Reality star Mikayla Matthews has announced she is leaving The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, days after the show's fifth season premiered on Hulu. Matthews, also a credited executive producer, said in an Instagram post that she was unwilling to keep "platforming" behaviour she disagreed with, adding that no amount of money was worth compromising her morals. The announcement follows a prolonged and public feud with co-star Taylor Frankie Paul, whose season of The Bachelorette was pulled by ABC after footage emerged of a 2023 domestic violence incident involving her ex-partner Dakota Mortensen.

Matthews said she made the decision over a week before going public, though she did not give an explicit reason for the timing. Paul is set to return for Mormon Wives' sixth season, which is already in production and for which Matthews has also filmed, leaving it unclear whether her exit will take effect mid-season or only from the already-ordered seventh season. The pair's rift, which intensified over Matthews' comments about Paul's relationship with Mortensen, has played out extensively online and within season five itself, with Matthews saying she refuses to keep "enabling" behaviour she says shouldn't be treated as entertainment. Co-stars including Mayci Neeley and Whitney Leavitt voiced support for Matthews online, while Hulu and Matthews' representatives had not responded to requests for comment.