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Across five seasons of the Hulu hit “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives,” viewers learned just how messy things could be for the beautiful, godly gals of Utah as they navigated a swinging scandal, secret affairs, DadTok fights, rocky marriages, divorces and even a “Dancing with the Stars” feud.
Now, the franchise is heading west to showcase Southern California’s LDS ladies with “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives: Orange County.” It premieres Thursday on Hulu and Disney+ and promises to be just as scandalously entertaining, if not more so, than its predecessor.
“There’s so many funny moments, and so many moments people can resonate with, where we’re being very vulnerable,” one of the show’s stars, Madison Bontempo, 34, told The Post. “There’s a lot of fun drama.”
The trailer teases divorce, polygamy and plenty of secrets. Even before the first episode airs, juicy plots are developing among the nine cast members.
One of the main ladies is longtime YouTuber Aspyn Ovard, 30, who has more than three million subscribers on the platform. She filed for divorce from Parker Ferris in April 2024, the same day she announced the birth of their third daughter.
She has since spoken openly about exploring her bisexuality, and now she’s making headlines for openly dating a New Jersey married couple, Bri and Billy Davis.
“So many people have questions, people are interested,” Ovard told The Post. “For me it’s just so run of the mill and normal, but I also, if I ever saw another throuple in the wild, like on TikTok or something, I’d have the same kind of questions, like, literally tell me everything, ‘How does it work?’”
The relationship is especially striking to the more devout women on the show. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints limits intimacy to heterosexual marriage with the aim of procreation and bonding.
Ovard, who calls herself “Mormon-adjacent” — she grew up in Utah, immersed in the religion’s culture but isn’t Mormon herself — says viewers will get to witness how her castmates react to her relationship. “You’re going to see a little bit of our dynamic.”
Bontempo, for one, is on board.
“Aspyn brings Bri to a lot of scenes, and she feels like one of the girls,” she said.
Jen Affleck, 27, is the only cast member carried over from the original Utah series after relocating to Los Angeles. Earlier this month, she filed for divorce in Provo, Utah, from her husband, Zac Affleck, whom she met on a Mormon dating app when she was 18. After seven years of a turbulent marriage, she pulled the plug even though she is pregnant with their fourth child. The proceedings have been messy.
TMZ broke the news, and Zac took to TikTok to say he was blindsided and learned about the divorce from a reporter.
“I didn’t expect the news to come out when it did,” Jen told The Post.
Zach claimed they had discussed separating a year earlier and that he “basically begged her to stay.” When he said on social media that he would always champion her, Jen responded by posting an old clip of Zac criticizing her body two weeks after she gave birth, with the caption, “He was never my biggest supporter.”
Fans also resurfaced an interview in which Jen said Zac threatened divorce if she took an acting role with an on-screen romance. Zac has since called his comments about her body “obviously horrible.”
The public feud has hit Jen hard. “I wasn’t even going to show up to the premiere [on Nov. 4] cause I just was not having a good time, and it’s so fresh,” she said. “I’m not sleeping at all.”
Another scandal involves star and former pediatric ICU nurse Avery Woods, 31, who has a TikTok following that’s two-million strong.
In February 2025, on an episode of her podcast, “CHEERS! with Avery Woods,” she made crude jokes about Jesus and Christian women who put Bible verses in their Instagram bios.
She later apologized on TikTok, saying, “I made a joke that crossed a line,” but it was widely criticized as insincere.
The backlash has been ongoing. Viewers on platforms like Reddit expressed strong disapproval of her joining the cast, especially since she doesn’t even live in Orange County but rather the tony enclave of Calabasas in Los Angeles County.
“I’ve lived my life online for a long time, and I think people already have their opinions about me no matter what,” she told The Post. “I also think when people have their opinions made up about you, they just don’t want to see you succeed.”
Critics also point out that she isn’t Mormon, though she grew up around the church and is hardly an anomaly on the show.
“I’m not the only one that’s not active in the Mormon church on this list,” she said.
Indeed, Ovard has stepped away from the church. Another star, podcaster Bobbi Althoff, 29, is a devout Christian but not Mormon.
Still, several of the nine leading ladies are deeply religious, leaving the group sharply divided by faith.
“There are many beautiful things about the Mormon church, how we all rally around each other and show up for each other,” said Ashleigh Pease, 32, an Australian-born mom-of-four and the franchise’s first non-American star.
Pease is a devout Mormon, but says she’s not judgemental.
“I just want to show up as myself. I’m not here to represent the Mormon church perfectly, because I’m imperfect. I’m not a perfect human. But I’m here to show up as me” she said. “And I think we have that in our own little sisterhood of a group. We are all there for each other.”
Bontempo, a mom-of-five who showcases her brood on the YouTube channel “The FishFam,” is a practicing member of the LDS church and sees the show as a chance to share her faith.
“I was excited for the opportunity to be able to showcase how much I love Jesus Christ whenever I could,” she said. “One of the things the church has taught me is to forgive and have grace for everybody, and to love everyone. And so I share that a lot in the show.”
Indeed, it seems the show’s stars will have plenty to repent for across the eight episodes.
“I’m not here to show up and be perfect,” said Affleck. “I’m here to show all the ugly, the beauty, the good and bad. And that’s what I do on this show.”
