Mormon Wives Star Mikayla Hits Back at Claims She Isn’t Supporting Taylor and Jessi
Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star Mikayla Matthews is fed up and fighting back, shutting down talk that she’s abandoned costars Taylor Frankie Paul and Jessi Draper as they work through their healing journeys — and clapping back at fans who say otherwise.
This corner of Hulu reality TV and TikTok mom culture stays messy, and Mikayla Matthews has had it. The 26-year-old 'Secret Lives of Mormon Wives' star jumped into the Instagram comments to shut down the idea that she is not backing her castmates Taylor Frankie Paul (31) and Jessi Draper (33) while they both deal with very public personal fallout.
What set Mikayla off
It started with fans pushing a narrative that the so-called MomTok crowd stops publicly cheering for people the second the behavior gets complicated. One commenter pointed out that Draper had liked a post accusing MomTok of not showing support on Paul and Draper’s accounts. Matthews chimed in, dry as ever, then followed up when another fan asked why she was addressing it now: she said she is simply fed up with the double standard.
She also pushed back at a comment calling her 'rude' and telling her to focus on her marriage and healing. Translation: if you jump into her real life in the comments, expect a response. Matthews has already been open about her own stuff — ongoing marriage struggles with husband Jace Terry and a chronic illness that causes skin flare-ups — so the idea that she should sit quietly while people judge from the sidelines was not going to fly.
Big-picture context
This all lands while her friends are in the headlines for different reasons. Draper is in the middle of a split from estranged husband Jordan Ngatikaura (28). She finally talked about it on the 'Call Her Daddy' podcast and did not sugarcoat the timeline, saying she had raised the idea of divorce multiple times, ended things herself, and thought they would announce it together — until he filed first.
'He blindsided me and filed because he wanted the headline first.'
She added that, regardless of how the filing went down, her priority is their kids and keeping them as protected as possible while everything changes.
Where Taylor Frankie Paul’s case stands
Over on Paul’s side, there were court appearances involving her ex Dakota Mortensen after a domestic-violence investigation tied to incidents in February. On April 14, Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill’s office said it reviewed reports from Draper Police and West Jordan Police and declined to file charges against Paul. She later said the decision left her in tears — relief after months of public speculation.
If you need the quick timeline
- February: Police investigate incidents tied to Taylor Frankie Paul; she later appears in court related to the case involving ex Dakota Mortensen.
- March: Jessi Draper’s estranged husband, Jordan Ngatikaura, files for divorce.
- April 14: The Salt Lake County D.A. declines to charge Paul after reviewing the police reports.
- May 6: Mikayla Matthews jumps into Instagram comments, says she is fed up with the narrative that she is not supporting Paul and Draper, and calls out what she sees as a biased double standard.
The takeaway
Matthews is not trying to win Miss Congeniality in the comments — she would rather be blunt than play nice for optics. And given everything swirling around Draper’s divorce and Paul’s now-closed case, it makes sense she is done pretending the internet pile-on is normal.
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 for confidential support.