SECRET Lives of Mormon Wives star Dakota Mortensen has shaded the Hulu reality show, claiming he got a bad edit.
After the show premiered on Friday, September 6, Dakota took to TikTok to address his appearance on the show.
The TV personality, catapulted into reality TV fam due to his girlfriend Taylor Frankie Paul‘s prominence on The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, turned the camera on himself in the video.
He made inquisitive faces as he mouthed along with a trending audio that said, “That person was a psychopath, maybe? I don’t know.”
Text over the clip read, “Wait you thought they would make you look good[?]”
Dakota then joked in the caption, “Maybe season 2,” adding shrugging emojis.
His post came after the full first season of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, which follows a group of women known on the social media app TikTok as MomTokers, was released on Hulu.
Dakota appears on the show alongside Taylor, whom he’s had an up and down relationship with.
The pair met after Taylor was caught up in a swinger scandal, claiming to have been ostracized after it came out that she and her group of friends tried swapping partners.
They quickly got pregnant, but the influencer miscarried the baby so they tried again and succeeded.
Prior to her second pregnancy, however, Taylor was arrested for domestic violence following an incident with Dakota inside her home, which was partially captured for the show.
That incident, as well as others, led Taylor to be placed on the fringes of her MomTok friend group and left many of them leary of Dakota.
Viewers, likewise, were unsure what to make of Taylor’s love interest, whom she was shown fighting with repeatedly throughout Season 1.
Taylor defended her man in an Instagram Story, posting a photo of herself getting glam while he looked into the lens.
“I haven’t seen the show yet. I don’t need to see anything to know he has been by my side since at my lowest. We’ve had, and have, our differences for sure. I don’t care how it looks for us on the outside, he has been my rock through this and [I’m] surprised the man is still with me after everything,” she wrote.
“Thank you Dakota Mortensen for never giving up on me. People will try and drag you after watching but just know I will stick by your side no matter where this takes us.”
The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives Info
Hulu's newest reality series, which follows a group fo #MomTok influencers, was released on Sepetmber 6.
- According to the show’s official synopsis, the series follows the “scandalous world of a group of Mormon mom influencers implodes when they get caught in the midst of a swinging sex scandal that makes international headlines.”
- The scandal began in 2022 after MomTok frontrunner Taylor Frankie Paul revealed she was divorcing her ex-husband, Tate Paul.
- During a TikTok livestream, Taylor shared with her followers that the divorce was prompted by his involvement in “soft swinging” among the MomTok community.
- Taylor said she and Tate agreed they wouldn’t “go all the way” with the other members.
- “The whole group was intimate with each other,” she said, adding, “Tate has made out with several girls and other things, and I’ve made out with all of the husbands and vice versa.”
- Two months after the news went viral, Taylor revealed the man she “cheated with” was her new boyfriend, Dakota Mortensen.
- The series stars Taylor, Jen Affleck, Layla Taylor, Demi Engemann, Mayci Neeley, Jessi Ngatikaura, Mikayla Matthews, and Whitney Leavitt.
FANS WEIGH IN
On his post, fans flooded the comments with mixed reactions.
Some found Dakota’s behavior on the show, including a scene in which he took over a brand photoshoot, hilarious, while others coined him the show’s villain.
“Every story needs a villain, good thing it was Whitney [Leavitt]. You were a close second,” joked one viewer.
“Was this not reviewed and approved before it aired?” another wondered.
“Look, you’re not Whitney and for that be thankful,” cracked a third.
“What erked me was Dakota was just asking her for commitment not marriage (from what’s shown) and I think Hulu was trying to make him seem crazy,” noted a fourth.
“I love that you were honest about what you needed in your future to Taylor in episode 1 about sobriety,” shared a fifth.
Mayci Neely, who stars on The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, joked, “Enemies to friends trope season 2?”
The pair butted heads several times during Season 1, as Mayci expressed concern over Dakota’s treatment of Taylor.
“I was like this is not the funny easy-going guy on the internet?!!” wrote another viewer.
He replied to that comment, saying, “Haha, because they didn’t show that. It was actually sad.”
Another fan commented, “I’m hoping things turn around because I’m at episode 4 and it’s not looking good for you.”
He again responded, saying, “Haha just know you get a snippet of what’s happening.”
A supporter commented, “Y’all’s growth tho Dakota! I’m really loving the growth from you and Taylor! Can’t wait for season 2.”
The TV personality replied, “Ha thank you! Don’t think it showed that but maybe season 2 will.”
UTAH CONNECTION
Viewers have been raving about The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives since it premiered.
Fans have been comparing it to Bravo’s Real Housewives of Salt Lake City, and were stunned to learn the connection between the two shows.
Following the premiere, fans learned that star Demi Engemann is currently married to Bret Engemann, who is the ex-husband of RHOSLC star Angie Harrington.
Angie appeared in the first two seasons of the Bravo reality series, before signing on as a “friend” of the cast in Season 3 and quitting before Season 4.
Bret was a quarterback at Brigham Young University and remains well-known for his reputation there, more so than his appearance on reality TV.
Angie shares two teenage sons with the ex-football player, while Demi has a child from a previous relationship, too.
Demi previously revealed that she married young and got divorced at 24.
Her daughter, Maude, was just three years old at the time.
The connection between the pair was revealed in an Instagram post, where fans shared their reactions to the shocking revelation.
“Ok this is wild,” shared one fan.
“Bonkers,” wrote a second person, while a third joked, “Oh that’s tea.”
“And the plot thickens,” joked another.
Ahead of the show’s premiere, Demi revealed that she had been linked to the RHOSLC cast.
“I actually interviewed to be on Real Housewives of Salt Lake City. And I know a few of the cast members just from past relationships,” she shared with Decider.
“And so, yeah, we do cross paths and it’s not surprising because Utah is very small and especially the influencer world and community here is very tight-knit. So we do cross paths.”
Demi’s connection to Angie isn’t the only one.
Cast member Layla Taylor is friends with RHOSLC alum Monica Garcia, who previously gave her advice for filming a reality show.
“I know Monica. We are just kind of internet friends and we chat here and there,” Taylor told the aforementioned outlet.
“She’s given me advice on the reality TV show world and stuff like that. Sweet girl. [I] wish she was still on this season, to be honest. I think she had a really good aspect to last season.”
Jessi Ngatikaura also knows many of the RHOSLC women from her work in the beauty industry.
“I’m in the beauty industry and we all live in Salt Lake, so I actually do some of their hair and I’ve, you know, communicated with them,” she said of the Bravo stars
“They’re all amazing women. I think that they’re so good at what they do.”
The cast also features Mikayla Matthews and Jen Affleck.
