Photo-Illustration: by The Cut; Photos: Getty Images
Something’s up with the Secret Lives of Mormon Wives cast. Days after the release of the Hulu show’s fifth season — and a month after original castmate Whitney Leavitt announced she’s moving on — Mikayla Matthews shared Monday that she does not plan to continue filming SLOMW “at this moment.”
Matthews wrote vaguely that she made the decision “over a week ago, after hearing some news.” She added, “I’ve 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 … 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.”
Matthews did not specify what “behavior” she was referring to. Earlier this year, production for season five was put on hold while police investigated domestic assault allegations “in both directions” between Taylor Frankie Paul and her on-and-off boyfriend, Dakota Mortensen. The incident, along with new footage from an older 2023 altercation that led to Paul pleading guilty to aggravated assault, prompted ABC to pull Paul’s already-filmed season of The Bachelorette. SLOMW reportedly resumed filming in May. Though Paul’s fellow cast members have distanced themselves from her and the Utah police department’s ongoing investigations, the turmoil was covered in the show’s fifth season. Both Mortensen and Paul have since filed temporary restraining orders against each other. Paul’s filing, which was obtained by People, accused Mortensen of displaying a “pattern of abusive conduct and coercive control” during their relationship. She also accused him of physical abuse and included photos of bruises she said she obtained during altercations with Mortensen.
“This shouldn’t be ‘relatable’ or entertainment in anyway,” Matthews continued in her post. “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!”
Hulu has not yet commented on Matthews’s announcement, which came in the middle of filming for season six. But her castmates Mayci Neeley and Layla Taylor have also voiced uncertainty about the future of their own involvement on the show. When asked on Instagram Stories if she would continue filming after Matthews’s departure, Taylor wrote, “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🤍” The same day, Neeley responded to a comment on her TikTok video, confirming that she too planned to finish “this current season we are filming and then not sure after that! ❤️” Something tells me Dancing With the Stars is about to have their pick of Mormon contestants.
