The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives is the newest reality-TV sensation, with millions of fans who can't get enough of the Hulu series. So naturally, after its record-breaking first season, SLOMW began airing reunion specials. But anyone who's tuned into one of these episodes knows that the special events can be...underwhelming, to say the least.
The post-season reunion is a time-honored tradition of reality docusoaps. Some time after production concludes, cast members gather to react to the season's lingering dramas, after everyone has watched all the episodes and seen what their "friends" and co-stars have been saying behind each other's backs. Ideally, the reunion ends by giving the cast a clean slate heading into a new season of filming, but SLOMW's production schedule means that these specials can leave fans with the same unanswered questions they had before watching.
Below, we break down how The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives' season 3 reunion fit into the show's filming timeline, and why the special episodes have left fans unimpressed.
The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives cast, from left: Taylor Frankie Paul, Jessi Ngatikaura, Jen Affleck, Mayci Neeley, and Mikayla Matthews.
When are the 'Secret Lives of Mormon Wives' reunion specials filmed?
Ever since season 1 became a pop-culture phenomenon, it's seemed like the team behind The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives never puts their cameras down. Seasons 2 and 3 of the reality series were greenlit together and essentially filmed back-to-back, with season 2 spanning October to December 2024 and season 3 going from around March 2025 to that May. Meanwhile, SLOMW's season 2 reunion was filmed around April 2025—when cameras had already been rolling on season 3 for at least a month.
While season 2 did have some buzzy moments—most notably Demi Engemann skipping the reunion, and Jen Affleck revealing a recording of Demi telling her what to say in front of cameras—fan consensus was that the special was essentially a prolonged teaser for season 3. Developments had already happened in the cast's many feuds, but since what happened off-screen would have been seen as a spoiler, several discussions ended with some form of "you'll have to wait for season 3." Off-camera social-media drama is usually fodder for reality-TV reunions, so delaying those conversations for later episodes is understandably frustrating for viewers.
Demi Engemann and Whitney Leavitt at the season 3 reunion.
Unfortunately, season 3's reunion follows a similar pattern with fewer truly buzzy moments. Though the filming date hasn't been confirmed, internet sleuths believe the special was filmed sometime between August and November 2025. On October 21, 2025, for example, Jen revealed to PEOPLE that she was filming SLOMW while she was on Dancing with the Stars. So the season 3 reunion was either filmed right before cameras started rolling on season 4 or, more likely, in the middle once again.
Jacob Neeley, Mayci Neeley, and Taylor Frankie Paul during the season 3 reunion.
Why do fans criticize 'The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives' reunions?
If an SLOMW fan skips the season 3 reunion, odds are they would enter season 4 with the same amount of information they had at the end of season 3's finale. Where do the #MomTok women stand with Demi and Whitney? Pretty much the same place (unspoken resentment). Have Mikayla Matthews and her husband, Jace, resolved their intimacy issues? No, it's been a couple of months, and she just had a baby. Where does Taylor Frankie Paul stand with Chase McWhorter? We have to wait for season 4. (However, it doesn't matter because she's currently filming The Bachelorette as the reunion airs.) As for that renewed Fruity Pebbles drama that everyone was talking about a week ago? Better tune in for season 4, because that hadn't even happened when the special was filmed.
The biggest development in the reunion is that #DadTok went on Vanderpump Villa season 2. (Except, I could stand for them to stop trying to make #DadTok happen, and I also never need to hear any of these people utter the words Vanderpump Villa ever again.)
These extra episodes are essentially pointless if the cast can't share new information or resolve anything, because those goals are the entire point of filming a reunion. Without that, viewers are left with awkward segments, like this special's extended product placement. SLOMW already releases two seasons a year at this point—a breakneck speed, even for a genre that already has a streamlined production process. #MomTok has become known for rewriting the rules of reality TV, and the show can once again do things differently than other shows. If the ratings from a reunion are too good to pass up, producers need to let the show's drama breathe. Eventually, fans who are tired of hearing "wait til next season" may do just that.
