The Stars of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives Are Ready to Reintroduce Themselves

Glamour: The trailer got a huge amount of attention online, both in a positive and negative way. How do you feel now that the show itself is about to come out?

Mikayla Matthews: We [the cast] have mixed emotions. Some days we’re like, Guys, this is amazing! And then the next day we’re like, Oh my gosh, people are going to have to watch this. I can’t step outside, I can’t go to the grocery store. I’m going to have to hide in my house. There’s definitely a lot of backlash from the community. I feel like it’s human nature to be judgmental, and so there’s definitely just judgy humans out there, maybe projecting a little bit of their own insecurities on us as well.

Demi Engemann: We’re confident. We have to remember that we were excited to do this and that we at some point were super proud of ourselves. We can’t let the outside opinions and noise get to us. We just need to remain excited and hopeful for the future.

Mayci Neeley: I don’t think I was expecting as negative reaction from our LDS community. It was a little shocking. I understand when I watch it back and think from an LDS perspective. It shows people talking about swinging, talking about drinking, and that’s not traditional in our church, so I understand that. But I do think it was surprising, all the negativity and people being like, “You’re not Mormon. You don’t represent us.” I’m like, well, we’re not trying to represent us. We’re not trying to be a mouthpiece to the church. We’re all on our different journeys within the church.

One of the reasons why #MomTok took off was because people are clearly interested in the lives of Mormon women. What are some misconceptions you’re hoping to dispel with the show about Mormonism and/or MomTok?

Engemann: Well, MomTok, that we’re all swingers.

Neeley: I think the misconception, at least with religion, is that we’re not polygamists, we are normal. Sometimes with the Mormon culture, people think we’re kind of weird, if I’m being honest.

Jessi Ngatikaura: There are so many misconceptions about the Mormon religion. I’ve heard people ask, “You guys are allowed to have social media?” So just clearing up those narratives is going to be interesting.

One thing that stood out for me from watching the show was how everyone pretty much individually said that they found MomTok very empowering. I’m curious, what was it about it that you found so empowering?

Taylor Frankie Paul: Obviously [with] all my past, they took me in and were my friends and supported me. So I feel like that in itself is empowerment.

Jen Affleck: In some way we’re all an outcast within our friends or family. We’re a part of the church, but…we’re definitely not by the book and we’re not cookie-cutter. So I think that’s why as a group we relate so much because we are different and we’re all on different journeys.