Jessi Ngatikaura and Layla Taylor from ‘Secret Lives Of Mormon Wives’ express gratitude as Miranda McWhorter takes responsibility for her role in the swinging scandal, calling it a relief.

Jessi Ngatikaura and Layla Taylor experienced significant changes in their lives after the popularity of Hulu’s series The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives. In less than a year since its debut, the show is already airing its second season. Ngatikaura and Taylor, known as the “Sinners” on the show, recently visited DECIDER’s studio to discuss Season 2, which includes the surprising return of Miranda McWhorter to MomTok after previously denying involvement in Taylor Frankie Paul’s scandal related to soft-swinging.

McWhorter, who was part of the swinging couples involving Paul and her former spouse, created a buzz among other MomTok creators by unexpectedly appearing at an influencer event early in the Season 2 premiere. Initially apprehensive about McWhorter’s motives for rejoining MomTok, Ngatikaura eventually grasped why the content creator had reservations about participating in Season 1 of the show.

According to Ngatikaura, who is the founder of JZ Styles, “It was understandable that she was married when we first filmed and didn’t want to expose her relationship. Now that she is divorced, she feels empowered to share her truth.”

McWhorter maintains throughout the first couple of episodes that she participated in nothing more than kissing at their so-called soft-swinging parties, though Paul does eventually get her to admit that there were more scandalous acts at play (like having sex with their husbands in the same bed and the same shower). For Taylor, it was a “relief” to finally hear McWhorter own up to her role in the scandal.

“I feel we heard so much for so long from Taylor. And she was like, ‘There’s more that happened.’ But she wouldn’t say, because it wasn’t her story necessarily to tell,” Taylor said, while Ngatikaura added, “We’re grateful that [McWhorter] eventually put it all out there.”

The duo also talked about their updated dirty soda orders, the ongoing drama with Jen Affleck and her husband, and that wild Halloween party where the cops got called. Check out the full interview below.

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DECIDER: The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives has become a global phenomenon since its release in September. How have your lives changed?

LAYLA TAYLOR: Completely. I feel like getting recognized in public is something that I’m never gonna get used to. I absolutely love it. I love when fans come up to us, but it’s something that I’m like, “Why are you saying hi to me? Like, I’m just a mom.” So it’s something that I’m so grateful for. Obviously this opportunity is insane and this isn’t a normal thing that we do, so I’m just super grateful. 

JESSI NGATIKAURA: Yeah, it’s been crazy. I feel like the biggest thing is that people will now comment on our relationship dynamics, our friendship dynamics, and care so much. Like, why isn’t Layla in this video? And it’s like, there’s nine of us. Like, we can’t all get together all the time. But the internet has such an opinion on our lives now, which is so different and new. But we’re so grateful because without them, we wouldn’t have a show. So we love it when people come up and say hi and care about what we’re doing and the soda we drink. It’s amazing. 

Speaking of soda, you both must have some sort of black card status at Swig. Are you treated like celebrities when you go there?

LAYLA: No, for sure. Every time I come in, they’re like, “Do you want to use your loyalty?” And I’m like, “Yeah, sure.” And they’re like, “You have a lot of money on there.” They just load it for all of us and it’s the best thing ever because I’m there every day. 

JESSI: I think they’re so grateful for the exposure they got on the show and we’re grateful for them because there’s one on every corner and we love it. 

Have you updated your drink orders since Season 1?

LAYLA: I have, yeah.

JESSI: Yeah, I have too, I think. I still drink Dr. Pepper, but I don’t do the coconut cream. I’ve been doing just coconut syrup. So I mixed it up a little. 

LAYLA: Mine’s completely different. It’s like a water-based drink now, because I’m trying to cut back on the Mountain Dew. So it’s water and then it’s strawberry syrup, sugar-free vanilla, sugar-free coconut, and the coconut cream. It tastes like a strawberry milkshake almost, but in water form. You need to try it. It’s actually really good. 

Let’s get into this season’s drama. Jessi, it seems like after your chat with Zac you’re more Team Zac than Team Jen. Can you speak to that? 

JESSI: It was weird because obviously I was not Team Zac last year and getting the chance to sit down with him, I believe everyone deserves a chance to speak their mind and say their side. And he was bringing up things that I was like, “Oh, that seems like it’s Jen saying that and that’s not true.” And it just shed another light to the situation. So I wouldn’t say I was necessarily Team Zac, but there were things about Jen that were concerning that were coming up and it just kind of made me question everything. It was a really confusing time. 

Would you say Jen is taking over for Whitney as the new villain?

JESSI: I don’t think so. Maybe at the beginning. Me and her were having some issues and I went pretty hard at her. So looking back, I’m like, “Oh, hopefully that doesn’t look too bad on me.” But she was just lying a little bit and there were some things coming up that we were confused about. And then she would isolate from the group and then come back and we just weren’t really sure where she was at. I wouldn’t say villain, but I think we were all just a little confused and annoyed. But yeah, I don’t know about villain. 

LAYLA: No, I wouldn’t say villain, no.

Speaking of Whitney, we all saw her and Taylor make up on Jimmy Kimmel. Are you guys still blocked by Whitney?

LAYLA: I never got blocked.

JESSI: I never got blocked. I think I got unfollowed. 

LAYLA: I don’t think she ever unfollowed me. At least I don’t think so.

JESSI: I was just texting Whitney today so we’re good.

Were you glad to see her and Taylor come back together?

LAYLA: I was.

JESSI: Are they back together? Depends on the day.

LAYLA: It depends on the day, yeah. I think that any less animosity we can have in the group is always a good thing in my opinion. I feel like there’s already so much drama that naturally occurs. So if we can kind of wrap up like one set of drama then we can move on to the next. I feel it’s always a thing. 

You were both in Italy last summer. What we saw on Vanderpump Villa between Marciano and Demi seemed like some harmless flirting. But things have obviously blown up. Was there more that didn’t make the cut? Can you provide some clarity to this?

JESSI: I think that you film for hours and hours and then it gets cut down to three minutes so obviously there’s more to the story. But I think overall we had such a good time in the villa. We were so excited to meet Lisa [Vanderpump]. She’s been like a hero of mine forever just as a businesswoman. So there was a lot of drama but overall I’m really happy we went. I guess you’ll see more unfold but that definitely became a theme of our lives. Italy, we’ll never forget. 

LAYLA: It’s burned into my brain.

JESSI: We’re always like, Italy was our Roman Empire.

LAYLA: No, literally. Just like Jessi said, we had so much fun. I had lots of fun and honestly, I would do it again. I feel like that was so fun. 

Well, it was fun to see you guys in a new setting. It’s also fun to see some new faces this season. Miranda is back into the fold. What did you think about her coming back? 

LAYLA: I feel like she definitely had some questions and some conversations that she needed to have with some of the girls. But I think ultimately when it comes down to it, if someone comes back into the group and they’re able to take accountability, own up to their parts of situations, and kind of come in not guns a blazing, I feel that’s the best way to handle it and I feel she did a really good job with that. 

JESSI: Yeah, I think we were a little nervous at first what the intention was, but she came in and just was honest and owned it and said her side. Also, it made sense to me that she was married when we first filmed and didn’t really want to expose her relationship. And now she’s divorced. So she’s like, “Hey, I can come speak my truth.” And that made sense. 

Miranda swore up and down that she didn’t do anything more than kiss at the soft-swinging parties. But in episode 3, she straight up admitted that more happened. What was your reaction? Will we see that play out this season?

LAYLA: I feel like it was like relief, for me. Because I feel we heard so much for so long from Taylor. And she was like, “There’s more that happened.” But she wouldn’t say, because it wasn’t her story necessarily to tell. She already said that people were involved, so I think at that point, she was, like, “I’m not gonna share details.” So I think, at that point, everyone was finally like, “Ah, that’s what we are missing from the story.”

JESSI: When she first came back she was being very coy about it and then more came out over time. We were like, “OK, there you go.” Because at first I was like, “This is not adding up.” 

LAYLA: The math isn’t mathing.

JESSI: But we’re grateful that she eventually put it all out there. 

Jessi, you are definitely in your messy era by inviting Chase to your Halloween party. What ended up happening with your neighbors after the cops were gone?

JESSI: I haven’t met my neighbors yet and that’s so bad. I know they called the cops on me and so I just have been trying to avoid it. I know there was a Reddit thread from my neighborhood that was like, “I’m their neighbor and I saw what happened.” I was just so embarrassed that I was like, “Please don’t come up and say hi to me.” But I should probably make cookies or reach out or something. 

LAYLA: You make cookies? 

JESSI: I’ll order cookies. 

There was that big Chippendales moment at the party, which I thought was cute. Did you expect Zac to take it as badly as he did?

JESSI: Yes. Just kidding. No, I knew he wasn’t gonna be super happy, but Jen had been telling us like, “This is gonna be exposure therapy. We’re in a better place.” I know Zac and I was like, “I’m sure he’s gonna be upset.” But maybe not to the level [that he was].

LAYLA: I think, naturally, just because of how big the reaction was in Vegas there would maybe be some reaction but yeah I don’t think anyone thought it would be to the level that it was. But I mean, they were still working through things at that point so it makes sense.

JESSI: But they went to Chippendales recently so apparently he is good now. Exposure therapy worked.

Layla, I was shocked to hear that you and Chase briefly dated. What initially drew you to him? Did you know about the swinging scandal?

LAYLA: OK, so it’s actually a funny story. One day, me and my friend went out to bars in Salt Lake and I bumped into her best friend Shania and she at first pointed to me and to my friend and she goes, “OK, which one do you want?” And she pointed to Chase and then she pointed it to his brother Mason. And I was like, “Uh, neither. What are you talking about?” And then eventually, throughout the night, Shania just kept convincing me like, “Oh, it’s fine. Miranda is not gonna care.” And that’s kind of how we met. But it wasn’t like I’m going for one of my friends’ husbands. It wasn’t like that at all. And honestly, at first, I kind of avoided him because of that reason. But then, yeah, we saw each other for like a month, but nothing ever obviously came from it. 

Well, your new man at the Halloween party seemed like a much better fit. Will we be seeing more of him?

LAYLA: No. We’re not together anymore, but everything happens for a reason. I wish him the best, but yeah. 

There are plenty of fish in the sea. We’ve seen the first three episodes and there have been some tough moments but one that stands out is Taylor’s family’s barbecue with Dakota. Have you seen that sequence? If so, what are your thoughts? 

LAYLA: I haven’t seen it.

JESSI: I’ve seen clips of it that they’ve released but I heard about it in real life and that was a tough moment because I think she obviously was fighting with Dakota and then the family got involved and that’s always a tricky dynamic. But Taylor’s family is just like her – like, super passionate. I wasn’t really surprised. They’re gonna tell her how it is. But I think you need that from your family. If they don’t hold you accountable, who will? So I’m excited to watch it back – not excited but anxious, I guess, to watch it back. But I think that it was probably a good turning point for them.

LAYLA: Tough love kind of family. I feel like sometimes you just need to hear some things. 

You guys are currently filming Season 3. Is there anything you can tease about that and where this story will go next?

JESSI: Oh gosh, where will it not go?

LAYLA: Every season just amps up and gets better and better and better.

JESSI: We’re always like, “What more could happen? There’s nothing going on.” We’re always wrong. Week one, things go down and it’s always just our lives happening. But I think there’s gonna be more lies, drama, deceit, betrayal, tears. And that’s just my life. I’m kidding, it’s all of us. But no, I feel like you’re gonna see a lot of interesting dynamics and each season you’re going to get to know each of us more and more and hopefully. someone will resonate with one of us, and that’s what makes people love the show.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives Season 2 is currently streaming on Hulu.