The Hulu reality series halted production in March amid domestic violence investigations involving cast member Taylor Frankie Paul and her ex-boyfriend Dakota Mortensen
Credit: Disney/Fred Hayes
NEED TO KNOW
- The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives has resumed filming for season 5 after the show’s production pause two months ago, PEOPLE can confirm
- A source tells PEOPLE that the cast will only be filming confessionals for the upcoming season
- In March — amid two domestic violence investigations into star Taylor Frankie Paul, 31, and her ex-boyfriend Dakota Mortensen, 33, by Utah police departments — Hulu halted production of the reality TV series after several cast members refused to work with Paul
The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives cast has resumed filming after the show’s production pause two months ago, PEOPLE can confirm.
In March — amid two domestic violence investigations into star Taylor Frankie Paul, 31, and her ex-boyfriend Dakota Mortensen, 33, by Utah police departments — Hulu halted production of the reality TV series, as multiple sources confirmed to PEOPLE that several cast members refused to work with Paul. PEOPLE confirmed in April that production would resume for the show’s fifth season, though an exclusive source now tells PEOPLE that only new confessionals are being filmed.
"Right now, they're just filming confessionals for season 5,” says the source. "They've decided they're not going to film the rest of season 5, but apparently they're still going to film season 6."
The source also adds that the fifth season will only include the five episodes taped before cameras went down in March.
PEOPLE has reached out to Hulu for comment.
Credit: Bruce Glikas/Getty
In the time since news first broke of Mormon Wives’ production pause, MomTok has been riddled with scandal after scandal.
In March, mere days after news of the domestic violence investigations were made public, TMZ released a 2023 video of a violent altercation between Paul and Mortensen, in which she yelled, put Mortensen in a headlock and threw chairs at him while a child could be heard crying. Paul had been previously arrested in 2023 for the alleged domestic violence incident — and pleaded guilty in abeyance to aggravated assault at the time — though the video’s release prompted ABC to call off Paul’s already-filmed season of The Bachelorette days before its slated premiere.
In April, prosecutors declined to file charges against Paul in April for the new domestic violence allegations involving Mortensen, though their legal battle spilled out into the open when the pair appeared in court together that month for a hearing regarding their competing protective orders and custody for their shared 2-year-old son Ever.
Amid Paul’s legal trouble in March, Jordan Ngatikaura — the husband of Paul’s castmate Jessi Draper — filed for divorce. In the month after, Draper, 34, turned heads when she was spotted having a cozy night out with Vanderpump Villa star Marciano Brunette, 33, with whom Draper previously admitted to kissing and having an emotional affair during her marriage with Ngatikaura, 28.
Credit: Disney
And over the last few weeks, fans have picked up on a deepening rift between Paul, Draper and several other members of the cast, and the MomTok members have traded increasingly fiery shots across social media.
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In one post, for instance, cast member Mikayla Matthews, 26, wrote that she was “fed up” after a commenter called her “very rude” for her social media activity relating to Paul. Her husband, Jace Terry, 30, even weighed in, slamming Paul for being “notorious for blasting people publicly w/o private communication.”
"What a snake friend just did to me in the public eye after everything she just witnessed…the lack of empathy and silence was loud enough,” Paul wrote in an angry Mother’s Day post, seemingly referencing her feud with Matthews.
If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual abuse, text "STRENGTH" to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.
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