The drama in the world of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives continues.
Taylor Frankie Paul, the embattled star of the Hulu reality series, revealed on social media that she doesn’t “desire to move forward” with the show as relations within the ensemble have seemingly frayed.
This comes only a week after it emerged that Paul, whose season of The Bachelorette was suspended after a domestic fracas involving her ex-partner, was set to return for Season 6 of the Jeff Jenkins-produced series.
Last week, cast member Mikayla Matthews said that she “will not be continuing the show at this moment” with a series of social media posts that seemed to imply it was because of Paul’s return.
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“The ONLY reason I’m leaving the show is because I was told a certain person was coming back,” Matthews wrote on Instagram Stories. “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.”
Cast members Mayci Neeley and Layla Taylor seemed to support Matthews. “I am finishing this current season that we are filming and then not sure for after that,” Neeley posted to TikTok.
On Instagram, Paul wrote, “My gratitude goes to all the networks that supported me throughout this and gave me the chance to return. However, I don’t desire to move forward like this. I originally was willing to be removed to let them all continue on with less stress and I’m back to that point. 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.”
Paul noted that production and crew were the ones who checked in on her during a tumultuous year and accused others of “bullying for months now”.
The reality star also claimed that her cast members, which also include Jen Affleck, Jessi Draper and Miranda Hope, wanted her to “lead the way of pay”. “My voice was the only one that can make it happen and then they would work from what I demanded. 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,” she added.
“However, it’s a pleasure to remove myself so they can continue, because I’ve almost convinced myself I’m deserving of all this pain and to a certain degree absolutely this is consequences of my actions. My question has been how much suffering and scrutiny is going to be enough…I’m just relieved to be out,” she concluded.
Season 5 of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives premiered on September 10 but only featured five episodes as a a result of the production hiatus caused by Paul’s legal issues.
Last month, the streamer renewed the show for a further 20 episodes, which was set to be broken into Seasons 6 and 7. Cameras had started rolling, but it’s not clear what Disney, Jeff Jenkins Productions and the other cast members will do now.
