How Mormon Wives Became Gen Z’s Vanderpump Rules—And Why the Vanderpump Reboot Might Be Doomed

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At the start of the Season 3 reunion for The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, Taylor Frankie Paul, one of the show’s stars, meets Stassi Schroeder, who is hosting the special. Paul admits people often say she reminds them of Schroeder. Schroeder agrees she feels a connection. In her introduction, she tells the cast and viewers that she’s excited to be involved because she understands what they’re going through – she’s experienced similar drama, including dating someone problematic, dealing with accusations, navigating conflicts, and handling public attention.

If you’re not familiar with the drama, Schroeder is talking about her time on the Bravo reality show Vanderpump Rules. While the show features a glamorous, party-focused lifestyle in West Hollywood, I’ve always seen similarities between the personalities on Vanderpump and those on shows like Sister Wives. Vanderpump Rules was a defining reality show for millennials, and now Hulu’s MomTok – which follows a controversial group from Utah – has become that show for younger adults, creating a strange connection as Vanderpump Rules recently returned for a twelfth season with a new cast. It’s a bit awkward timing, considering the reboot just started this week.

Premiering in 2013, Vanderpump Rules was Bravo’s first hit reality show focusing on a younger, more diverse group of friends – a refreshing change from the Housewives franchise. Set at SUR, a trendy restaurant owned by Lisa Vanderpump and Ken Todd, the show captured a relatively peaceful moment for millennials, falling between the 2008 financial crisis and the turbulent events of the last decade. Early seasons celebrated the lighthearted, dramatic relationships of SUR’s attractive staff, who were mostly young adults pursuing careers in entertainment. While they ultimately became famous as reality TV stars instead of actors or musicians, most of the cast seemed perfectly happy with that outcome.

Stassi, just 22 when the show began, quickly became known as the sharp-tongued leader of the group. Despite her sometimes mean behavior, her wit made her surprisingly likable – until she and fellow troublemaker Kristen Doute were fired for a racially insensitive prank. Her passionate, but turbulent, relationship with bartender Jax Taylor established the show’s focus on cheating and the women constantly uncovering their partners’ affairs, while the men tried to hide everything. The cast was largely comedic, featuring aspiring pop star Scheana Shay and self-absorbed musician Tom Sandoval. After a few seasons, the show felt stale as cultural tastes changed and the SUR staff continued their party lifestyle. Just when it seemed like Vanderpump Rules was ending, a shocking affair – dubbed “Scandoval” – in its tenth season unexpectedly brought it back into the spotlight in 2023. However, the messy and emotional conclusion of Season 11 revealed a cast that was too divided and costly to keep together.

The new version of the show barely tries to modernize it. While it’s a little more diverse in terms of race and sexual orientation – with a gay male lead finally appearing on a show set in West Hollywood – most of the new cast members are uninspired, and none measure up to the original stars. They seem to be there for the fame, not because they need the jobs at SUR. The premiere episode wasn’t promising, featuring a forgettable pop song recording and the usual dynamic of Lisa, the boss, keeping things dramatic. Katie Maloney, a former cast member, accurately described the reboot as feeling low-budget, and Lisa responded by pointing out the cost of maintaining the previous cast’s lifestyles.

A reality show from the mid-2010s isn’t measuring up to The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, which feels surprisingly modern despite its focus on traditional roles for women. The show started with a built-in audience after a scandal involving TikTok influencers and Mormon wives made headlines. Hulu has released three seasons in the last 15 months, with 20 more episodes planned, and the drama continues even as the initial shock value of the show’s premise fades. Mormon Wives has quickly become one of Hulu’s most popular shows, surpassing even Vanderpump Villa and the Kardashians (who Hulu acquired in a very expensive deal). Now, cast members from Mormon Wives are appearing on other unscripted Disney shows, like a crossover episode with Villa and Dancing With the Stars. One cast member, Paul, is even joining The Bachelorette to help boost ratings, with the new season premiering on March 22nd.

The appeal of Mormon Wives lies in its familiar reality TV formula – similar to what made Vanderpump Rules popular – but with a fresh setting. While the show focuses on mothers, the cast members’ ages (early 20s to early 30s) and relationship experiences – including divorce, remarriage, and marital problems – mirror those seen in Vanderpump Rules. As a result, infidelity has become a central theme. Taylor, often called the leader of the MomTok social media community, is a lot like Stassi from Vanderpump Rules: intelligent, charismatic, a good storyteller, and caught in a complicated relationship with her repeatedly unfaithful partner, Dakota. Over the past two seasons, the show has also been shaken up by the messy relationships between cast members Demi Engemann and Jessi Ngatikaura, and Marciano Brunette from Villa. The fact that Demi and Jessi look so much alike only adds to the drama and confusion.

However, this show differs from Vanderpump Rules in ways that cleverly appeal to today’s audiences, who are much more divided in their views than they were in 2013. It offers young, conservative viewers—those interested in traditional wife content—a look at women confidently embracing femininity, choosing heterosexual marriage, and starting families in their twenties, or even earlier. While Mormon Wives’ portrayal of Mormonism is often unconventional—with frequent drinking, swearing, and discussions of sex, and modest clothing being rare—prayer circles, like the one held before the reunion, aren’t unusual. According to the cast members, infidelity within the ‘MomTok’ community generally involves emotional affairs, sharing explicit photos, or, at most, a kiss.

Viewers on the left can find some reassurance in storylines that portray these Mormons, much like the women on The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City, as progressive. For example, Season 3 showed the women attending an LGBTQ Pride event. Many of these women, having grown up during the #MeToo movement, also openly discuss their experiences with sexual assault and abuse, often using language related to therapy and self-improvement. The show’s mix of conservative and liberal viewpoints feels authentically American, and perhaps a little messy.

Regardless of your political views, the show Mormon Wives feels surprisingly modern because it doesn’t hide how reality TV is made, promoted, and how its stars are created. Most reality shows, especially those on Bravo, traditionally avoid acknowledging the production process itself. Shows like Real Housewives want you to believe the friendships are genuine, not manufactured for drama. We usually only see behind the scenes during reunion episodes. That’s why it was such a moment when Ariana Madix from Vanderpump Rules walked off set at the end of season 11, telling producers she was finished filming, while her castmates, who had previously supported her, began to express less sympathetic views.

While Mormon Wives has become a major cultural phenomenon, the show has increasingly focused on what happens when a group of Utah mothers achieve a high level of fame. Season 3 largely documents the cast promoting Season 2 – we see less of their everyday family lives and more of them navigating the world of publicity, like interviews in Los Angeles, makeup sessions, dance competition auditions, and preparing for talk show appearances. The show frames this as the rise of a social media group, with cast members dramatically ‘quitting’ or being ‘removed’ for the sake of the narrative, rather than simply showing the reality of their success. However, this approach offers a rare glimpse behind the scenes of the entertainment industry, revealing things like salary negotiations and Dakota’s refusal to film unless certain storylines are dropped. It was particularly satisfying to see Schroeder call out Taylor for his demands regarding the reunion show. Ultimately, the show is a surprisingly honest look at the process of becoming famous, similar to Making the Band but tailored for the TikTok era.

Okay, so The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives has really found its footing now that we understand everyone’s history and where they stand – things are constantly shifting, which keeps it interesting! It’s not a great show, honestly, even compared to other reality TV, and it doesn’t quite reach the level of something like RHOSLC, which has such memorable and funny personalities – those women are truly one of a kind. But I’m surprised by how much I’m enjoying it. The creators clearly know how to take familiar reality TV tropes and make them feel fresh, and they’re attracting a really wide range of viewers. It’s just… growing on me!

The new season of Vanderpump Rules doesn’t even meet Lisa Vanderpump’s own low standards. She famously tells her staff she can handle anything except boredom, but so far, the reboot hasn’t delivered anything interesting at all.

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2025-12-05 01:09