The beachy shores of Orange County are the affluent backdrop for the new “Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” spinoff that premiered this week at a time when curiosity about religious people who buck tradition is seemingly in lock-step with the resurgence of religion in America.
Against the backdrop of a resounding repudiation of Trump-era conservatism , stories chronicling people who are re-examining the extreme religious practices they were raised in have come to the forefront. The genre of reality TV built on gawking at ultra-conservative families (some later marked by scandals rooted in their own inherent fundamentalism) has turned the spotlight on women who live believing both in a higher power and their own.
It’s a far cry from the days of people tuning in to see Jim Bob Duggar chaperone a date for one of his many kids on “19 Kids and Counting” or Kody Brown taking on a fourth wife on “Sister Wives.”
“You kind of can’t do that straightforward of a show anymore or it would be odd.” Tal Lavin, author of “Wild Faith: How the Christian Right Is Taking Over America,” said. That’s because, Lavin added, “the best docudramas are the ones that take a lens to power.”
The “Mormon Wives” spinoff, which debuted this week, features a cast of established influencers who juggle motherhood, relationships (in one case a throuple) and careers while also re-examining their Mormon faith.
“These ladies are trying to change it from the inside out just by voicing their concerns on the platform that they’ve grown and built themselves,” producer Jeff Jenkins, the reality godfather behind shows like “The Simple Life” and “Keeping Up with the Kardashians,” said in an interview. “I hope that it will be remembered as a piece of entertainment that got the conversation started about the intersection of religion and females.”
In the premiere episode, Jen Affleck, who appears on both “Mormon Wives” shows and recently announced she’s divorcing her husband Zac Affleck, talks about finding community among a new group of women whose relationship to the Mormon faith are similar to hers.
“There definitely needs to be a lot of change within our culture and religion,” Affleck said. “I’m hoping that this group can drag out old-fashioned Mormonism into today’s modern world.”
McCall DaPron, the sister of Utah-based “Mormon Wives” star Mayci Neely, is a counter of sorts to those who are questioning their faith on the show. The mom of four, a former Tennis champ-turned-influencer, is a dedicated Mormon and most conservative of the bunch. DaPron’s inclusion in the cast, according to Jenkins, was to showcase a positive aspect of being involved in a faith community, even if viewers have been critical of her since the season started streaming.
“I really admire McCall’s position and perspective on that show,” Jenkins said. “McCall is clear and McCall is like a rock: ‘This is my faith. I’m a 10 out of 10 Mormon, and I’ll show you why it’s a good place to be.’”
Though faith is the thread that binds a show like “19 Kids and Counting” to a show like “Mormon Wives,” the genre at large has gone through a transformation over the past two decades.
When the Duggar family was first introduced to the world in 2004 through the Discovery Health special “14 Children and Pregnant Again,” their hyper-religious lifestyle sparked curiosity during the Bush-era aughts, along with debate between secular and evangelical women about how many kids is too many. The fascination with the sprawling, ultra-conservative Arkansas family – whose controversial beliefs as Independent Fundamentalist Baptists and the conservative teachings of the Institute of Basic Life Principles (IBLP) were baked into every episode – caught TLC’s attention and the network aired the first episode of “19 Kids and Counting” in 2008.
It remained TLC’s crown jewel until it was derailed by scandal in 2015 when an unearthed 2006 police report revealed allegations that eldest Duggar child Josh Duggar, molested young girls – some of whom were his sisters – when he was a teenager. Josh Duggar, who was 27 at the time the allegations surfaced, said at the time that he “acted inexcusably for which I am extremely sorry and deeply regret.”
“19 Kids” was canceled in 2015 and a spinoff, “Counting On,” debuted that same year without Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, whose response to the scandal spurred outrage. Josh Duggar is currently serving a 12-year prison sentence after being found guilty on charges of receipt of child pornography and possession of child pornography in 2021. (Another Duggar sibling, Joseph Duggar, was also arrested in March on charges of child molestation, online court records show. He has pleaded not guilty.)
Jill Dillard, who starred on “Counting On” and has previously spoken about her abuse, has not been on reality TV since 2017 but the “Counting the Cost” author’s experience on the shows exacerbated her doubts in the IBLP’s teachings and her fractured relationship with her parents.
“I think it just gets really tricky navigating adulthood and not just staying as an extension of my parents,” Dillard said in an interview. “The fear-based religion and parenting in certain aspects, it doesn’t always equal bad intentions but it can and often does equal poor results.” Dillard’s relationship with her parents, she said, is better now that they keep a healthy distance from each other.
Her public rejection of her family’s beliefs, paired with the timing of Josh Duggar’s arrest, was a turning point not just for the franchise but for the genre at large. Other shows centered on conservative subcultures — like “Sister Wives,” “Bringing up Bates” and “Welcome to Plathville” — found their footing, too, with the latter two running 11 and 8 seasons, respectively. “Sister Wives,” now in its 21st season, is still on the air but in a vastly different form from where it began.
Kody Brown is no longer on the show, having chosen to leave and live a private life with Robyn Brown, who had been his fourth wife. Meri Brown, Janelle Brown and Christine Woolley are the series stars and seen living independent lives.
Woolley, who is now remarried, was the first the leave both her plural marriage and her faith on camera, something she acknowledged that, while challenging at times, was important to share publicly.
“My journey has helped a lot of people,” Woolley said in an interview. “They’ve come up to me and they’re super grateful that I showed the whole journey so they could kind of unravel their religion or their relationships that were harming them.”
What happened with “Sister Wives” mirrors a larger trend that streamers like Netflix and Hulu recognized and answered with their own shows about women who are re-examining their faith (Netflix’s “My Unorthodox Life,” which followed entrepreneur Julia Haart’s life after leaving her ultra-orthodox Jewish community, aired for two seasons and was not renewed for a third.)
Since its debut in 2024, “Mormon Wives,” originally fronted by social media influencer Taylor Frankie Paul, leaned into salaciousness, kicking off with a sex scandal and featuring friendship drama, marital woes and the cast finding ways to modernize their Mormonism along the way, until producers got even more than they bargained for when Paul’s turbulent relationship with now ex-boyfriend Dakota Mortensen came to a head in court and online.
Paul and Mortensen filed protective orders against each other earlier this year, court records show, and both accuse the other of physical assault.
The fallout not only resulted in her exit from “Mormon Wives” in September but also caused ABC, Hulu’s corporate sibling, to shelve her season of “The Bachelorette.” Her friends and costars have publicly admonished Paul’s behavior and have outright refused to associate with her, making filming for future seasons — which is currently under way in Utah — complicated.
Paul’s time on TV may not be over yet. Paul has had conversations with ABC and Hulu about other TV opportunities when the time is right, according to a source with knowledge. The future of her “Bachelorette” season is up in the air, according to a second source with knowledge, who said that no decisions have been made on if and when the season will air.
CNN reached out to Hulu, ABC and a representative for Paul for comment.
Hulu hasn’t announced who is set to return for the new season of “Mormon Wives.” Whitney Leavitt and Mikayla Matthews, in addition to Paul, previously announced their exit, though Jenkins still hedges that, as with any reality TV show, anything could happen.
“I understand why it’s challenging potentially for the other ladies in this particular ensemble to figure out, ‘how do we move forward in our interactions with Taylor, if we move forward with our interactions with Taylor,’” Jenkins said.
But, he added, “isn’t that the part of the story that’s interesting?”
