Mikayla Matthews Just Escalated Her Feud With Taylor Frankie Paul

Reality TV friendships are fragile even on a good day, and this one is not a good day. 'The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives' stars Mikayla Matthews and Taylor Frankie Paul just took their off-camera rift public again, and it spiraled fast: Taylor labeled Mikayla a 'snake friend' on Mother 's Day, and Mikayla fired back with receipts, boundaries, and a reminder that two things can be true at once.

How we got here (and why everyone's mad)

Fans started chirping earlier this month that Mikayla wasn't being supportive of Taylor or their costar Jessi Draper while both were going through rough patches. Mikayla responded first, then Taylor swung back. The dates matter because it all unfolded in about 24 hours.

• Saturday, May 9: Mikayla posts that she feels sick about what everyone is going through, but says she won't enable dangerous behavior, especially when kids are involved. She pushes back on the idea that refusing to play along with years of destructive behavior means she doesn't care, and says she won't turn it into a pick-a-side game.
• Sunday, May 10: Taylor jumps on Instagram and calls Mikayla a 'snake friend,' saying she's being kicked while she's down and that setting a boundary is being used to shame her.
• Later May 10: Mikayla leaves a long comment under a fan video about the drama, laying out why she stepped back and why the 'bad friend' narrative isn't flying with her.

Taylor's public swing

'It's Mother's Day so I'll say whatever I want. As if it's not already the worst time. I STILL have 'friends' kicking me while I'm already down and calling it 'setting a boundary' and then blames me for being upset and responding. That's called shaming and attack... Not once have I called myself a 'victim' but I'm human and have breaking points. What a snake friend just did to me in the public eye... the lack of empathy and silence was loud enough.'

Mikayla's response: empathy isn't a one-way street

Mikayla, 26, says she could write a book about this, but here's the spine of it: she's never denied Taylor's pain or trauma, and she doesn't want to see Taylor fail, suffer, or get canceled. But 'two things can be true.' Someone can be hurting and still hurt people around them. That, Mikayla says, is why she stopped publicly participating in a cycle that was affecting everyone around it — especially with kids involved and repeated violence in the mix.

She also isn't letting the 'bad friends' and 'snake friends' story stand. According to Mikayla, a lot of people spent years pouring time, energy, and actual emotional labor into helping Taylor through toxic situations. She points to a very behind-the-scenes detail: weeks after giving birth — not months — she and others put their own newborn phase on pause to check on Taylor and support her going on The Bachelorette, even though they felt she wasn't taking it seriously and wasn't ready.

Mikayla stresses she's had her own plate full: she confirmed her separation from husband Jace Terry during season 4 earlier this year, then moved to Hawaii to treat a chronic illness. She and Terry, 30, share four kids. So when she says she's taken years away from her family, her mental health, and even multiple Mother's Days to prioritize a friend's crisis, she means it — and it stings to see that effort dismissed while harmful behavior continues. As she puts it, compassion can't only exist when it benefits one person.

Despite all that, Mikayla says she hasn't attacked Taylor's character and isn't trying to tear her down. She's repeatedly acknowledged Taylor loves her kids, has a good heart, and she wants Taylor happy and healed. She just won't pretend ongoing damage is fine.

The bigger, messier context

This isn't happening in a vacuum. Taylor has been dealing with multiple legal issues tied to domestic disputes with ex Dakota Mortensen. A judge granted mutual protective orders last month, and Taylor currently does not have custody of their 2-year-old son, Ever. She also shares daughter Indy and son Ocean with ex-husband Tate Paul.

Meanwhile, Jessi Draper is in the middle of a divorce after her estranged husband, Jordan Ngatikaura, 31, filed in March. Draper and Ngatikaura share kids Jagger and Jovi.

Where this lands

Public friendships on reality TV don't usually die quietly, and this one has years of off-camera history baked in. Mikayla is drawing a hard line without lighting a match; Taylor's feeling betrayed and saying it out loud. They may both be right about different parts of the same fire. For now, the only certainty is that everybody's watching, and every post is gasoline.