Meet The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives Season 5 Cast as Taylor Frankie Paul Returns With a Twist

Taylor Frankie Paul was recently in hot water because of her scandal with ex-boyfriend Dakota Mortensen, but she is coming back for Season 5. The only catch is that she will appear in a limited capacity. As Hulu describes her, the “creator of #MomTok and the center of the swinging scandal,” Taylor “returns from The Bachelorette with unfinished business, an old temptation and the pressure of life in the public eye.”

Whitney Leavitt is part of Season 5, but this will be her final season as a main cast member. She confirmed the rumors herself in an Instagram video, saying, “I’m leaving The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives.” She added, “Just to be very clear, I’m finishing Season 5, so yes, I’ll be in that season, but also yes, it’ll be my last.” Hulu also teased her storyline for the upcoming installment: “Whitney debuts on Broadway in New York City as tensions back home chase her.”

Jessi Draper (formerly Jessi Ngatikaura), who is the self-proclaimed “grandma of the group,” is confirmed to return for Season 5. Hulu has not revealed her storyline but teased, “Back in Utah, the limits of loyalty are tested as fame, secrets and backlash threaten #MomTok — with every blowup making headlines. As the heat threatens to burn the sisterhood, have they finally flown too close to the sun? With rumors spiraling and the public demanding answers, the sisterhood starts to crack, and #MomTok must decide what — and who — it’s willing to sacrifice.” 

Jennifer Affleck recently made her dream come true by participating in Dancing with the Stars. She was part of the competition show in Season 34 and was partnered with Jan Ravnik. Now, she is returning to the reality series in Season 5. In March, Affleck shared a post on Instagram, revealing why she signed on to star in the reality show. She wrote, “When I joined The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, I didn't know what would come from it, but I knew I wanted to share my story. I hoped it could inspire someone or feel relatable. I wanted to be honest about what it's like being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the beauty and the struggles.” 

Mayci Neeley, the founder of Baby Mama, a natal nutrition company, is also not going anywhere. Fans will be seeing more of her next season. Neeley also published her own memoir, titled Told You So, on October 7, 2025. It is described as “a deeply personal story of love, grief, motherhood, and resilience.” In an interview with NPR, she revealed, “As I've gotten older, knowing that I can have a great relationship with God and Jesus. I don't have to be this perfect example of a Mormon.” She hoped that her memoir is “going to be able to relate to so many different people who have gone through something similar.”

Miranda Hope is sticking around for Season 5 as well. In July, she did an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. When asked if “some of the off-camera headlines” will prove to be beneficial for the show’s future or harmful, she answered, “I think both. Some of those headlines, that’s how the show came to be — the swinging headlines. Sometimes I think it serves us. I think other times it hurts us, especially when it comes to storylines and things that the audience would love to have reserved for TV. A lot of the time, with our cast, it spills out online, and I hope that, moving forward, there can be more of a surprise element and a more intimate component between the show and our audience.” 

Layla Taylor is among the returning cast members. In June of this year, Taylor made headlines when she decided to come out as bisexual. “It’s just something that I honestly didn’t really know how to formally address for a long period of my life,” Taylor confirmed on the On Purpose with Jay Shetty podcast. “I’m gay and I’m bi and date women and men.” She admitted, “I just feel like I’m finally in the era that I’m over not being truly myself and I’m over not showing every part of Layla to the world. I’m very proud now to be out.” 

Mikayla Matthews is also confirmed to be back in Season 5. And with the recent feud between Matthews and Taylor Frankie Paul, it’s going to be interesting to see how they will interact. Since the serious allegations involving Paul and her ex-boyfriend, Dakota Mortensen, came to light, there has been a lot of back-and-forth jabs between the cast members. But the exchange between these two was particularly severe. Matthews posted that her “friends” are “hurting” and “being unfairly bashed”. She even wrote a pointed line on her Instagram Story: “Throwing around the word ‘bully,’ but failing to acknowledge there has to be that power imbalance. Constantly threatening to ‘f*ck someone up’ or ruin their life publicly and using your much bigger platform to send hate to them for the sole reason of taking back that power.” Next season is going to be fire. 

The only cast member who will not be in Season 5 is Demi Engemann. She was an original cast member of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, joining the show in Season 1. The reason for her stepping back is that she now wants to focus on her mental health. She actually stepped back in Season 4 itself, as she only appeared in the first three episodes and in a flashback in Episode 4. As per TMZ, Engemann has no regrets about exiting the reality show, and she is not letting anyone’s judgment affect her. It’s also mentioned that she has some “secret, super-exciting projects in the works.”