Rumors About The Secret Lives Of Mormon Wives Cast That They Can Never Outrun

Reality TV has always been a hotbed for scandals, meltdowns, and salacious rumors, both on and off screen. However, the surprise megahit series "The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives" and its mercurial, fame-hungry cast seem to have more than just the usual rumors.

The Hulu reality series premiered in September 2024 and followed a TikTok influencer, the perpetually scandal-plagued Taylor Frankie Paul, and her circle of influencer friends, who refer to their collective as "MomTok." The series was born out of Paul's online claims that she and her fellow MomTok friends were quasi-swingers and that there was a hidden adult side to their lives as Mormons and family-focused TikTok influencers.

The show, which was designed to explore the MomTok group's "secret lives," has faced a slew of high-profile scandals that have largely ruined the reputations of the cast. Meanwhile, bubbling under the surface, there have been tons of low-key feuds that have led to even more rumors about the "Mormon Wives," their complicated relationships, back-stabbing friendships, and awkward legal entanglements. From supposed illicit affairs and messy divorces to whatever Paul is getting in trouble for at any given moment, here are some of the weird, messy rumors that will be very difficult for these MomTok stars to outrun any time soon.

When Zac and Jen Affleck first began filming "The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives," it seems their marriage was already having some issues. "We went into the season in a rocky place, but I still wanted to move forward with filming, because that's what felt right to me," Jen told Vulture in 2024. "Looking back, it's probably the best thing to happen to us, because a lot of the things they showed were things I didn't want to acknowledge." The couple got into several onscreen spats, including an argument over Jen watching a Chippendales performance, Zac's supposed gambling addiction, and Jen's insistence that her husband was somehow related to Ben Affleck, even though he definitely isn't.

The couple already had two children before the show started — daughter Nora (born in November 2021) and son Lucas Lowell (born in July 2023). They then welcomed their daughter Penelope in July 2025, after going through the public spats and fights during the show's first season. It was a sign to some that the pair had weathered the worst storms of their relationship. However, a random TikTok posted in December 2025 claimed that Jen's decision not to wear her ring in a social media post was "confirmation" that they'd gotten divorced.

Many other fans jumped on this speculative bandwagon, leading Zac himself to speak up about it. The reality star commented on the TikTok, writing (via Parade), "Please don't tell Jen! She doesn't know yet." The sarcastic quip seemed to undercut people's suspicions that they were actually divorced, but with so many people willing to jump to that conclusion so easily, it's fairly clear that many don't have high hopes for the longevity of Zac and Jen's marriage.

After becoming an overnight star on "The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives," Taylor Frankie Paul was set to make a splash starring on season 22 of "The Bachelorette." However, after her entire season was shot, and just days before it was set to premiere in March 2026, ABC pulled the plug on the season after allegations of domestic violence arose. This painted Paul in a darkly negative light, cost the network millions, and potentially doomed the "Bachelorette" franchise altogether. However, there was quite a bit of drama and speculation before that, which raised some eyebrows among fans.

Specifically, many fans were convinced that Paul had actually been pregnant while filming, and that it was going to be revealed that she was the show's first pregnant bachelorette. The pregnancy speculation was sparked by a trailer for the fourth season of "Mormon Wives," and it was later revealed that Paul had slept with her ex-boyfriend, Dakota Mortensen. Paul and Mortensen already share one child, and some of Paul's castmates seemed genuinely convinced she'd gotten pregnant once again.

However, as the weeks wore on, it became clear that Paul wasn't actually pregnant while filming her ill-fated season of "The Bachelorette." When asked about the rumors after production wrapped, Paul told Us Weekly, "Do I look pregnant? Just look at me and make your observation there. That's all I've got to say." However, if she had gotten pregnant, Paul told Vulture in March 2026 that she would have still committed to shooting her season. "I would have had my baby," she told the publication. "That would have been meant for a reason."

If you or someone you know is dealing with domestic abuse, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233. You can also find more information, resources, and support at their website.

With a 16-year age difference between "Mormon Wives" star Demi Engemann and her older husband, Bret Engemann, the pair has one of the biggest age gaps among reality TV stars. This has led to speculation over the stability of their marriage and their future together. It also led to claims that their relationship history was even more uncomfortable than most people realized. That's because of the popular theory that Bret had been Demi's babysitter when she was in elementary school. However, this rumor seems to be, at least in part, Demi's fault.

In 2023, she posted a TikTok in which she recalled hearing a lot about Bret while growing up, thanks to a family friend, long before she ever actually met him. However, she used unusual phrasing regarding the significance of their age gap that some people misinterpreted. "He was so much older than me. And so, like, when I was nine years old, he was married to his first wife and having babies," she said. Some interpreted this as an admission that they had actually known each other when she was nine and he was 25, and that spiraled into claims that he'd been her babysitter.

Sitting down on the "I Do, Part 2" podcast, Demi cleared the air about a few different rumors, including ones about her past with Bret. "I didn't cheat on Bret, and we did not know each other when I was nine years old," she explained, adding that she and Bret first met at a funeral when she was 21. As for the confusion and rumors sparked by the post, Demi shared, "I take full responsibility for starting that whole thing."