Q&A with Taylor Frankie Paul of "The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives"
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Taylor Frankie Paul. Courtesy: Hulu
Axios recently interviewed Taylor Frankie Paul, one of the lead cast members of "The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives," about the events that led to the new series and the legal troubles she faced last year.
Paul's responses have been edited for length and clarity.
On her relationship with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
"I've always just been kind of laid back, but I've never been temple-endowed or gone to the temple. I just like to go to church when I can and when I make it and I feel great. That's what I've always done, and that's probably what I'll always do. I can't say I would never do certain things or not leave or stay."
On what led to her 2022 viral TikTok
"For a long time, it kind of separated everybody. We had a huge group message and people literally started leaving the group message."
The reason I came out with the video is because my dirty laundry was being [spread] on the internet by some of the girls in the group. So, I came out and kind of gave a bigger picture of it and my side of the story. I just didn't think it was fair to be talked about. With doing that, it kind of created this mess with #MomTok, because their names were [mentioned], but they weren't involved — at least most of them weren't."
On misconceptions about Latter-day Saint women
"We aren't all the same. We all live differently. We all believe differently, as you'll see on the show. Our goal is to show wherever you are on that spectrum, it's okay. You still can be accepted."
On being accused of assaulting her boyfriend last year
Context: Paul was accused last year of assaulting her boyfriend Dakota Mortensen, who appears on the show.
What she's saying: "I do go into depth on the show. When you hit rock bottom, there's only one way to go. I feel like that night had to happen to help me … [to] get out of whatever rut I was in, like, a deep depression. I don't even want to say that, but it helped me."