wrote, adding that “millions of dollars” were lost from the filming break caused by Taylor, and that cast and crew members lost their livelihoods during that time. “Wake up people.”
As of press time, the two women do not follow each other on social media and Taylor has not responded to Mikayla’s announcement. However, on Sunday, Taylor confirmed that she is staying with the show with the goal being “to share [her] story and hopefully help people.”
Other ‘Mormon Wives’ stars rallied behind Mikayla in the comment section of her original post. Whitney Leavitt, Mayci Neeley, Miranda Hope, and Kate Racker all left words of encouragement in her comment section.
It seems that some of the cast may also follow Mikayla’s lead by exiting the show. Following Mikayla’s announcement this week, Mayci told a fan on social media that she’s finishing filming on Season 6 and is “not sure after that” if she will continue appearing on the show. Layla gave a similar response on Monday when asked if she will return to ‘Mormon Wives’ in the wake of Mikayla’s exit.
“I just love her so much,” Layla said of her now former castmate. “It’s such an impossible situation for everyone involved but I’m finishing out season 6 and then tbd.”
Mikaya is the now the third cast member to officially exit the show. Halfway through Season 4, Demi Engemann abruptly left the show to focus on her family and mental health amidst assault allegations against ‘Vanderpump Villa’ star Marciano Brunette. (It’s unclear if she will rejoin the show in the future.) In May, Whitney also announced that she would be leaving the show to focus on her acting career.
According to Variety, Season 6 of ‘Mormon Wives’ is in production, though Taylor’s involvement is unclear at this time.
All episodes of ‘The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives’ are now streaming on Hulu.
RELATED STORY: ‘Mormon Wives’ Returns with Taylor Frankie Paul Confirmed as Main Cast Member; Watch the Season 5 Trailer
(Photos: Hulu; Instagram)
I love her for this. Already liked her but this deserves mad respect. I hope they all follow suit so Taylor doesn’t even have a show.
it’s absolutely crazy and disgusting how many people are still supporting taylor acting like she’s the first person in reality tv to be “authentic” and it’s not a flex if yall relate to taylor btw
Be realistic. Taylor is the only interesting person on the show. Without her it would be boring. I understand not supporting her but you were signing up to do reality tv which only thrives if there is drama. No one cares about Mikayla’s therapy, Jordan and Jessi’s crappy marriage or Mayci and Whitney’s stable lives. Taylor makes the show what it is.
so that’s why we should continue to enable her erratic behavior, watch her scream and yell at everyone who disagrees with her and doesn’t enable it, and continue to watch her create more trauma for her children? even if you didn’t sign up for a reality show, no one deserves to have to deal with that type of person on a everyday basis and let it affect your mental health like that
You don’t have to continue to enable anything. Don’t watch if you don’t want to. But if Taylor left and Mikayla stayed the show would end anyway because there wouldn’t be anything worth watching.
So let’s continue watching and enable a child abusing loser because it “makes the show what it is.” Seriously? Do you hear yourself? 🙄 It’s cool everyone this woman has abused, Jaclyn is entertained so it’s all good!