Taylor Frankie Paul on How SWINGING Scandal Blew Up Mormon #MomTok (Exclusive)

what was the goal of mom talk I think the goal was that we were all had this commonality of making content for one for fun and two for a living some of us you know did it as our job so we did take it pretty seriously and so we'd all come together and collaborate so building Our Brands our names and you know the bigger your brand and name is the more money you make for your family so I think we all had the same goal of of building that together and Macy were you guys trying to like break out from some of the constraints of the Mormon church I would say I didn't I don't think so when we first started at least I didn't see that way it was more just like posting kind of content that we were already doing and I think it came across that way because maybe it was a little bit more edgy for for like Mormon women so I think it naturally happens we're just like being ourselves and I think it it looks like that I guess how is everybody's friendships now because you I saw the first episode and you girls didn't see each other for it was a couple of months right after everything that happened you so what kind of place are you in now would you say Taylor I would say we're in a lot better place than we were then I feel like for me I'm friends with pretty much everyone in the group um but sometimes you're surprised with how people feel about you mutually so for me I'd feel like I'm on good terms with everyone in the group thought you may see yeah I was going to say I'm friend with everyone in the group but there's definitely some issues throughout the show and people watch they will see that where like you know there's eight different women there's eight different personalities right so it's kind of like there's bound to be drama there's bound to be conflict and so but I would say like most of us for the most part are like still friends and Taylor you're I'm not gonna ask too much because I guess spoilers but you um you're divorced are you still with your boyfriend that were're you talk about at the beginning of the show are you still together yes yep um we are still together and he is in the show um again yeah I don't want to give it away but he's in a um a big storyline of mine so yes and has your mom come to accept him now because at the beginning of the show we can see she's not she is not impressed in the slightest is she she's not happy yeah I think everyone was quick to judge because it jumped in a relationship so fast post divorce that my parents were just like very hesitant I I think to whomever would have came in in my life at the time um unfortunately Dakota got you know that harsh welcoming if you will um but it does ease throughout the season which you will see and especially now today they there he is so close with my parents so how did things go from doing mom talks and having fun hanging out with your friends to The Swinging parties how did we get there Taylor how did it start um honestly it was never like intentional of like this is what's going to happen but I feel like for me and those that were involved it was is we were having these parties and then for like a lot of years we honestly just had good parties of like dinner and hanging out and then it started to like bring in substances into the parties and then hanging out like three times a week and then renting cabins together and then it all started so slow like and then there was one night where the guys were like you should kiss and it was like funny and so we did and then like things just led to one thing to another and it was a a huge fire at the end but um it started I think with people just like kind of getting bored in their relationship obviously I think you have an you have to have an issue in order to like open up those doors and so for all of us now today everyone's divorced unfortunately that was a part of it but um I think yeah it just let I I think it was something we did not even realize what we were doing and then one day it all B up and and here we are now and Macy you and your husband were you guys taking part no no I was not part of her little group I wasn't cool enough to be invited so I'm just kidding I'm just kidding are you still with your husband yes I am yeah you guys are happy yeah yes we're happy um Taylor explained soft swinging to me what is soft swinging yeah I just want to say that I did not come up with that term I learned it M of all this as well but it basically just means that you are doing everything but going all the way and fully switching Partners so say in the promo for the show you say um no one is innocent and everybody hooked up is that true was everybody was doing it because Macy's say she was part of that group yeah well everyone that was involved in the the group which I do talk more about in the show I I don't want to give anything way but those that were involved yes everyone was hooking up with everyone because at the time people were denying that they were involved which was a lie so I came out on the internet and said everyone was hooking up with everyone rather than me just hooking up with one husband that was what was being said and so I came out and kind of gave my story but for those involved everyone did hook up with everyone but for those not involved had nothing to do with it that makes sense how many of the mom talk moms participated well at the time it had only been one mom of the whole group but people just dissected and assumed and thought but because I hadn't said the name of the girl I just said someone part of mom talk everyone kind of like eluded towards like oh there was a couple of them or it was this many or that many so they dissected and that's why it all blew up because people were trying to like make it a game of like partnering who and I didn't want to give a name out but I also didn't I didn't want to say no one because that wasn't true either so I was like honestly in a I was stuck that's why it all blew up Macy what did you because you weren't part of that group what were you what did you think when this just all blew up in the media um I wasn't shocked I had like a feeling I had a feeling that something was going on behind the scenes um based on what I was seeing on social media and I actually like I got invited to go to one of their parties by a different husband that's irrelevant to the show and so like I had a feeling that something odd was going on so I was like oh are we going to like I thought that they were like going to go um like snowmobiling or like playing the snow and they're like oh no like we're going to be like at the house I was like oh so I was like and so I didn't end up going but I had a feeling like once I didn't go that something like was going on and I had this whole Theory and I was telling a couple of the other girls in the group but I was like don't say anything so I don't like start a rumor but I like a weird feeling that maybe they're swingers and then um yeah it came out so I wasn't like shocked to say the least but but even then it's still shocking right because this group of women who are involved are so young and like typically when you see swingers it's like usually people who are a little bit older right so like it was still shocking regardless did you say invited you I got invited by someone in the group I I'm not gonna say who it was you said another husband right yeah but like he didn't say like hey come swing with us I just got invited to like a cabin party so I thought it was like an innocent thing until like later on when I heard they're all swinging I was like okay Taylor so did because we're presuming I mean I'm I'm presuming from just watching the first episode did The Swinging lead to the breakdown of your marriage is that what it is that what led to that oh absolutely I feel like that was like kind of the chering on top of everything was I feel like I was a little checked out before I was checked out before that I mean like I said before I feel like you have to have some type of issue in order to open up the doors to other people involved in your relationship so yes I think there were issues I think there were issues in every single one of those marriages again everyone's divorced now so if that you know doesn't say something you know I don't know what does um but yes that was definitely the the chair on top for my relationship so any Swinging with Dakota are you guys open to to doing that trying that uh absolutely not that was very like made set in the beginning of our relationship I felt like I walked into that saying I just wanted Hy I want to start fresh I messed up there lesson learned I want to start new here and he again he was never wanting to do that never would as well um we did start Rocky I think because things were gray but um for the most part none of that no and does he ever has he ever had any like trust issues with you because of you doing what you did in your past yes I think we both have trust issues for sure one given like what I've done but also what I saw in every other one of those husbands like I saw and heard things like which I Wish I Never Had because I just realize like how sneaky men and like you know anyone can be including myself right like how sneaky people are and to trust no one and so when I jumped into this relationship with Dakota you do see in the show like why we started pretty Rocky so pretty much putting salt on my wounds and so I definitely didn't trust him after certain things he had did which made things way worse and way harder than they had to be um but yeah I I feel like I definitely have issues and he has his own story and his things which I know how much he opens up in the show about so I think given our past we both have major trust issues yes so Macy the SE um the sex scandal broke in 2022 so when it came out um how when it came out initially how did that affect all of the friendships back then yeah it definitely created a divide I think like we had this huge at that time it was a really big group of women who were doing collaborations doing mom talk and there are people who I would say Taylor could speak for herself but completely turned their back on Taylor like it almost seemed like the group divided in two and it was like whose side are you on and specifically like me Michaela and Whitney went to Taylor because I was like Taylor is getting so much hate right now like I hope she knows like she has a friend in us because I would hate to be that person regardless of any mistakes or anything that happened and so we like not long I I would say like a few weeks after the Scandal happened like we reached out to Taylor she came over to my house we all chatted and I was like I love her like and then we kind of branched off I would say from the other group um and that's kind of yeah like what happened but I definitely took a riff um in the friendships and Taylor you know had all the hate from it yeah Taylor you really you really felt it didn't you what how did it come how did it get out initially um there were pretty much assumptions on the internet of Taylor had an affair on her husband and then friends of my friend group were like liking the messages basically confirming it that were told um from my inner group and so basically I was like known as this like cheater with her friend's husband and so I was like okay fair like go ahead and release that but because you guys are releasing that information you got it from my inner circle which I know because it came out the next day the only people that knew was my inner circle so I came out and was like oh this is actually what's been going on I didn't just like sleep with my friend's husband we were all Swinging with each other yes my they were hooking up with my husband the night before as well so I just want to let you guys know like um I feel like I was looked at I do I do think what I did was very wrong um but it it wasn't like I guess it wasn't out of nowhere right like I didn't just go like you were hooking up with my husband like as well you know and I just wanted everyone to kind of know the bigger picture instead of like this like like husband stealer which that wasn't the case like we there were three people of the six that caught feelings like I think that's what happens when you're intimate with people you know that chance is likely to happen so how are you and Whitney now Taylor because she she ran off and she had her own thing going on right that she didn't want she didn't want out there which um you guys discussing the show but how I know you had a you guys were having a hard time so how is your friendship Whitney now now I would say it's like pretty good for the most part as I guess from what I know it's good um last time I thought we were good we weren't so I don't want to speak too soon but I think we've kind of cleared the air for the most part I've apologized for things like I didn't realize I had done to her and made her feel so I hope that I could say that we're on good terms now so how do you feel about the church's statement I feel you can both answer this Macy the church's statement that this show does not fairly reflect members of the church or their beliefs what did you think of that statement Bally I think that the church had to put out a statement because there's been so much buzz on social media and I know that their statement is also referring to a new movie that is coming out that has Mormon missionaries in the movie I think it's called heretic or something so I think it was a response to our show but also that movie um but I do think they're putting something out because there is so much buzz on social media right um and I think too that like in general like we are being judged like a book is being judged by its cover I think people are scared because they don't know how Mormons are going to be represented but they're just judging it based off of like a two-minute trailer so I mean I understand why they're you know maybe worried but I don't think they're going to have anything to worry about how about you Taylor yeah I right with everything she said I feel like it's fair that they're putting that out but again they have no idea like how it is and how it's going to look so they're kind of just like fair warning here um but I feel like they are going to be more surprised than they think of how like I feel like the show is really good to show Mormons I think it'll be great honestly [Music]