‘The Secret Lives Of Mormon Wives’ Star Jen Affleck Says Las Vegas Drama “Strengthened” Her Relationship: “I Truly See It As A Win”

When a bunch of young Mormon wives and mothers jet off to Las Vegas, what could go wrong? Well, for The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star Jen Affleck , a lot.

Affleck, who considers herself a more conservative Mormon, finds herself in deep trouble with her husband Zac when her co-star Jessi Ngatikaura surprises everyone with a trip to Chippendales in the Hulu series. With her husband threatening to divorce her and take their children, Jen opts to leave the ladies behind and head home, where the arguing gets so bad that she goes to meet up with Zac in the middle of the night to hash things out. When she returns the next day, she assures her friends that everything is just peachy — though breaks down in tears when they call out her husband’s controlling behavior.

Reflecting on the cast trip to Las Vegas, Affleck told DECIDER that her explosive argument with Zac only “strengthened” their relationship.

“I definitely think that we both learned so much and we both saw where we went wrong,” she said, noting that they started “hardcore” therapy after they wrapped filming. “Now we see it as a blessing because we’ve learned so much about each other. And, yeah, we’ve set so many boundaries moving forward. I truly see it as a win.”

Drama aside, Mikayla Matthews , an OG member of #MomTok, wants viewers to understand how important “women empowerment” is to her and her friends.

“I think a lot of us started in motherhood at such a young age and lost so many of our interests and kind of got stuck in that role of being kind of a housewife and being a mom and losing all your interests,” she said. “And so I think #MomTok was so important for us to come together, find our interests [and] find our voice that was maybe suppressed for so long.”

However, Matthews still admitted that the “sex, lies and scandals never end” — and teased that there would be “a lot more of that” if the show gets picked up for Season 2.

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We got to chat with Affleck and Matthews via Zoom ahead of the premiere of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives . Check out our full interview below.

DECIDER: Mikayla, you are one of the OG members of #MomTok. What are you hoping viewers take away from this show? Do you think it will help restore the image of #MomTok following the swinging scandal?

MIKAYLA MATTHEWS: Oh, I think it might maybe ruin the image of #MomTok [laughs]. We’re kind of crazy. I really hope [and] I think everyone can agree that just women empowerment is so important to us. I think a lot of us started in motherhood at such a young age and lost so many of our interests and kind of got stuck in that role of being kind of a housewife and being a mom and losing all your interests. And so I think #MomTok was so important for us to come together, find our interests, find our voice that was maybe suppressed for so long.

I really just hope women and also kind of the Mormon culture can take away that we’re all different. And it’s important to be vulnerable. It’s important to have hard conversations and it’s normal. I don’t think anyone should be ashamed for talking about sex or talking about things that they have wrong with the religion that they practice.

Jen, you’re officially back to being the only Jen Affleck in the family. But I must know: have you ever crossed paths with Ben and Casey? Does Zac’s family keep in touch with them at all?

JEN AFFLECK: No. He’s my husband’s dad’s second cousin. So he’s pretty far removed. But his dad met him, like, once when he was little at a family reunion. So it’s always been, like, a known thing – like, they’re related to Ben Affleck. But I’m hoping to meet him one day, and hopefully this connection can help for sure.

Mikayla, you definitely gave Whitney the cold shoulder when she showed up to your birthday party. How surprised were you that she came? And can you give us an update on where your friendship with her stands since she decided to leave #MomTok?

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MIKAYLA: I feel like I’m not surprised. Unfortunately, I feel like maybe she came in with a little bit of an agenda and it kind of backfired on her. But I mean, yeah, I think a lot of people’s true characters came out and I kind of had to take a step back and look at my friendships and realize who was more important to keep in my life and who was uplifting me and empowering me, because that’s what we’re standing for. And I feel like I wasn’t getting that from that friendship. And I’m going through so [many] health issues and I didn’t have the time to — I couldn’t have that stressor in my life.

Jen, I want to talk a little bit about Vegas. Do you find it hypocritical that Zac was so hard on you for getting dragged to Chippendales when he was allegedly out late gambling at the same time? And would you say the show has strengthened or weakened your relationship?

JEN: No, it’s definitely strengthened our relationship. And yeah, I definitely think that we both learned so much and we both saw where we went wrong. And you know, obviously I don’t know what’s shown because I haven’t watched it, but no marriage is perfect. And there are a lot of times where I’m going to fall short and he’s going to have to pick up the rest of the pieces. And there are moments where he’s going to fall short and I’m going to have to pick up those pieces. And it was definitely one of those moments for me. But the minute we stopped filming, we started therapy and did therapy, like, hardcore. And now we see it as a blessing because we’ve learned so much about each other. And, yeah, we’ve set so many boundaries moving forward. And yeah, I truly see it as a win.

Jen, you’ve been teasing a big move on TikTok and at the end of the season, we see that it’s to New York. Will you continue to be apart of #MomTok from the East Coast?

JEN: Oh, you will have to wait and see!

Question for both of you: do you think Dakota is guilty of the confession Mayci received? And would you say his relationship with Taylor is stronger now that they have a baby together than what we saw in the show?

MIKAYLA: I can’t even remember half the stuff we were filming. I mean, I’ll probably have to watch and see our real-time reactions to that. But, I mean, I can’t speak to their relationship. I mean, I don’t see a ton of behind the scenes, but, I mean, I hope that their family’s just thriving and she’s happier .

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JEN: I definitely think their relationship is stronger. I was just with them yesterday and I’m like, wait, they really love each other. Sometimes all you need is love.

There seems to be a heightened interest in shows about your religion, first with The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City and now with your show. Have you ever crossed paths with any of the Real Housewives, whether it be in the church or just around Utah? If so, what can you tell us about your interaction?

MIKAYLA: It’s definitely a bubble in Utah. We’ve definitely heard of The Real Housewives . I’ve personally never watched it. I think Jen said she watched.

JEN: I watched a few episodes. It was entertaining.

MIKAYLA: But yeah, I think our show is just so different because it’s just a new generation of young moms so it’s so different from The Real Housewives .

JEN: Yeah, but we have never crossed paths with them.

Say you guys get picked up for Season 2, and I feel like you have to because the show is so good and it ends on a cliffhanger so we have to know what happens next, what do you want to showcase next season?

MIKAYLA: Soft-swinging, round two! Just kidding. Oh, I don’t know. I feel like everyone’s relationships — well, not everyone’s, but there are few relationships that were left on a cliffhanger, too. And so I think everyone just had so much growth. And so I hope Season 2 people come back more confident. Just that same empowerment. We’ll be in a different place in our businesses. So that’ll be interesting to showcase. And I mean the sex, lies and scandals never end. So a lot more of that Season 2.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives is currently streaming on Hulu.

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