'The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives' was one of the biggest reality series in 2024 and has more in store next year
The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, Hulu's reality series following a group of Mormon moms trying to find their way back to friendship after countless scandals, was one of the most buzzed-about shows of 2024, earning the cast a spot on PEOPLE's inaugural Creators of the Year list.
Speaking exclusively with PEOPLE, cast members Taylor Frankie Paul and Whitney Leavitt detail how their year took a dramatic turn as they released the show into the world.
"I feel at a loss for words sometimes. I just didn't expect the show to do as well as it did," Paul admits. "I also didn't expect another season and for it to be approved so fast. I'm obviously so happy and grateful, but it's just so surprising. You never know."
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Related: The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives Season 2: All About the Next Installment -- And When Episodes Will Release
The pair, part of a larger group of eight women, emphasize it's still hard to comprehend the show's overnight success.
"I remember thinking, 'This will do okay. It should do well, given that we all have a story that people haven't heard about, and all of us do have a following," Paul says. "I didn't know the extent of how well it was going to do, so it was shocking as it happened."
"Going into it, filming was so different because we weren't used to that type of filming," she continues. "It was a really cool experience though, because you do see yourself in a different way you normally aren't used to."
For Leavitt, she notes that filming season 1 felt "a little bit like therapy" as she worked through personal issues.
They add that it's been an adjustment stepping into the spotlight and getting noticed by fans on the street.
"I think I underestimate it still to this day," Paul says. "I don't even sometimes know the extent. I try to stay home a lot, but when I do go out, you are stopped at every single place we go to. I just feel like you're always being watched. It's fun to an extent, but then it's also when your kids are crying in the store, it's embarrassing because people know who you are. Little things like that are different."
"I'm still adjusting because it happened so quickly, but I love it when people come up and say hi and ask for a picture," Leavitt says of her fan interactions. "I had one kid, one college kid had me sign his BYU ID and that was probably the coolest thing ever. I was like, 'Oh yeah, for sure. I'll sign your BYU ID.'"
"And then the people that are in your messages reaching out, just unexpected people that you have fangirled over, we've all fangirled over," Paul adds. "So that was really cool to see. And sometimes I just forget that people are out there watching it. It's a nationwide thing. To this day, I still don't think I even realize it, to be honest."
Both women share another special commonality from this year, having both welcomed baby boys. Paul's third baby, son Ever, was born on March 19, 2024, while Leavitt's third baby, son Billy, was born on Oct. 24, 2024.
"It was a beautiful moment that you'll see more of in season 2. I'm so thankful for him," Paul says, also honest about the fact that life as a mom of three can be hard.
"I think overall it's been another really hard year for me. It's been just as, if not harder, than my 2022. There's been so many exciting but I did have a major curveball, so it's been hard to enjoy the good with what's come along with it."
Levitt quips she's "had a couple of mental breakdowns" since becoming a family of five.
"Three is very hard because none of my kids are in school full time. So everyone's at home and it's been very overwhelming, but also it's been so joyful. Hopefully the two balance each other out," she says.
"We can meet in the middle some days. My daughter Sedona, she just turned five and she loves picking up baby Billy. And sometimes when I go and lay him down, I'll catch her in the room because we keep telling her not to pick him up without one of us being there, but she's just the little mommy. She wants to go and just take care of him when he's crying. She'll tell me what to do to help calm him down, like I don't know what I'm doing. So she is loving being the little mommy in this house right now."
She adds, "Whenever I go out and people are like, 'Oh my gosh, I know who you are. It hasn't fully registered yet. I've been in mom mode."
One thing both women can agree on is that the show's success was the biggest surprise of their 2024.
"I had no idea it would hit number one on Hulu, and so soon. The amount of people that have watched and seen it. And not only that, I thought it was more of a, 'Let's get your girls together' kind of watch, but there's a lot of men that enjoy the show," Paul says.
"I don't think any of us thought that it was going to be as big as it is and it's going to continue to be," Leavitt agrees. "It was something that we all wanted to do and we're so grateful with how big it actually got and how big I know it's going to just get even bigger from here. That was my biggest surprise, a thousand percent."
2025 will bring the show's second season, as well as a slew of new opportunities and challenges for the women. However, they're ready for whatever comes next, having learned to expect the unexpected.
"With the second season, you're having conversations constantly with your peers and sitting in your interviews or confessionals where they're constantly asking you questions about yourself and about a scenario. It can be very therapeutic," Leavitt says.
"It's exciting but I guess I'm always a bit nervous. We're used to making content that we can control and edit and we don't have control with this. It's nerve-wracking going into it knowing that what happens isn't exactly how the edit might make it look," Paul acknowledges.
"But I do think this one is going to be just as good, if not better, than our first season. So far, I think everything has been so fun and entertaining to experience for myself."
The two find themselves hopeful and energized heading into the new year.
"I hope that this is a year of more happiness," Paul says. "I hope it only goes uphill from here. I hope it's better than it's been."
"My biggest hope is to be more present," Leavitt says. "There's so much going on in the world and it's so easy to get distracted. I just want to be present in everything and enjoy the ride."