Taylor Frankie Paul says she is done with The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives after five seasons, reversing plans for a return that had already triggered another major cast departure.
The reality star announced her decision in a lengthy Instagram post on Sept. 21, thanking the networks that had supported her and given her an opportunity to come back. “However I don’t desire to move forward like this,” she wrote, according to Variety.
Paul accused fellow cast members of piling on while she dealt with an intensely public stretch of legal and family issues. She said “almost the entire cast plus some” had been going at her, objected to comments involving her children and described the treatment as months of bullying. People reported that her representative declined to elaborate beyond the Instagram statement.
Her decision arrives one week after Mikayla Matthews announced her own departure. Matthews later said the “ONLY reason” she was leaving was because she had been told a certain cast member was returning, and a source confirmed to People that Paul had been invited back for Season 6.
Paul Says She Is ‘Relieved to Be Out’
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She thanked members of the crew who had supported her and checked on her during a difficult period. She also claimed fellow cast members had previously looked to her to lead salary negotiations, believing her position could help establish what everyone else would make. Paul said she ultimately did not pursue a higher rate for herself and kept the same pay as the others.
She accused them of piling on during an already difficult period and said comments involving her children crossed a line for her. Paul also acknowledged that some of the backlash surrounding her stemmed from her own actions, writing that there were consequences she deserved.
“It’s a pleasure to remove myself so they can continue, because I’ve almost convinced myself I’m deserving of all this pain and to a certain degree absolutely this is consequences of my actions,” she wrote. She ended the statement with the clearest indication that she no longer intends to participate: “I’m just relieved to be out.”
Mikayla Matthews Had Already Left Over Paul’s Planned Return
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Matthews announced on Sept. 14 that she would no longer continue with the series “at this moment.” In her original Instagram post, she said there was no amount of money that could make her participate in something she believed was platforming behavior that went against her values.
The following day, she became more specific. “The ONLY reason I’m leaving the show is because I was told a certain person was coming back,” Matthews wrote in an Instagram Story. Matthews said she had agreed to film Season 6 on the condition that the person would not return. She said that once the cast was told the person was coming back, she stopped filming.
A source confirmed to People that Paul had been invited back for Season 6. Matthews also said she remains contractually obligated to film confessionals connected to footage she had already shot, but does not intend to resume normal filming.
Season 6 Had Been Filming Without Paul
Season 6 began production without Paul while her future with the series remained uncertain. Variety reported that the cast had been filming since July before plans were made for Paul to rejoin them.
The change comes immediately after a shortened fifth season. Hulu released all five Season 5 episodes on Sept. 10 after production had been paused earlier in the year amid police investigations involving Paul and ex-boyfriend Dakota Mortensen.
Season 5 included footage from the period leading up to those investigations. No criminal charges were filed in the 2026 dispute, while separate custody proceedings involving Paul, Mortensen and her ex-husband Tate Paul have continued outside the series.
More recently, TMZ reported, citing sources familiar with the cases, that Paul had allegedly failed multiple court-ordered drug tests and that her parenting time had subsequently been reduced. Paul has not publicly addressed the reported test results.