Share and Follow
MomTok has voiced its opinion loud and clear: they’re ready for less DadTok in the spotlight of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives.
As some viewers anticipated, DadTok—the dads’ equivalent of MomTok—received significant attention in Hulu’s fourth season of the show. The dads were featured in confessional interviews, had scenes to themselves, enjoyed a getaway to Vanderpump Villa, and even caused some drama among the wives.
“I suspect they’re bribing the editors,” commented Mayci Neeley, co-creator of MomTok and vocal critic of toxic masculinity, during a Zoom interview with DECIDER. “I think they’re handing over cash, because why else are they so prominent?”
In a discussion with Mayci and her close friend Mikayla Matthews, they claimed to know which DadTok member consults with lawyers to secure more screen time. Although they refrained from naming names, they clarified it was not their husbands, Jacob Neeley or Jace Terry.
The fourth season saw Jordan Ngatikaura, Jessi Draper’s husband and self-declared “founder of DadTok,” transition from a quiet presence to a full-fledged troublemaker. He spilled the beans about Dakota Mortensen’s adventures at Vanderpump Villa to provoke Taylor Frankie Paul, stirred tensions in Layla Taylor’s budding romance with Mason McWhorter by questioning its longevity, and even launched his own version of Truth Box, a concept introduced by MomTok in the show’s first season.
Ngaitkaura, however, wasn’t the only DadTok member who was clamoring for more screen time: Zac Affleck ambushed Whitney Leavitt in the Season 4 finale when she thought she was meeting up with Jen Affleck to hash out their differences; Miranda Hope‘s ex-husband, Chase McWhorter, sparred with Ngatikaura at a solo DadTok dinner outing for breaking bro-code; and Mortensen’s inability to keep it in his pants arguably gave him more screen time than some of the MomTok women this season.
Trust and believe, we weren’t the only ones to clock the latter. Mayci, who has had it out for Mortensen since Season 1, told us, “I saw way too much of him on my screen. I’m sorry. I’m like, ‘Are we not reading comments?’ People said they didn’t want to see him as much. And then, here he is again.”
While Mayci and Matthews didn’t mind that DadTok was forming a closer bond, they took issue with some of the men starting to view their wives’ success as “competition.”
“I’m happy that they can have a friendship or whatever. Just don’t be toxic,” Mayci said. “You only have a platform because of us.”
Fortunately, the Told You So author wasn’t referring to her husband or Matthews’ husband. “I think we’re mostly speaking about some of the other men, to be honest,” she said. “But even with [Vanderpump] Villa, I told my husband to go. He was not going to go. And I was like, ‘Go have fun.’ I was two weeks postpartum.”
Matthews, on the other hand, did not allow Terry to join the others in England. “I told my husband, ‘Absolutely not. Your ass is staying home,’” she recalled. “I think it’s my worst nightmare to hang out in a villa with those men. And I imagine it would be his.”
In a separate Zoom call, Taylor and Hope agreed that they also “don’t love” how much attention DadTok is getting this season.
“I think this show is so empowering for women in so many ways, and I feel like sometimes we lose sight of that a little bit when we have these toxic men open their mouths about things they shouldn’t be opening their mouths about,” Taylor said. “I think, ultimately, what the people love to see from DadTok is when they’re supportive and they’re good partners. We don’t need to see you guys saying toxic comments about us women, because, ultimately, you wouldn’t be on the show if it wasn’t for the women. So, realize that and sit down.”
Hope, however, was optimistic that giving the men a chance to watch themselves back would put a “magnifying glass on the [internalized] misogyny” that often bubbles up, and give them the opportunity “figure out why they feel a certain way about certain things.”
While both Taylor and Hope were in favor of having less of DadTok in the show, they didn’t mind giving the husbands “some time” in front of cameras — especially if it “shows the dynamics” in their relationships with the women. Taylor pointed to the marriages of both Draper and Ngatikaura and Matthews and Terry as examples.
“Some of the guys are great. I hate to even just say DadTok as a whole,” Hope added, while Taylor clarified, “It’s mostly just Jordan and Dakota.”
The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives Season 4 is currently streaming on Hulu.