“The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” star Layla Taylor already lived through filming Season 5 of the hit show, which was famously cut short after news of a domestic violence investigation involving costar Taylor Frankie Paul and her ex-boyfriend Dakota Mortensen broke in March.
But Taylor hasn’t, and doesn’t plan to, watch the new episodes (now streaming on Hulu) back on-screen, noting that she’s seen clips of the season on TikTok but rewatching her difficult moments on the show can be triggering.
“I kind of don't want to see what the edit was,” Taylor tells USA TODAY. “I know what happened in scenarios, and [I want to] stay with how I remember things happening, if that makes sense.”
This season, cameras captured the 25-year-old navigating the painful
end of her relationship with Mason McWhorter, leaning on the women of MomTok as they questioned whether she was getting what she needed from her partner, and confronting some of the gender dynamics that have been at the heart of the reality series since its debut.
But Taylor’s life has changed considerably since those episodes were filmed. She has since publicly come out as bisexual and is in a new relationship with a woman, returned to filming after production on the series was temporarily paused, and has reconsidered her relationship with Paul in light of everything that went down behind the scenes.
“I think that relationship will probably just stay where we're at right now,” Taylor says of her friendship with Paul.
Below, Taylor tells USA TODAY about what viewers didn't see from her relationship with Mason, the biphobia she's experienced since coming out, and where she believes “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” goes from here.
Question: In Season 5, viewers watched your relationship with Mason come to an end. How did you feel about opening up about this particular heartbreak on camera?
Taylor: I think this is the most vulnerable I've gotten about a breakup on the show. I showed my breakup with my previous ex, but this one was a lot harder to go through, and then being in the midst of filming obviously didn't make it any easier. It was definitely more challenging this season to show how hard it was, but I also have gotten so many messages from women thanking me for that vulnerability, relating to some of the tendencies I have in relationships, and relating to the treatment that I unfortunately received from my partner.
When you were in New York City with the rest of the cast, Mikalya Matthews approached Mason about some concerns you had about your relationship with him. How did you feel about Mikayla bringing that up?
I think intention matters most of all and her intention in that moment was to look out for her friend and just make sure that I was being treated the way that I deserved. I know people have their feelings about Mikayla's approach, but I think at the end of the day, her intent was just looking out for her friend and being a caring, loving friend. That's all that matters to me.
Did you feel the same way when Mikayla, Mayci Neeley, and Jessi Draper went to Mason’s house without telling you and attempted to retrieve the Cartier ring you gave him as a gift?
That was a little silly. At the end of the day, I understand the sentiment of them wanting to get it back. I think that their intent was just, again, to be good friends. I don't really care about the ring personally. I don't even know where it is to this day, to be honest.
It seems to be a common theme that women in MomTok have to worry about emasculating their husbands or boyfriends, sometimes putting their own feelings to the side because they’re afraid to hurt their partners’ egos or feelings regarding masculinity. Do you think it’s an important part of unlearning the patriarchy to let go of that worry and stop focusing on whether or not your male partners feel emasculated or not?
We are in a very interesting position, being the women in our relationships and being the breadwinners, the ones that have maybe the bigger careers. We are the ones that are kind of at the forefront of a lot of things, and I think it does take a special partner to be able to handle that and be, quote-unquote, "emasculated" and be able to not take it personally.
I understand that Mason was in a position where he was a college student. There were countless times that me and him sat down off camera and I told him, "I do not care. I understand you're in college. That is completely fine. I know you can't buy me lavish gifts or bring me on trips. I am totally okay with being the person that does that right now. I would love in the future if we could maybe even out a little bit more.” I wasn't asking him for things that were of monetary substance. I was just asking for some equality within our roles, helping my burden feel a little bit lighter. I was wanting my partner to maybe make it feel a little bit more equal in that way, and that part [of our conversation] wasn't shown.
Congratulations on your new relationship. Did you have any hesitation about how people might respond when they learned you’re dating a woman?
This isn't a newfound thing [for me]. I know that there's sometimes people that are like, "Oh, someone made her go for women. She was just so jaded by men, so she switched teams.” I've always had that attraction for women. It was more that I stuck with what was familiar my whole life. I was more familiar with dating men, and that was just what was more normal in my brain. The jump to something that was unfamiliar was something that was daunting to me for a long time.
After this relationship that I got out of, I was in a spot where I was like, it's unfamiliar, and it's going to take a lot of learning. You're going to have to learn more parts of yourself. You're going to have to be able to be vulnerable with this person and discover parts of yourself that you didn't know were there. But if you don't take this jump, you're never going to fully learn who you are at the end of the day. Before I even met my partner that I'm with right now, I was already planning on coming out and planning on finally letting that part of myself be public that I've had deep down. It was just timing that I met someone right after I kind of decided to do that.
You've talked about experiencing biphobia since soft-launching your new partner on social media. How has the response felt for you? What do you wish people understood better?
Obviously, there's going to be a lot of online opinions, and everyone is entitled to have their opinions. I have definitely noticed a lot of biphobia related to my sexuality and people assuming that, "Well, if it doesn't work out with this person, she's going to go back to men."
It's just a funny statement when they say that because I'm bi, so I could do that because I'm attracted to both. But I think at the end of the day, once someone says what they are, I think that's all it needs to be. The speculation around it any further is just not necessary. Just let people be. Let people be happy. Just let people exist.
What was it like to pause production earlier this year?
It was a hard decision to make. I can speak for myself that I love this show, and I love this experience, and I love our crew. I love everyone that's involved with this whole thing. It's an amazing thing that we have all built and put together. So it was definitely hard, but us women decided to come together and make a decision as a group that we felt safe doing. I'm proud of us for that moment, coming together as a group of women and taking a pause until we felt okay.
You’ve been filming Season 6. Where do you stand with the rest of the women in MomTok?
I'm in a good place with all the girls that are currently filming. Honestly, through this experience, some of us women have gotten a lot closer, which I'm very grateful for. It's been good to be back, good to see all of our crew, and good to get back to doing something that I know that a lot of us love to do.
You also recently said that you are not really friends with Taylor Frankie Paul right now. Do you think there's a path forward? Are you open to that?
I don't think so. I think that relationship will probably just stay where we're at right now.
Where do you think the show goes from here?
I hope that if the environment's still safe moving forward, if all the women are comfortable, I hope that we're able to keep this going. Again, we've built an amazing thing, all of us women, not just one person, and I think it would be a shame if it all were to go away.
There are so many women [in the cast] that have yet to share a lot of things, and I would just be bummed if the audience wasn't able to learn more sides of people. I know Miranda has so much to share. I know Mikayla hasn't even scratched the surface of what she wants to share. Likewise with me. I think that there's a lot more that the audience deserves to know, and I hope that we're able to do that.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Mormon Wives' star Layla Taylor sees 'no path forward' with Taylor Frankie Paul
