The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives fans have been through a lot over the past few months. Days after season 4 arrived on Hulu, production paused filming amid legal issues between Taylor Frankie Paul and Dakota Mortensen. (Paul's already-filmed season of The Bachelorette was soon shelved.) Despite the two-month hiatus, SLOMW maintained its twice-yearly schedule, with season 5 arriving on Hulu two years after the reality hit's September 2024 debut. (How has it only been two years!?)

The abridged, dour fifth season has left viewers wondering where the #MomTok show can go from here. But there's no need to fret, as the show's breakneck production schedule means viewers are guaranteed more episodes. Read on for everything we know so far about the future of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives.

Everything We Know About 'The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives' Season 6 So Far

Will there be more episodes of 'The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives' season 5?

The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives season 5 ends on the ultimate cliffhanger. The show doesn't include any footage recorded following the production pause (outside of confessionals). The abrupt ending, paired with a "To Be Continued" graphic, left fans running to the internet to ask when the rest of season 5's episodes would drop.

Alas, a season 5, part 2 drop is not on the horizon. Hulu confirmed season 5's truncated length ahead of the show's return. In fact, an insider had revealed the filming timeline to PEOPLE back in May.

"Right now, they’re just filming confessionals for season 5,” the source said at the time. "They’ve decided they’re not going to film the rest of season 5, but apparently they’re still going to film season 6."

Is 'The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives' renewed for season 6?

#MomTok is officially too big to fail. On August 6, 2026, Layla Taylor revealed on Hulu's "Get Real" podcast that the cast had begun filming The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives season 6.

Later that same day, outlets reported that Hulu had ordered 20 more episodes of SLOMW, which will make up seasons 6 and 7. This follows the series' production pattern so far, with the renewals of seasons 2 and 3 in October 2024, and seasons 4 and 5 in November 2025.

When will 'The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives' season 6 be released?

Hulu hasn't confirmed when season 6 will premiere, but SLOMW has proved its twice-yearly release schedule can work, come hell or high water. With production already filming new episodes, the reality phenomenon will likely be back in spring 2027.

Who in the cast will return for 'The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives' season 6?

Season 6 will bring some major shake-ups to The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives. Days after season 5's release, fan-favorite Mikayla Matthews announced her departure from the series via Instagram. "I made my decision over a week ago, after hearing some news, that I will not be continuing the show at this moment," she wrote.

"I’ve said from the beginning of this that I’m not comfortable being a part of something that continues to platform behavior I don’t agree [with] especially given my own experience growing up in a home with multiple forms of abuse," she continued. "There’s no amount of money worth going against my morals or changing the stance I’ve had since I first saw and heard the things that made me feel this strongly. And for me personally, continuing to directly profit from this behavior feels wrong and unethical. It feels like a disservice to the children, everyone’s healing and the millions of people watching."

The news notably comes two weeks after Page Six reported that Taylor Frankie Paul will return for SLOMW season 6 "with the full support of ABC and Disney." Following Mikayla's post, Variety confirmed that, though production began on season 6 without her, Taylor is now set to resume filming.

A day after her initial post, Mikayla clarified her stance in an Instagram Story. Per The Wrap, she explained that she only began filming season 6 because of the unnamed person's absence, and that she hasn't filmed "a day since" she learned of their return.

"The ONLY reason I’m leaving the show is because I was told a certain person was coming back," she wrote. "I told them before agreeing to do 6 that I wasn’t going to film if that certain someone came back. Because it’s UNETHICAL and kids are involved. And I’m being put in an unfair position because of the things I’ve seen and heard that I don’t agree with."

It's currently unknown how much of Mikayla's already-filmed footage will appear in season 6. According to her Story, she will only take part in "contractual obligations and [confessional] interviews for what I have filmed" moving forward.

In the wake of Mikayla's exit, other members of #MomTok are reconsidering their involvement with the series past season 6. Both Mayci Neeley and Layla Taylor responded to fans' questions on whether they will remain on the show, per PEOPLE. The stars confirmed that they would finish out season 6, but admitted that their future with the show is, in Layla's words, "tbd."

Though season 7's roster remains to be seen, Jessi Draper and Miranda Hope will likely join Mayci and Layla in the main season 6 cast. Jen Affleck has also been spotted filming new episodes, but it's unclear how much screen time she'll get, since she has a lot going on. (Jen's currently pregnant with her fourth child, and has reportedly joined the spinoff The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives: Orange County.) It's currently unknown whether Taylor Frankie Paul will rejoin the main cast or if she'll return in a guest role.

It's also (unfortunately) likely that the husbands of #DadTok will return for season 6. However, the men who are publicly on the outs with the women—including Dakota, Jordan Ngatikaura, and Chase McWhorter—could receive less screen time.

Meanwhile, original cast member Whitney Leavitt has also confirmed that she will not return to the series for season 6. The influencer-turned-Broadway star announced the news in May 2026, before marking the release of season 5 with a farewell tribute to her "forever momtok."

Leavitt opened up about her departure during her June 2026 appearance on Marie Claire's "Nice Talk" podcast. "This time is very different," she said, comparing the exit to her previous #MomTok hiatuses. "The times I'd left in the past were [because of] frustration and anger. It just wasn't a healthy way to leave. This time, I'm leaving with gratitude. Like, my cup is full. I don't feel like there's anything more for me there."

Will there be new cast members on 'The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives' season 6?

Though nothing's been confirmed, the streets are saying that #MomTok has found some new members. Weeks after the season 6 renewal announcement, the show's stars were spotted filming in the Italian Riviera for the franchise's first international cast trip. It seems that the women were joined by two new Utah-based influencers: Kate Racker and Sarah Beeston.

Beeston may already be a familiar face to viewers who frequent certain corners of the internet. She already boasts 4.5 million followers on TikTok, while her family YouTube channel, the Beeston Fam, has over 2.9 million subscribers. Meanwhile, Kate Racker has already been in the background of SLOMW for years, as Chase McWhorter's on-again, off-again girlfriend. We'll have to see whether either steps into the spotlight on season 6.

What will 'The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives' season 6 be about?

After five episodes—one for every week of filming the show got through before the pause—The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives season 5 only dedicates three minutes to the aftermath. Between clips of TikTok speculation and courthouse(!) footage, each of the show's stars (minus Taylor) sits down for confessionals in which they confirm that #MomTok is in shambles amid the rift in the friend group. The final question posed by season 5—where do we go from here—is answered by a simple graphic: "To be continued."

Thanks to #MomTok's ubiquity on social media, there are already several clues regarding what viewers will see in season 6. In addition to the Milan trip, developments in the cast's lives—like Jen's pregnancy and move to California, Layla coming out as bisexual and her new relationship, and Miranda also seemingly starting a new romance (with the former fling of a Love Island USA star)—all seem like potential storylines.

And of course, Taylor's drama will remain a subject of conversation whether or not she's on screen. (Just look at how much Demi Engemann is mentioned in season 5, despite not appearing once.) Though Taylor didn't film a final confessional for season 5, she did open up about feeling "betrayed" and "abandoned" by her friends in a July 2026 post.

"I’ll be the first to admit my wrong doing’s in the MomTok mess. We’re at each other’s throats and I’m removing myself from responding to any of it moving forward," she wrote on Instagram. "I’ve never discredited them. I’ve always supported all of them in their success. I’ve had their backs in times of need. I became defensive and let my ego take over when I heard…what I heard. I never felt so betrayed and abandoned by so many people I would have stood by no matter how exhausted."

Months later, it seems those complicated feelings still go both ways. As of season 5's release, only Taylor and Jessi have followed each other back on Instagram. Also, in the Page Six report about Taylor's return, an insider claimed that there's "still a lot of hurt” among the women following the production pause. "[Taylor] doesn’t necessarily feel like she’s been supported by the women throughout the last few months," they added. It's anyone's guess whether #MomTok will survive this.

K-drama fans, prepare for Hulu to dominate your fall watchlists. The streamer has spent the past year expanding its slate of can't-miss dramas and reality shows, from Perfect Crown to Battle of Fates to A Shop for Killers season 2. Today, Hulu continues its run with the return of its most-acclaimed crime thriller (and one of the most-expensive Korean dramas ever made).

Made In Korea made its debut last holiday season, introducing viewers to a twist-filled crime noir set in the turbulent 1970s. The first season followed two men on different sides of the law: Baek Kitae (played by Crash Landing on You's Hyun Bin), a morally-grey officer in the Korean Central Intelligence Agency (KCIA); and Jang Geonyoung (Jung Woo-sung), the dogged prosecutor determined to expose Kitae's dirty secrets.

Season 2 picks up nine years later, as Kitae reaches the height of his power and faces a surprising new foe: his younger brother, Baek Kihyun (played by Bloodhounds' Woo Do-hwan). The sibling rivalry adds an engrossing new layer to the three men's quests for power, amid a rapidly-changing political landscape.

Ahead of season 2's premiere on September 9, Hyun Bin and Woo Do-hwan sat down with Marie Claire in Seoul, South Korea, and teased the family drama at the center of the six-part installment.

"Kitae and Kihyun are brothers, but we also thought of them a lot as father and son," Woo said. "As the son, Kihyun [begins] the process of clashing with his father's thoughts."

Hyun added, "Kitae constantly sees Kihyun trying to do something else, trying to go in a different direction. Kitae experiences a lot of internal conflict, because he's a person with a firm belief that he must protect his family." He continued, "[In season 2], not only Kitae, but all the characters fight even more fiercely to gain the upper hand."

For its second and final season, Made in Korea reunited its all-star roster of award-winning Korean actors and global stars. Below, read on for a breakdown of the main cast and characters of Hulu's historical K-drama.

Everything to Know About the Cast of 'Made in Korea' Season 2

Hyun Bin as Baek Kitae

Baek Kitae is a top agent at the KCIA, a government agency modeled after the American CIA which serves as the enforcing arm of a military dictatorship. By season 2, Kitae is next in line to run the agency. He also balances his government career with his off-hours work smuggling illegal drugs.

Hyun Bin, 43, made his acting debut in the early 2000s and rose to fame with roles in classic K-dramas like My Lovely Sam Soon, Worlds Within, and Secret Garden, as well as box-office hits like Confidential Assignment. He's best known globally for starring alongside his eventual wife Son Ye-jin in the beloved romantic K-drama Crash Landing on You. In 2022, the couple got married and welcomed a son.

Earlier this year, Hyun won Best Actor at the prestigious Baeksang Arts Awards, for his performance in season 1 of Made in Korea.

Jung Woo-sung as Jang Geonyoung

Busan prosecutor Jang Geonyoung first enters the KCIA's crosshairs due to his narcotics investigation targeting the Manjae Gang. Geonyoung determination to take down Kitae's smuggling operation is driven by a traumatic familial history with drugs. After hitting rock bottom at the end of season 1, Geonyoung will "transform from a man pursuing justice into one consumed by revenge," per The Korea Times.

Jung Woo-sung, 53, is one of Korea's most-famous leading men. He spent his career starring in blockbuster films like Musa (2001); A Moment to Remember (2004); The Good, the Bad, the Weird (2008); Cold Eyes (2013); Beasts Clutching at Straws (2020); and 12.12: The Day (2023). Before Made In Korea, he starred in the K-dramas Asphalt Man, Athena: Goddess of War, and Tell Me That You Love Me.

In 2016, Jung and his best friend, Squid Game star Lee Jung-jae, co-founded the talent agency Artist Company. The agency is now home to many of Korea's top actors, including Park So-dam, Kim Hye-yoon, and Lim Ji-yeon.

Jung Woo-sung's Instagram: @tojws

Woo Do-hwan as Baek Kihyun

At the start of Made in Korea, Kitae's younger brother Baek Kihyun (above, right) is a rising soldier torn between patriotic duty and loyalty to the brother who raised him after his parents' death. By season 2, Kihyun has a position in the Defense Security Demand that puts him fully at odds with Kitae.

Woo Do-hwan, 34, rose to fame with roles in K-dramas like Save Me, Mad Dog, Tempted, My Country: The New Age, and The King: Eternal Monarch. His leading roles as Kim Geon-woo in Bloodhounds and Hae Jo in Mr. Plankton propelled him to global fame. In 2021, Woo won Korea's Golden Cinema Festival’s best new actor award for his role in the film The Divine Fury.

Woo Do-hwan's Instagram: @wdohwan

Won Ji-an as Ikeda Yuji

Kitae spends season 1 building a business relationship with Ikeda Yuji, a lobbyist and an influential figure in the Ikeda yakuza clan. Born Choi Yuji, she was adopted by Ikeda Osamu, the clan's leader, as a child. Though she wants to inherit the position, many members of the clan will never accept a Zainichi (an ethnic Korean living in Japan) as their boss.

Netflix K-drama fans may recognize Won Ji-an, 27, from her fan-favorite role as Se-mi (No. 380) on Squid Game season 2. Last year, the actress made her Hulu debut in the contemporary political thriller Tempest before joining Made in Korea. She also led her first romance drama, starring alongside Park Seo-joon in Surely Tomorrow.

Won Ji-an's Instagram: @wonjianolive

Seo Eun-soo as Oh Yejin

In season 1, Oh Yejin is a determined officer working on Geunyoung's narcotics investigation. Though she's talented, she faces an uphill battle in the male-dominated police force. Nine years later, Yejin has become Korea's first female prosecutor in the narcotics division.

Seo Eun-soo, 32, is best known for her standout roles in K-dramas like My Golden Life, The Smile Has Left Your Eyes, Unlock My Boss, and Chief Detective 1958. She also starred alongside Shin Si-ah and Park Eun-bin in the Korean horror movie The Witch: Part 2. The Other One.

Seo Eun-soo's Instagram: @jj_minii

Jung Sung-il as Cheon Seokjung

Cheon Seokjung, the president's close advisor and Kitae's most powerful ally, is played by Jung Sung-il, 46. A prolific theater actor, Jung became a global breakout star in 2022, with his performance as Ha Do-yeong in Netflix's revenge drama The Glory. His other K-drama credits include Birthcare Center, Bad and Crazy, Our Blues and Unmasked.

In 2024, Jung won a Baeksang Arts Award for Best New Actor for his role in the Netflix historical film Uprising.

Jung Sung-il's Instagram: @ygmicael

Stassi Schroeder would like you to know she's thrilled that Hulu is signing her checks. In the first confessional of her new reality series, House of Stassi, she admires the green screen behind her the way a Regency romance heroine might react to the concept of indoor plumbing. "Are you joking?" she marvels. "Shit's premium over at Disney."

The fourth wall, if it was ever even erected, has been bulldozed.

It's the same on Hulu's The Girls, where Khloé Kardashian's friends spend an entire episode drawing on-camera boundaries via sly texts shared across Malibu dinner tables. On The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, another Hulu product, the husbands hustle their DadTok accounts for villa bookings while their more successful other halves negotiate season salaries, all while practically waving at the camera.

Across these three shows, how the sausage gets made isn't hidden any more. It's the content.

It makes sense. Reality TV is 25 years old now. Anyone still watching has wised up to the fact that those blowouts Kim Kardashian had with her sisters over swimming pool-sized bowls of Health Nut salads were almost always scheduled. A few of us were even alive to witness the moment, in 2010, when Kristin Cavallari said goodbye to Brody Jenner on a fake Los Angeles street, the camera pulling back to reveal the whole soundstage. But that was a gag, a wink at the end of six seasons. What's happening now is more structural, like the formula knew it needed a refresh, something to help the Botox metabolize so the natural wrinkles could show.

There's a difference, though, between acknowledging the business and putting the woman who decides what airs in the frame with the people it's happening to.

House of Stassi is the clearest proof. Schroeder, six years after being fired from Vanderpump Rules, has decided she deserves the Kris Jenner treatment. She's recruited family members, friends, and, most importantly, her former Vanderpump alum Katie Maloney, to effectively manage on-screen. She promises them a tax bracket glow-up while chasing relevancy for herself, and she's shameless about it — staging dinner parties she describes on air as team meetings, taking gigs in the name of "Disney synergy," even showing the sizzle reel that sold House of Stassi in the actual premiere of House of Stassi.

When Katie tells Schroeder at brunch that her inner circle is made up of employees with no concept of work-life balance ("If they didn't come out of you, aren't married to you, or aren't on your fucking payroll, they don't get to be in your life"), Schroeder grows positively giddy. "That's the kind of truth-telling we need on reality TV," she gushes to camera. It's one of the few real "reads" uttered all season, and her instinct is to compliment its ratings potential.

That's because Schroeder is producing her life, not living it. The editing knows this, cutting episodes in ways that treat her celebrity complex as a sort of punchline. And to her credit, she's never been precious about looking bad on television; a decade in, she'll hand over the unflattering angle herself. It's funny and cringe, something all good reality shows are, but it starts to wear thin a few episodes in, especially when Schroeder's fame-grab begins to damage the people closest to her. Self-awareness, it turns out, has a sell-by date. It, like everything else, gets old.

Hulu's The Girls, another show whose foundation rests atop the fourth wall rubble, has the same problem. Khloé Kardashian's cast (her word) is made up of women who are her friends, but not necessarily each other's. They're the vehicle through which she can live out her own Sex and the City daydreams. (Khloé is, naturally, a Carrie, narrating every dildo donation party and al fresco brunch.)

What makes The Girls interesting is also what makes it so uncomfortable. Kardashian strips conversations for parts, exposes private texts, and pushes women to compromise their comfort in the name of "honesty" because the almighty camera can apparently tell when you're lying. By cutting confessionals entirely, the audience only views these women through her tailored lens. They never get to narrate their own experience. Take Malika and Khadijah Haqq, her best friends for nearly 20 years, and in the background on her family's shows for just as long. This season, one navigates a painful divorce and the other tries to restart her life on her own terms, yet both stories are filtered through Khloé: their director, their producer, the employer signing their checks. Their bond pre-dates Keeping Up with the Kardashians, but it might not survive The Girls. And if it doesn't, the cameras will capture that too, because everything is content, isn't it?

Then there's The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, which uses the fourth wall the way the other two shows wish they could: sparingly. These women are savvy content creators, but they're also friends with years of history and the shared experience of being raised in a community that doesn't support their current lifestyles. Even when they're throwing insults at dinner parties and removing themselves from group chats, the stakes feel more concrete. The transparency works because these women are still figuring out how to navigate this world instead of engineering it.

That's the real test. You can show an audience the green screen once, but every season spent showing the set-up before the scene or the puppeteering that goes into a lunch sit-down fueled by accusations and Aperol Spritz filters out the viewers who came to watch a life from the ones who came to watch a job. For SLOMW, showing the wires makes the show better. On House of Stassi, the wires are the show, but that won't hold anyone's attention for long. And on The Girls, the wires point to something producers might not want us to be thinking about too carefully: who holds the power, and who gets a say in the depiction of their own life. One is insightful. The other? Boring. And one might put people off the genre altogether.

This trend of taking a sledgehammer to the old ways of translating "real life" on screen can feel like a needed shot of authenticity when done well. But when it's constant, like with House of Stassi and The Girls, it draws attention to a bigger problem. Reality TV is simply a different ballgame now. We used to get our kicks from watching normal people do something they'd regret in pursuit of money and fame. Now, we're watching influencers, professional celebrities, and their glorified assistants with money and fame do regretful things in pursuit of more. At some point, acknowledging the camera's role in all this will stop reading as novel and start to feel, at worst, off-putting, and at best, just plain obvious.

Hulu's serial-killer thriller Furious is an unflinching exploration of feminine rage. The must-watch series from Liz Meriwether—the creator behind Dying for Sex, The Dropout, and New Girl—follows FBI agent Alice Black (Emmy Rossum) as she investigates Catherine (Lola Petticrew), a trafficking survivor targeting a series of wealthy, powerful men. As Alice tracks the mysterious killer down, she has to reckon with her own trauma as a domestic abuse survivor. Required viewing for fans of Promising Young Woman, Mare of Easttown, and Killing Eve, the revenge thriller asks what happens when these women let their anger drive them.

Furious's first installment came to an end on August 31, with a twist ending that has left fans reeling—and begging for more episodes. Thankfully, Hulu has already given word on the acclaimed series' future. Below, read on as we track everything we know about Furious season 2 so far.

Everything We Know About 'Furious' Season 2

Is 'Furious' renewed for season 2?

Yes! Hulu announced that Furious's season 2 renewal on August 27, days before the hit thriller's finale. The news isn't a huge surprise. Though Hulu hasn't released its streaming numbers yet, the series has a near-perfect score on Rotten Tomatoes and universal praise from critics.

"We are so overwhelmed and grateful for the love and support you have shown for our first season," executive producer and star Emmy Rossum said in an Instagram post sharing the renewal. "I can't wait to make more."

When will 'Furious' return for season 2?

Unfortunately, fans may have a bit of a wait until Furious returns to our screens for season 2. On the day of the thriller's renewal, The Hollywood Reporter wrote that the show's team is "still very early in the development process."

As for a possible timeline, Hulu first greenlit Furious back in March 2025. Filming taking place that fall, and season 1 eventually premiered on the streamer in late July 2026. If season 2 follows a similar timeline, new episodes could arrive on Hulu by fall 2027 or winter 2028.

Which cast members will return for 'Furious' season 2?

Hulu has yet to confirm that cast of Furious season 2, but it's guaranteed that Emmy Rossum will return to lead the series as Alice. The rest of the main cast is also likely to return, including Quincy Tyler Bernstine (Nora), Scoot McNairy (Danny), Rob Yang (Frank), Danny McCarthy (Ed), and Jake Lacy (Marshall).

After the events of the season 1 finale, it's unknown whether Lola Petticrew will reprise her role as the serial killer Catherine Grace. However, there is a chance that she could come back for a few episodes, as the avenging devil whispering on Alice's shoulder. (Also, here's hoping we get another scene between Catherine and Steve Way's Alden.)

What will 'Furious' season 2 be about?

The first season of Furious ends with Alice taking the first step from law enforcement to vigilante. By the end of the finale, both Alice and Nora have secured their jobs, with Nora holding evidence that her boss Ed had covered up Jay Easton's Espstein-esque crimes. Though Catherine is in jail, she admits that she's actually doing pretty well. Alice even starts a relationship with Danny.

But the FBI agent is also hiding a big secret: Jay Easton's death wasn't an accident. Alice killed him, smothering him in a rage after he taunted her for the nonconsensual intimate recording made when she was 14. Alice now has access to a list of over 50,000 people who've downloaded the video.

When Alice visits Catherine in prison in the final scene of season 1, Catherine guesses that Alice killed Easton. When the serial killer asks Alice if she liked how it felt, she just smiles, before the screen goes black.

Since the finale dropped, Liz Meriwether has given several interviews that include some hints of the show's possible trajectory. According to the creator, season 2 will likely follow Alice and Nora as they investigate a new grisly case.

"[As an] almost lifelong Law and Order SVU fan, I love the idea of a unit in the FBI that like takes on these cases....but one case over the course of a season," Meriwether told Mashable.

In a joint interview with Variety, Meriwether and Rossum also hinted that Alice will likely be struggling to unpack everything that happened in season 1, even as she starts her new position on Nora's team.

"When your worst fears are confirmed that that tape exists and that 50,000 people have watched your childhood trauma, I think there’s almost a peace at knowing you were right — and now, what do you do about it?" Rossum said. "And she got what she wanted, which was to get into that room and to get onto that squad. But I think that you know she’s on the next mission."

Meriwether added, "I never felt like we should be fully rooting for violence from either character. And I do feel like Alice’s choice to kill Jay in the end is a choice that makes sense for the character and where she is. But I also question if going forward, that choice is something that traps her a little bit."

When Adults debuted on FX on Hulu in May 2025, TV obsessives found their new favorite friend group to watch. FX's hangout comedy from Rebecca Shaw and Ben Kronengold has been a mainstay on social media since, as new viewers discover the word-of-mouth hit's mix of Gen Z satire and earnest codependency.

Luckily for impatient fans, Adults is finally back for season 2, with roommates and besties Samir (Malik Elassal), Billie (Lucy Freyer), Issa (Amita Rao), Anton (Owen Thiele), and Paul Baker (Jack Innanen) returning for eight new episodes of hijinks.

To celebrate the new season's release, Thiele, Elassal, Innanen, Rao, and Freyer sat down with Marie Claire to test their friendship with a game of How Well Do You Know Your Co-Star?. The quintet flew through guessing each other's favorite apps, coffee orders, food icks, childhood lore, and treasured collections. (Shout out to all the coin collectors and lovers of Japanese denim out there.) It's clear that after filming two seasons together in Toronto, the rising stars have become TV's most enviable friend group, both on and off.

Watch the challenge above to get the scoop on Elassal's intricate hidden talent, Innanen's urinal encounter with Jeremy Strong, Rao's history of unrequited childhood crushes, and the impressive number of daps the actors exchanged in seven minutes. Then, head to Hulu to catch Adults season 2.

In Marie Claire's Meet Cute, we have a chance encounter with pop culture's latest man crush.

As I write this, Owen Thiele is getting dressed for Taylor Swift’s wedding.

The actor and podcast host admits he is “delighted and terrified” at the prospect of attending the Event of the Century™, which is the appropriate emotional combo meal for a rising star like Thiele. (“You pronounce it thee-uhl,” he says kindly when we first meet in a low-key but perfect Greek place called Kyma in Manhattan.)

Born in Texas and raised in Hollywood, Mr. Thee-uhl has the kind, firefly-bright eyes of a favorite English teacher and the wit of a Jane Austen heroine. He can speak with easy fluency about underrated pop albums, overrated restaurants, and the joy of randomly seeing your cousin at Erewhon. On TikTok and Instagram, he makes jokes about being a “diversity hire” while running circles around other online comedians. A current bit includes getting salsa lessons from Maluma; another video shows him hyping up his “outfit of the day” without knowing where any of his clothes actually come from. Whether online or on television, Thiele somehow manages to exude the vibe of someone you really want to hang out with. Celebrities like Hailey Bieber and Sabrina Carpenter and, of course, Swift herself already do. For the rest of us, there is plenty of Thiele on-screen lately.

Currently, Thiele stars as Anton, the compassionately cool goof in Adults, FX’s deadpan take on Gen Z living that’s about to release its second season. The 29-year-old Scorpio has had laugh-out-loud turns in the TV shows Hacks and Overcompensating, and wildly fun indie films like Theater Camp and Idiotka. He also hosts "In Your Dreams," a podcast on Alex Cooper’s Unwell Network that draws a rotating cast of internet-famous and Hollywood-adjacent guests. It’s broadcast from a bed surrounded by Y2K fan collages—Hannah Montana! Lizzie McGuire! Camp Rock!—and includes occasional interruptions from Jared Ellner, the celebrity stylist who is also Thiele’s longtime partner.

Through Ellner, Thiele has learned “how to chill out a little bit” and how private and public dynamics don’t need to be reconciled. “Everyone who sees us together thinks I’m the talker,” he says as we settle into a lunchtime booth. “But what you’d never know is that when it’s just us, he is the talker! I’m pretty quiet, I swear.” Ellner has also guided Thiele on how to dress for a pop mogul’s wedding (he wore a crisp black Saint Laurent tuxedo with a satin cummerbund to the Swift-Kelce nuptials) and that “the fashion world is way scarier than Hollywood.”

Thiele has something of a home court advantage when it comes to stardom: He was raised by prolific music producers; his grandfather is responsible for the 1967 hit “What a Wonderful World.” (“My middle name, Louis, is actually for Louis Armstrong, who sung the song.”) One of Thiele’s second cousins is the storied comedian Bob Balaban; another is, somehow, Jodie Foster’s child. (“We don’t really get into it,” Thiele says cheerily.) From the ages of 6 through 17, Thiele attended Crossroads, the L.A. nepo-hub that has educated all manner of elite, from the outstanding (Kate Hudson, Maude Apatow, Maya Rudolph) to the frightening (Spencer Pratt). “Am I a nepo baby, too?” Thiele asks as we devour the watermelon salad we swore we weren’t hungry enough to eat. “I mean, people call me one and maybe it’s true. But it’s also more complicated than that.”

Here’s what Thiele means by “complicated:” Adopted at birth by a white Jewish family, Thiele grew up affluent and “obsessed” with his parents. (“I think I would have literally jumped off the tallest building if I had to share my parents’ affection with anyone!” he exclaims.) Their house was also “the party house” for holidays, birthdays, and rollicking backyard barbecues, where “a revolving door of people were constantly coming in…I truly had the most wonderful childhood.”

Thiele credits his parents’ thriving social life with early training in both friendship and social graces. He also notes that they surrounded him early with “Black role models” like the punk musician Justin Warfield, and “queer role models” like his aunt Sid. Still, it’s not easy being the only Black kid at Rosh Hashanah in Beverly Hills. “Now I can laugh about it,” says Thiele, “but as a kid, I was going to a white woman in Beverly Hills and asking her for a blowout! That’s not exactly hardship, but it’s strange.”

When I ask if Thiele follows conversations about transracial adoption on social media, including adoptees who have spoken critically about separation from their families of origin, Thiele shakes his head. “I can’t speak for anyone else’s experience, but I have chills thinking about my parents, in the best way.” He speaks of a recent encounter with his mom’s best friend. “She told me, ‘Owen, I don't know if I believe in God, but once when I look at you and your parents, I believe someone's up there.’ And literally, I feel the same way. It was so meant to be, so that's the beautiful part.”

He takes a breath. “The not beautiful part is that as a kid, I was asking for a side-part in my dreadlocks and nobody was saying, ‘Hey, maybe there’s something else we can do.’” The actor says that as he got older, “I realized the full extent of being a Black man in America. I thought, ‘Oh god, I have to take this seriously…I’m not a tiny little white girl walking around my neighborhood.’ When people would look at me funny when I was walking in Beverly Hills, I realized, ‘Wait, they think I’m, like, plotting a burglary!’ Which was just so dark and sad and scary.” He admits he is “still processing this wakeup call” and the way his racial and queer identities intersect with the Hollywood world that shaped him.

Partly to suss all this out, and partly because fish-out-of-water narratives are the protein on the sitcom food pyramid, Thiele is currently developing an autobiographical Prime Video scripted series, Off Color, with Broad City co-creator Ilana Glazer. “I met her when I was still really young, like 24,” says Thiele. “I was so ready to jump into the comedy scene and she was ready to accept me.”

Before they can dig into the new material, however, Thiele has a heap of current work on his plate that would make any actor—much less “a certified NYU dropout like me!” as he gleefully exclaims—swell with pride and cower in stress. Currently, it’s trying to “promote the fuck” out of Adults, which comes back for season 2 on August 27. “In Hollywood, there’s this saying that you never know if a project is going to work until it’s done. But I swear, with Adults, you could see it on the page. [Series creators] Ben Kronegold and Rebecca Shaw are such good writers…and then once we were cast, they integrated parts of us into the show. I knew from the first day on set that it would be amazing.”

But building the Adults audience took some time, and after season 1’s debut, Thiele says he waited over six months to be called back to the Toronto set. “It was very anxiety-inducing and very emotional for us, because we wanted to be back so badly! We love each other! And I found myself questioning my instincts for the first time. I was like, ‘This show is so funny. If it didn’t hit, does that mean my sense of what’s good is just off?’”

It was not. Season 2 of Adults filmed from December 2025 to May 2026, and Thiele reports that the FX network “gave us complete creative freedom” to make the comedy they wanted to see in the world. Meanwhile, both The New York Times and The Hollywood Reporter noted Thiele’s performance for its warmth and—in Gen Z parlance—yearning. In fact, one of the new season’s funniest plots focuses on Thiele’s Anton, a hyper-popular but secretly lonely city kid who can make friends with anyone, coaching a grieving boomer parent (played by Curb Your Enthusiasm’s Susie Essman) through basic Facebook etiquette. An oft-referenced season 1 storyline saw Anton become besties with a new neighbor who turns out to be a serial killer.

“This would absolutely happen to me!” Thiele admits in a fit of laughter. “But I think Anton befriends everyone because he’s really terrified of being alone, but totally unable to be vulnerable with other people. And I would do it because I’m kind of the opposite. I’m so open that I want everyone to be just as open with me!...I’m constantly trying to get other people to explain what makes them tick.” This is an easy sentence to fact check. At least four times in the span of our interview, Thiele interrupts himself to ask me what I think, how I feel, or if either of us should “just fuck it and get bangs” (no) or “just fuck it and get french fries” (yes).

That easy familiarity is also pushing Thiele’s second current project, the "In Your Dreams" podcast, into cult hit territory, as evidenced by increasingly A-list guests like Lizzo and Suki Waterhouse. He says when Alex Cooper of "Call Her Daddy" fame first approached him about doing a show, he was worried he wouldn’t have enough material. “I just rambled into the camera, and Alex was like, ‘No, Owen, put that out. Exactly that.’ I was worried it was gonna rot people’s brains because it’s just me telling stories and getting other people to tell stories. But in this age of AI, being human is the opposite of what’s gonna rot our brains. Being human is kind of the solution to that…And the big part of being human is being interested. Computers can’t be excited to hear from you.”

But Thiele cannot worry about future computer overlords because he is filming season 2 of Overcompensating, a college comedy set in 2010 about a queer athlete (Benito Skinner) coming out of the closet. Thiele plays George, an “elder” (read: upperclass) gay hot kid who tries, often disastrously, to coax Skinner onto the Yellow Brick Road. “I based the whole character on Raven Symoné in That’s So Raven,” Thiele says with a grin. “The coolest queer mentor ever on TV!” After Overcompensating, it’s on to Peaked, a comedy from Thiele’s Theater Camp co-star Molly Gordon about badly behaved grown-ups at a high school reunion.

And of course, there is the T. Swift wedding. Thiele and Ellner were invited “the old-fashioned way,” he says—meaning, “she said ‘you’re coming to my wedding’ when she cooked us a beautiful meal” of flaky white fish and rice pilaf. “She's an unbelievable chef,” Thiele insists, “to the point where Jared looked at her and said, ‘Are you hiding a chef in a closet?’ She was like, ‘No, I cooked it.’ She’s kind of one of those girls that’s good at everything, you know? Like those girls from high school?...She’s even funny, genuinely funny. And I work in comedy, so I don’t think anyone is funny. I think she can do literally everything.”

That includes talent spotting. Swift cast Thiele in two of his first-ever roles—as a pool party bestie in the 2019 music video for “You Need to Calm Down,” then again as a fellow office bro in “The Man”—before he began blowing up. “I met her at an agency party, and she’d seen Eighty Sixed, which was a web comedy I did—the only thing I’d really done!” Swift got his number and texted him about the videos, which led Thiele to believe he was getting scammed. “Yeah, right, Taylor Swift is texting me. But she was.” Thiele says he found out when the video hit YouTube because of her fans. “The tags. The mentions. My phone died.”

I ask Thiele if he would like the level of success that leads people, one day soon, to track his own friendships with the zeal of a parasocial executive secretary. “Oh gosh, no,” Thiele says, and his eyes say he really means it. “I think of fame as Lindsay Lohan; always getting chased and having to be so intentional about finding your peace.” He mentions that last year, Hailey Bieber came on "In Your Dreams," “and two days later, there are still paparazzi outside of my house looking for her. She handles it all with such grace. I…would not.”

I ask Thiele what he means. “Well, first of all,” he says conspiratorially, “I would ask the paparazzi’s names. Then I would make them sit down with me and explain how they became a paparazzo. If it was affecting their mental health. Why they wanted to take pictures of famous people, you know? They wouldn’t get anything done. I would just keep them talking.”

Hannah Berner has perfected the art of the overshare.

Spend even a few minutes consuming the comedian and podcaster's content—whether on social media, on stage, or on her and best friend Paige DeSorbo’s hit podcast “Giggly Squad,”—and you'll quickly pick up deeply intimate details about her life. Her bowel movements. Her underwear preferences. The McDonald's order that nearly made her miss a flight. The exact conversation she had with her mom that morning.

But unlike the many creators spinning Internet fame into mainstream careers, for the 34-year-old, access isn’t a means to an end or a tool for influence. It is the product itself. Vulnerability, she says, is her “superpower.”

"My job is to be myself and put myself out there and, not to get too deep, but try to make people less alone," she tells Marie Claire during a whirlwind week that includes filming a still-under-wraps acting project (separate from the scripted Netflix series she's developing with DeSorbo, Amy Poehler, and Kay Cannon) and presenting at the American Music Awards alongside fellow reality TV vet Lisa Rinna.

Berner doubles down on that philosophy in her second comedy special, None of My Business, now streaming on Hulu. Across the hour, she mines everything from sexting disasters and body insecurities to the increasingly complicated question of whether she wants children—and how that decision intersects with her ambitions, her career, and a husband (comedian Des Bishop) who is 16 years older than she is. The result is a set that’s both fearlessly personal and surprisingly universal, as if Berner is the inner voice of a generation that processes life's biggest questions in real time and often online.

"It takes a lot for me to be embarrassed," she says. "I purposely talk about not shaving my legs above my knee, me sweating, and awkward situations I get in; I think it normalizes being human and a multifaceted woman."

So when Berner appears on Zoom from a Los Angeles hotel room, bedhead and all, it feels reasonable to assume there isn't much left to uncover. Yet away from the rapid-fire punchlines, she's more measured than expected—still warm, giggly, and disarmingly candid, but also intentional about the business of being herself. Here, she talks about building a comedy career in public, navigating fame without losing herself, the friendship-powered empire she's built with DeSorbo, and the Summer House scandal that continues to reverberate across the Bravoverse.

Marie Claire: Your comedy special is called None of My Business, but as a Giggler, I feel like I know all of your business. As your platform's grown, how do you navigate what parts of yourself to protect?

HB: Number one is protecting the family—not to be so Italian. I learned early in my career that other people didn't sign up for public access and also that not everyone has a sense of humor—if you make a joke about something, people can take it seriously. When I bring up my family or my husband in public, I make sure it's either really, really hilarious and worth the joke or I don't. I never talk about my marriage, and that's probably the number one thing that I think is really healthy.

MC: Hannah-the-person and Hannah-the-character feel closely linked, but do you feel there’s a distinction between you and that public perception of you?

HB: It's been really hard for me to be PR trained. I'm still not good at it because I just believe in honesty. I do think, though, why my comedy connects with people is because people want to feel like they're just FaceTiming their friends. And I also never tried to replicate a different comedic voice because I've done reality TV, because I've done sketches online, I yearned to be myself.

MC: There’s a common saying with comics: the first special's easy to write because it's a lifetime worth of material, but with second specials, you have to start from scratch. How did working on this one compare to your first special on Netflix, We Ride at Dawn?

HB: You feel like you won a Super Bowl when your special comes out, and then you have to learn how to play football again because you literally have zero jokes. [This time around] I was going to the clubs being like, "Are cankles funny?" I literally started from nothing. And you wonder, Was I funny because I'd written these jokes that I know work, or am I just good at performing?

I was able to realize I knew my voice even more. I was insecure [in the beginning], and my husband, who's done like a trillion specials, was like, “It's always scary in the beginning.” But I love this hour so much. It's almost sad to have to burn it and not be able to tour it anymore.

MC: What’s your typical writing process?

HB: I was lucky that after the Netflix special came out, I went on tour with “Giggly Squad.” So I didn't have pressure to be coming up with jokes every day. But I do think hanging out with your friends, like when you're riffing with them, you see where there's something. So if I make someone laugh really hard, whatever I said, I write it down. If Paige starts dying laughing at something, there's something there. Sometimes, also, I'll say a story on “Giggly Squad” that will cause a lot of reaction where people DM me, and I'll think, Okay, let's expand that on stage. I'm like a dog sniffing around, just trying to collect stuff, and then when I'm finally ready to start putting it together, I take all of my notes, and I start to combine themes, and write it out, and then you don't know if it's all crap or any of it's good until you go on stage.

MC: You've also earned so many celebrity fans like Nikki Glaser, Chelsea Handler, and Amy Poehler. Is there someone's opinion, whether in that group or otherwise, who still makes you nervous? Or whose feedback matters more on jokes?

HB: Comedians are so insecure because, well, if the people don't laugh, they are the judges. So I don't care how much you can intellectualize the bit; I'm like, “If the crowd didn't laugh, the crowd didn't laugh.”

But also just being able to like make those comedians laugh in conversation is my favorite. Having Chelsea or Nikki make fun of me, that's my favorite. The fact that they're shooting the shit and busting my balls is an honor and a privilege. To be around these women and be able to ask questions and see how their brain works is really, really, really cool.

MC: In the special, you're also very candid about motherhood and deciding if you should or shouldn’t have kids. Going into this, did you feel any pressure about how you were presenting that journey?

HB: I honestly was going in purely with curiosity of, I'm touring the country, speaking to women all over the country, I want to do some control groups. And every single show, I would have women debate, “should I, should I not [have kids]?” And I'd tell them my fears, and it was therapeutic for me.

One of my favorite lines of the special is, “I can't just have a baby and leave it at home and go on tour. I'm not a male comedian.” Because I see fellow male comics who are my age and they're like, "Oh, I wanna have a kid." And I'm like, "Yeah, but that's not gonna affect you how it's gonna affect me." And I'm competitive, and I see the career path, and I like to call that out. So I kind of just use it to say all my intrusive thoughts and questions, but I feel like anyone, whether you're a mom or not a mom, relates.

MC: I want to ask about Paige because she is such a big part of your life and your career. You guys have built such a brand off your friendship, but how has monetizing the friendship changed it?

HB: We really haven't changed our “business.” I put it in quotations because it's me, Paige, and Grace [Battle Thompson, executive producer]—who really runs the show—and it's an extremely small team. Yes, more people know who we are, but we're just doing what we've always done. I think it's been really beneficial because she's always had her own stuff, and I've always had my own stuff, so we've never needed “Giggly Squad.” It's always been a choice.

It's been able to be this passion project that has ended up being financially really worth it. But because we never went into it for that reason, it's been able to stay consistent, because you can tell we're not doing money grabs with it. Like, we purposely don't make Gigglers pay for our Substack. We only release merch that we're obsessed with. We just want to have this fun community.

MC: Do you guys have any rules around conflict, like couples might, where you say, "This issue we're having is going to stay private," or is everything fair game because it makes you relatable?

HB: I honestly have to thank reality TV because we were put through the wringer. They did everything they could to rip our friendship apart. I can't tell you the things behind the scenes that happened to, like, literally end our friendship [and] we fought against the system. Bravo doesn't want two women to love each other—that's just not good TV.

So I think surviving television drama made our friendship so strong and our communication so strong. Even on the show, we had one or two tiffs that when we had to make up, we couldn't stop laughing, and they were like, "This is horrible TV. You guys are just not giving us what we need." And I'm like, "Because I'm not actually mad at her." So because we've forgiven and overcome difficult things, now when it’s like, "Oh, do you wanna do this video for Dunkin' or this video for Dunkin'?" It's not life or death.

But also, I do have to say we got lucky that creatively we work really well together in that I'm a little more type A with how I want things to be. And Paige is really good at narrowing down all my ideas. She's really good at saying no to things. In a meeting, we can finish each other's sentences.

Our number one thing is making sure the other one's never uncomfortable. So, sometimes teams could be arguing about something, and I'm like, "I'm calling Paige." And Paige is like, "Yeah, let's figure this out, me and you." Because we actually love each other.

MC: Speaking of Bravo, did you watch the Summer House reunion?

HB: I'm not because I have something called PTSD. Ciara’s keeping me in the know. So I'm getting it from the source.

MC: There is a fan theory that you and Paige were a part of how Ciara caught West and Amanda dating because you both hired a PI. Can you confirm or deny this rumor?

HB: I'll just say that we were there for [Ciara], emotionally.

MC: People are rewatching old seasons, and there's a lot of "justice for Hannah" discourse now. Is it satisfying for you to see people reassessing you on the show? Or would you actually rather people leave it in the past because you've moved on?

HB: Reality TV is so crazy. You see this happen with a lot of shows where people realize we did what the storyline wanted us to do, but now that we have more information, we know that it was actually different than what was shown. So I think it's cool for people to understand some of the tricks of reality TV. It's like WWE for people to be like, "Wait, she actually wasn't the worst in this situation.” So I think it's funny.

MC: I also want to ask about your project with Amy Poehler. What can you tease about it?

HB: We're writing. We're trying to figure it out. I feel like I'm a sponge trying to learn everything I can from Amy. So Paige and I are, it feels like, [in] graduate school for TV. I always say, I love keeping the Gigglers and the gays fed, so I just wanna make the best, funniest show for them. Just know if we're quiet, it's because we're working hard to do it.

MC: Stand-up and acting aren’t exactly the same thing, and reality TV is so different. Does working on this scratch a different itch or did it feel like a really natural extension?

HB: It feels natural in terms of they give us a scenario, like, “Let's say you and Paige were in Walgreens, what would you do?” and I'm like, "I'll tell you exactly what we do and what we'd say." So it's cool that we kind of already know our characters in a way, but we're changing it a bit because it is fictional. But creatively, I want to be doing different things. So acting has been on my vision board. Back in the day, stand-up comedians, if you were good enough, you'd get your own series or your own movie. So I think deep down, I always wanted to act, but I just didn't think it was possible. Stand-up was, like, the thing that you could do without waiting to get picked.

MC: Are you taking acting classes or are you learning on the ground from Amy?

HB: We will be taking acting classes for this show. We cannot disappoint the Gigglers. Paige is already researching and stuff, so don't worry: We are gonna take acting classes to act more like ourselves. I always joke that Paige is an incredible actress if you've ever seen Summer House. She should win an Oscar. Some of her one-liners and reactions are just incredible. So I have a lot of confidence in her.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Good news, TV lovers: Mindy Kaling is continuing her apparent mission to make television about all stages of girlhood. After already tackling high school in her Netflix show Never Have I Ever and college in HBO's The Sex Lives of College Girls, Kaling is taking on that awkward time between college graduation and full, independent adulthood in her new Hulu show, Not Suitable for Work.

So, what is Not Suitable for Work about? The comedy, on which Kaling serves as executive producer, follows five 20-somethings living in N.Y.C.—roommates Abby and AJ, and their sometimes annoying, sometimes sweet, neighbors Kel, Davis, and Josh. They live across the hall from one another in matching, unrealistically spacious apartments, and though they're all career-driven, something tells me their lives will soon become more entangled than they might expect. Think of it like a Gen Z coming-of-age take on Friends.

Not Suitable for Work premieres Tuesday, June 2, on Hulu and Disney+, and while things might start pretty straightforward, it's only a matter of time before things get messy for Abby, AJ, Kel, Davis, and Josh. So, as you dive into the show, you're going to need some help keeping all the cast and characters straight. Here's everything you need to know about the cast of Not Suitable for Work.

Avantika as Abhinaya 'Abby' Chilukuri

Newly single Abby is focusing on work as a demanding stylist's assistant over love, which works out great—until she's hired to style a hot young actor. Meanwhile, she's welcoming her new roommate and college BFF, AJ, to the city while also getting closer to the lovable trio of men who live down the hall.

Avantika, 21, made history early in her career as the first Indian American lead in the 2021 Disney Channel Original Movie, Spin. Since then, she's continued to make a name for herself on the big screen. You probably recognize her as Karen from the Mean Girls movie musical, or maybe from the horror films Tarot and Pretty Lethal.

Avantika's Instagram: @avantika

Ella Hunt as AJ Pascarelli

AJ, Abby's best friend and new roommate, arrives in N.Y.C. to start her job as a financial analyst. She's eager for success and won't let anything, including her new attractive neighbors, distract her.

Ella Hunt, 28, is best known for her role in Apple TV+'s Dickinson and for playing Gilda Radner in Saturday Night. She's also a singer. Her debut album Blindspot will be released on June 5, and you can listen to the titular single, “Blindspot” now.

Ella Hunt's Instagram: @ellahunt

Nicholas Duvernay as Kel Washington

Kel lives across the hall from Abby and AJ with his two best friends. He's a med student by day, an actor by night. When he's not fainting at the sight of a dead body in the cadaver lab, he's pursuing his real passion: acting. Oh, and occasionally trying to sweep Abby off her feet.

Nicholas Duvernay, 26, is best known for his breakout role as Zion in The White Lotus season 3. Before that, he made a name for himself appearing on various television shows, including Tyler Perry's Assisted Living and Bel-Air. He recently appeared in the Colleen Hoover adaptation Reminders of Him.

Nicholas Duvernay's Instagram: @nicholasduvernay

Will Angus as Davis Beau Bradley Barrett III

Davis Beau Bradley Barrett III, Kel's roommate, might seem like a bro on the outside—what with his impressive name and his job as a financial analyst—but he's actually more of a romantic than a workhorse. He's on a quest to find his one true love, and he might luck out when AJ moves in across the hall...

Will Angus, 27, is best known for appearing in the YouTube sketch comedy show Almost Friday TV, and you might recognize him from his viral TikToks.

Will Angus' Instagram: @angus_william

Jack Martin as Josh Teitelbaum

Rounding out the boys' apartment is Josh Teitelbaum, a nepo baby who struggles to walk the line between acknowledging his privilege and abusing it. His dream is to work on a prestigious news show, but will he be taken seriously once he gets there?

Jack Martin, 27, got his big break in 2021, playing Josh Harris in three seasons of La Brea. He's since appeared on The Rookie, Almost Friday TV alongside Will Angus, and, most recently, starred in the new stoner comedy Pizza Movie. You might also recognize him from Lili Reinhart's Instagram, as the two have been dating since 2023.

Jack Martin's Instagram: @realjackmartin

Jay Ellis as Bill Gibson

Finance titan Bill Gibson is not a man you want to mess with. He expects perfection from all his employees, including first-year analyst AJ and her coworker Davis.

Jay Ellis, 44, is best known for playing Martin ‘Lawrence’ Walker on HBO's Insecure. He also starred in Top Gun: Maverick, Somebody I Used to Know, and plays Jay Brown on Mindy Kaling's Netflix show, Running Point.

Jay Ellis' Instagram: @jayrellis

Constance Wu as Vanessa Hsu

Celebrity stylist Vanessa Hsu demands loyalty from her assistant, Abby, and expects only the best—or else.

Constance Wu is best known for her breakout role as Jessica Huang in the sitcom Fresh Off the Boat. She also helped revive the rom-com with Crazy Rich Asians and starred in the under-appreciated 2019 hit Hustlers. She previously worked with Kaling on the writer's animated Velma series, in which she voiced Daphne.

Constance Wu's Instagram: @constancewu

Victor Garber as Wes Dryden

Wes Dryden is a renowned investigative reporter and host of The West Dryden Show, A.K.A. Josh's icon. He also just so happens to recognize Josh as the son of David Teitelbaum, the network's chairman.

In his decades-long career, Victor Garber has played everything from King Maximillian in 1997's Cinderella (yes, the one starring Brandy and Whitney Houston) to Oliver Warbucks in Annie (1999), and one half of the superhero Firestorm on The Flash and the short-lived Legends of Tomorrow. You might also recognize him as Professor Callahan from Legally Blonde or Jack Bristow from Alias.

Victor Garber's Instagram: @therealvictorgarber

Harry Richardson as Austin Blanchett

Austin Blanchett (yes, as in Cate—they are fictionally related) is a rising star and British heartthrob, as well as a client of Vanessa Hsu's. And he might be the first man to test the limits of Abby's professionalism.

Harry Richardson, 33, is an Australian actor who is best known for playing Larry Russell in The Gilded Age.

Harry Richardson's Instagram: @harryrrichardson

May Hong as Jocelyn

Jocelyn is Davis and AJ's no-nonsense coworker, so committed to the job that she's sacrificed her own health. Though not particularly warm, she's there for Davis and AJ in times of need.

May Hong, 37, is an artist and model who got her big break in front of the camera in 2019, starring as Margot Park in Tales of the City. In the years since, she's appeared in multiple TV shows, including Hacks and Fantasmas, but she's best known for voicing Mira in the hit animated film K-Pop Demon Hunters.

Hulu's hit series The Testaments turned out to be so much more than a simple Handmaid's Tale sequel—it introduces viewers to a whole new side of Gilead. This time around, the dystopian tale unfolds as a coming-of-age story, told through the eyes of June Osborne's (Elisabeth Moss) eldest daughter, Agnes (Chase Infiniti). Raised in a totalitarian state with little knowledge of her origins, Agnes spends the first season realizing that the world around her isn't the virtuous place she thought it was. Alongside her new friend Daisy (Lucy Halliday)—who, unbeknownst to Agnes, is a Canadian spy—Gilead's next generation could be the one to bring it down across future seasons.

The first season, which aired in spring 2026 before its finale on May 27, definitely doesn't adapt the entire Margaret Atwood source novel of the same name, and it concludes implying there's more to come. So, below, we're breaking down everything we know about The Testaments season 2.

Is 'The Testaments' renewed for season 2?

Praise be! The Testaments has officially been renewed for season 2.

The announcement came on May 20, the same day that season 1's penultimate episode aired. The show's official Instagram shared a video featuring fan comments asking for a second season. The comments are cleverly edited into scenes from the show, such as Aunt Lydia (Ann Dowd) flipping through a file and June (Elisabeth Moss) reading a secret message hidden in a Gilead honey jar.

"A secret we couldn't keep any longer 💜," the caption reads. "THE TESTAMENTS will be back for Season 2 on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+."

The news comes as The Testaments continues gaining viewers. According to Hulu, the show has been streamed globally for over 45 million hours.

Showrunner Bruce Miller recently even teased that the series could go on for multiple seasons during an interview with TechRadar, telling the outlet, "Every ending in Margaret's world is a very good beginning."

"I don't think in terms of [the] number of seasons," Miller continued. "But if you think of the awakening of a 14/15-year-old girl, her coming to and taking action, those things can go on for quite a while."

When will 'The Testaments' season 2 come out?

A premiere date for The Testaments season 2 hasn't been announced just yet. Showrunner Bruce Miller told Variety upon the release of the season 1 finale that the scripts are currently being written, and he's hopeful they can "move quickly" toward production—especially since the stars need to continue to resemble teenagers. He emphasized that he doesn't want to move too fast and "make a shitty show," but hopes to usher production along.

We can look to the season 1 production timeline for some clues about when our Gilead girls will be back on our screens. Season 1 filmed from April to August 2025 and premiered in April 2026. If season 2 follows a similar trajectory and starts filming late in the summer after the teleplays are complete, it could premiere as early as fall 2027.

Which cast members will return for 'The Testaments' season 2?

The Testaments tells Agnes's (Infiniti) and Daisy's (Halliday) coming-of-age stories, so we can rest assured knowing that they'll remain front and center in season 2. Ann Dowd will also return as the formidable Aunt Lydia, who's set to mentor Agnes in future episodes. Plus, it's a safe bet that Moss will make more guest appearances as June Osborne, who's still working with the Mayday rebellion to rescue her eldest daughter from Gilead. For instance, she told The Hollywood Reporter that she feels "very, very close to [June]" and hopes to continue to return to her. "I would never want to stop playing her," she said. "As long as there’s a Gilead, she’s never going to stop fighting."

We can also expect many of season 1's supporting characters to return, including Mattea Conforti as Becka, Rowan Blanchard as Shunammite, Mabel Li as Aunt Vidala, and Brad Alexander as Garth.

What will 'The Testaments' season 2 be about?

Although Hulu hasn't released an official synopsis for The Testaments season 2, the season 1 finale and the show's source material offer glimpses of what's in store.

By the end of season 1, Agnes's arranged marriage to Commander Weston (Reed Diamond) was canceled, and she was shocked upon learning that June is her birth mother. After initially trying to escape Gilead, Daisy ultimately decided to stay and fight for her new friends's freedom. Meanwhile, Agnes's best friend Becka reluctantly married the newly minted Commander Garth after her mother took the blame for Becka murdering her abusive father (Randal Edwards).

The Testaments has already taken liberties with the Margaret Atwood novel, such as making Agnes and Daisy the same age and not actually half-sisters. While season 1 roughly adapted the section of the book detailing Agnes's childhood, we can expect season 2 to draw from the events in Daisy and Agnes's teenage years. More flashes of Aunt Lydia's backstory and inner life are bound to pop up, too.

Showrunner Bruce Miller teased in an interview with Variety what direction season 2 will take, especially in terms of Agnes's development, now that she knows her true identity. "That’s what the show is about—it’s about the pot boiling over," he said. "When she realizes who her mother is, that turns up the temperature of that pot quite a bit—but it's still just burbling, it doesn’t explode. This is a woman who is raised in Gilead, those are her rules, she's not going to turn around one day and say, 'This is awful. We should change it.' You really want her to become who is on a hot fire, bubbling away, but you never know when she’s gonna start to pop."

He also noted that Agnes was seen as a "golden child" for quite some time, and will now have to face the ramifications at school and in her conservative community of her marriage falling through. "I think at the end, where you have Agnes coming in, she’s saying, ‘Boy, I’m a loser, this has never happened before.’ But the next thing you see is her walking down the hallway, absolutely full of strength," he explained. "So, it may never have never happened before, and I think Lydia is worried, but I think Agnes is going to make something out of this little bit of independence that she’s found."

Meanwhile, Infiniti herself told Collider that she's looking forward to seeing Agnes "taking charge and learning about her story."

"We literally leave her in this internal struggle of figuring out who she actually is versus what she's been told she is her entire life," she said. "That's something that I am very excited to explore."

Every summer, dating show fans face the ultimate decision: Love Island USA or Love Island UK? Millions of new viewers have joined the Love Island fandom in recent years, thanks to the skyrocketing popularity of LIUSA seasons 6 and 7. But longtime reality fans know that LIUK is required viewing, as the franchise's original show was putting out legendary seasons before the American spinoff was a twinkle in an executive's eye. If you want to start a passionate debate among reality obsessives, just ask one question: Which Love Island do you watch?

New fans interested in watching the upcoming seasons of both shows may not know what they're signing up for. Since 2024, LIUK and LIUSA have debuted their seasons around the same time, with both countries claiming early June as the start of the summer. Typically, juggling shows like Love Is Blind or The Bachelorette is nothing new, but those reality hits only claim one or two days per week. Watching both versions of Love Island means signing up to binge two to four hours of vicarious romance drama every night for two months. It makes sense why many fans choose one to watch live, and maybe catch up with the other at a later date.

However, some fans watch both LIUSA and LIUK live—a true feat of dedication and endurance. Each series is returning this summer after massive success last year, so 2026 may bring each show's biggest year yet. Odds are, once TikTok is flooded with viral clips from both sets of Islanders, the allure may be too hard to resist.

With both shows starting in less than a month, read on for everything to know to tune into Love Island UK and Love Island USA in 2026, from each show's premiere dates to ways to watch Love Island UK in real time.

When do 'Love Island UK' and 'Love Island USA' start in 2026?

Get ready for a very busy June. This year's installment of Love Island UK, season 13, kicked off on Monday, June 1—just one day before Love Island USA launched its season 8 on Tuesday, June 2. (Last year, there was at least a week's gap between the two shows's premieres.)

Love Island UK season 13 sees Maya Jama return to the Spanish island of Mallorca for her fourth year as host, while Love Island USA season 8 welcomed Ariana Madix back to Fiji for a third year.

As of now, neither series has revealed details about how many episodes the season will run. However, LIUK is typically longer than LIUSA; UK seasons 7 through 12 have each clocked in at 49 episodes, while USA seasons 5 through 8 ran for 37.

How can I watch 'Love Island UK' in the U.S.?

Love Island UK is set to stream its season 13 on Hulu and Disney+ in the U.S., and all 12 previous seasons are available to binge on the platforms. However, U.S. viewers won't get the episodes at the same time they air in the show's home country. Per Decider, LIUK will stream daily on Hulu starting on June 4, so fans watching on the streamer will be three days behind the U.K.

If you're the impatient type or don't want to get spoiled by an IG reel, Love Island UK will stream with no delay on ITVX, free with TV license. If you don't have a VPN, you can use one like Nord VPN.

How can I watch 'Love Island USA' live?

Love Island USA will stream every night at 6 p.m. PT/9 p.m. ET on Peacock. Since LIUSA is a Peacock Original, it's only available on the Premium tier at $11/month, or the Premium Plus tier at $16.99.

(If you need a more comprehensive guide to Love Island USA season 8 or the season 8 Islanders, we've got you covered.)

Whitney Leavitt has officially grown past #MomTok. The villain-turned-fan-favorite announced her departure from The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives on May 3, after starring in the Hulu reality show for four seasons.

The Dancing With the Stars alum revealed the news in a theatrical fashion: During her final night playing Roxie Hart in Broadway's Chicago, Whitney integrated her departure into a scene during which her character reads newspaper headlines. "What is that?" she said while pointing to the paper, per TMZ footage. "Whitney…let me see… 'Whitney Leavitt Announces She’s Leaving The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives!'"

News of Whitney's exit comes days after Hulu resumed production on The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives season 5 after a month-long pause. It's currently unknown whether Whitney will be featured as a full-time cast member on season 5; according to Variety, she filmed scenes "documenting her Chicago experience" ahead of the filming pause.

Since SLOMW's debut in September 2024, Whitney has pursued wider opportunities in entertainment, including Dancing With the Stars season 34, Chicago, and her upcoming holiday movie All for Love. Her run in Chicago broke box-office records, with the musical earning its highest recorded total ticket sales when Whitney's former DWTS partner, Mark Ballas, joined her as Billy Flynn for her final month of shows.

In a February interview with Variety, Whitney hinted that she was open to leaving the Hulu reality show while sharing her experience juggling SLOMW and Chicago. "They’re following me while I’m in New York, but I don’t know how that would look for future seasons. It wouldn’t make sense. People want to see the group together," she told the outlet. "Part of me is like, ‘I can’t do both,’ because both are so time-demanding. Even filming season 5 has been really hard."

When asked whether she would leave the series, she said at the time, "I don’t know. Because this is what I wanted, and I wasn’t shy about sharing that. So at what point do you move on to the next journey?"

As for what's next for Whitney so far, she and her husband, Connor Leavitt, put their Utah home up for sale in late March, with plans to permanently relocate to N.Y.C. Though Whitney's next steps are unknown, Connor is set to follow her theater footsteps; per PEOPLE, the Mormon dad has joined the off-Broadway show 11 to Midnight for a three-week engagement.

The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives is headed to the O.C.

On April 22, 2026, Hulu confirmed that the pop-culture phenomenon that brought #MomTok and dirty soda to the masses will get the franchise treatment. The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives: Orange County will follow "a new group of dynamic young mothers in Orange County collide in a community where beliefs are not just their religion; they are their identity," per the loglline.

It continues, "While some defend their way of life, fighting against modernity, others embrace change, becoming a platform to disrupt the status quo. Scandals and secrets will be revealed, facades will crumble, and families and friendships will change forever on both sides of the battlefield as this group of strong, game-changing influencers comes together to build their answer to #MomTok."

Though it's still early days for the new spinoff, it seems like Hulu's set to continue the breakneck production schedule that brought us four seasons of SLOMW within 18 months. Read on for everything to know about The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives: Orange County so far, from the veteran influencers in the cast to which original #MomTok member is switching cities.

When will 'The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives: Orange County' come out?

Though Hulu has not announced an official release date for SLOMW: Orange County, the streamer confirmed that the reality spinoff will premiere in 2026.

On April 28, just days after the series's cast was revealed at Hulu's Get Real event, the O.C. Mormon Wives were spotted filming. According to TMZ, eagle-eyed fans saw production out and about in Newport Beach and Huntington Beach on the Monday and Tuesday after the announcement.

Who will be in the cast of 'The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives: Orange County?'

Hulu has announced the main cast of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives: Orange County will include longtime influencer Aspyn Ovard, 30; former nurse and TikTok star Avery Woods, 31; Utah influencer Salomé Andrea; Mayci McNeely's sister McCall DaPron, 36; family YouTuber Madison Bontempo, 34; and newcomers Chandler Higginson and Ashleigh Pease, 32.

It also appears that podcaster Bobbi Althoff, 28, will appear on SLOMW: OC in some capacity. As reported by The Hollywood Reporter, the "Really Good Podcast" host was not included in the original cast list, but she attended Hulu's Get Real event with the rest of the stars.

Like the original #MomTok women, the Orange County cast includes a mix of Saints and Sinners. Both Aspyn Ovard and Avery Woods have openly distanced themselves from the Mormon church in the past, though they both married and had children young. Bobbi Althoff has never publicly identified as Mormon, but she has described herself as "very Christian," per Decider. Both Ovard and Althoff have also been divorced.

Meanwhile, Salomé Andrea, Madison Bontempo, McCall DaPron, and Chandler Higginson have all either identified as Mormon, grown up in the faith, or been involved in the church to certain degrees. The religious background of Ashleigh Pease is unclear.

Will any members of the 'SLOMW' cast appear on 'The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives: Orange County?'

After weeks of speculation, it seems that one SLOMW star is making the jump from Utah to SoCal. On April 26, Jen Affleck shared a video introducing the SLOMW: Orange County cast with a sitcom-style opening credits sequence set to the Full House theme. (Notably, Althoff was shown filming the rest of the cast, suggesting a bit of distance from the main group.)

It makes sense that Jen will appear on the spinoff: She previously revealed in an October 2025 PEOPLE interview that her family was moving from Utah to California.

As for the rest of Utah #MomTok, Disney exec Rob Mills hinted that the O.C. is open to more appearances from the flagship cast. "There’s definitely room for not just Jen, but many members of the Utah Mormon Wives," Mills told Variety. "That’s all being discussed. We’re really just starting the show, but as you see, Mayci’s sister is on there! I think in a perfect world, it’s something where there’s room for everybody to kind of pop in and out.

Long before it arrived on Hulu, Perfect Crown was set to become the biggest K-drama of the year (so far). MBC and Disney+'s fantasy-romance series stars two of Korea's most famous stars—When Life Gives You Tangerines alum IU and Lovely Runner's Byeon Woo-seok—in a reimagining of the country as a 21st-century constitutional monarchy. (Think the British royals but with modern hanboks.)

Perfect Crown centers on two second children who defy societal expectations to make their own destiny. Seong Hui-ju (IU) is a successful businesswoman whose ambition is curtailed by her status as a commoner and an illegitimate child. Grand Prince I-AN (Byeon) is the most powerful man in the country, but he also lives under the most restrictions. When the pair strikes up a marriage of convenience, their growing romance challenges multiple hierarchies.

Since its April 10 premiere, Perfect Crown has become a smash hit across the globe, with the rom-com earning Disney+'s biggest K-drama premiere to date and trending in over 40 countries. This is thanks in large part to its talented cast, with rising stars like Gong Seung-yeon and Lee Yeon becoming quick fan favorites. With Perfect Crown airing on Fridays and Saturdays up to its May 16 finale, read on to learn more about the stars bringing the Disney+/Hulu hit to life.

IU as Seong Hui-ju

Seong Hui-ju is the CEO of Castle Beauty and the second child of Castle Group, the country's top conglomerate. Her ruthless and competitive nature comes from a lifetime on the margins: Though she's wealthy and successful, her status as a commoner and illegitimate child means nobles look down upon her. Since marriage is necessary for her standing, she decides to aim for the top.

IU (real name Lee Ji-eun), 32, is a singer-songwriter and actress who's one of the most popular stars in South Korea. She made her singing debut at the age of 15 and rose to fame with hit songs including 2010's "Good Day," 2017's "Palette," 2020's "Eight," and 2024's "Love Wins All." On the acting side, she has starred in award-winning dramas and films, including My Mister, Hotel del Luna, Broker, and When Life Gives You Tangerines. She also hosts the YouTube interview series IU's Palette.

Instagram: @dlwlrma

Byeon Woo-seok as Crown Prince I-AN

I-AN is the second son of the royal family and the younger brother of the late king. He was raised to be quiet and obedient, hiding his fiery temper and ignoring his ambitions. But everything changes when the king unexpectedly dies, leaving his toddler son as the only heir. Three years after becoming regent, I-AN must choose between supporting his young nephew and his hidden ambition for the throne.

Perfect Crown is Byeon Woo-seok's first K-drama since he rose to global fame with his role as Ryu Sun-jae in the time-travel romance Lovely Runner. The 34-year-old model made his acting debut in the 2016 drama Dear My Friends and went on to star in shows and movies like Search: WWW, Flower Crew: Joseon Marriage Agency, Record of Youth, Strong Girl Nam Soon, 20th Century Girl, and Soulmate. He's also an award-winning singer; his contribution to the Lovely Runner soundtrack, "Sudden Shower," won multiple Best OST prizes.

Instagram: @byeonwooseok

Steve Sanghyun Noh as Min Jeong-u

Jeong-u is one of the country's most popular nobles; he followed in the footsteps of his father and grandfather to become prime minister. Unpredictable and influential, the political heir is also I-an's closest friend and confidant. All that changes when I-an becomes interested in Hui-ju, Jeong-u's old friend.

Noh Sang-hyun (English name, Steve Noh) spent his childhood living in Vancouver, Canada, and attended college in Boston. He made his acting debut in Korea with small roles in films like Bad Man and Seoul Searching, before landing his breakout roles as Isak in Apple TV's adaptation of Pachinko, and Heung-soo in the 2024 LGBTQ+ movie Love in the Big City. Next up, he'll reunite with his Pachinko co-star Kim Min-ha for the Netflix rom-com Messily Ever After.

Instagram: @steveshnoh

Gong Seung-yeon as Yun I-rang

Yun I-rang was raised from childhood to be the perfect queen, valuing grace and decorum over her own desires. In the years since her husband's death, the now-Queen Dowager will do anything to guarantee her son's eventual place on the throne. Her tight control over the royal family is threatened when Hui-ju enters the picture.

Gong Seung-yeon, 33, spent seven years as an SM vocal trainee before pivoting to acting in 2012. (Her younger sister is TWICE's Jeongyeon.) She's best known for her roles in the dramas Six Flying Dragons, Introverted Boss, Bulgasal: Immortal Souls, The First Responders, and Karma. In 2021, she won Best New Actress at the Blue Dragon Film Awards. In Perfect Crown, she reunites with Byeon Woo-seok, her co-star in the 2019 period drama Flower Crew: Joseon Marriage Agency.

Instagram: @0seungyeon

Yoo Su-bin as Choi Hyeon

Choi Hyeon, aide to the Crown Prince, is played by Yu Su-bin. Since his debut in 2016, the 33-year-old actor has starred in several hit K-dramas, including Crash Landing on You, Prison Playbook, Special Labor Inspector Jo, Start-Up, Lost, D.P., and Tastefully Yours. He also played Choi Hyo-man in Netflix's thriller K-drama Weak Hero Class 2.

Instagram: @subinyu1106

Lee Yeon as Do Hye-jeong

Lee Yeon plays Hui-ji's loyal assistant Hye-jeong. The 31-year-old actress rose to fame with roles in the 2020 LGBTQ+ movie Take Me Home and the 2022 drama Juvenile Justice; the latter earned her a Best New Actress nomination at that year's Baeksang Arts Awards. Since then, she has also appeared in shows and films like Weak Hero Class 1, Crash Course in Romance, Duty After School, D.P., and Kill Boksoon.

Instagram: @kiteleeflying

Lee Jae-won as Seong Tae-ju

Hui-ju's only competition in inheriting Castle Group is her half-brother Tae-ju. Though he's older, Tae-ju has come up second to Hui-ju in every way but two: He's a legitimate child, and he's married to a noblewoman.

Lee Jae-won, 39, has played supporting roles in dozens of K-dramas. Some of his notable credits include Doctor Stranger, The Legend of the Blue Sea, Stranger, Record of Youth, Mr. Queen, Dr. Brain, Welcome to Samdal-ri, and The Tale of Lady Ok.

Chae Seo-an as Han Da-yeong

Tae-ju's wife, Da-yeong, is the eldest daughter of the former Minister of Justice. Though many think their marriage was a strategic alliance, the couple actually married for love.

Chae Seo-an (birth name Byeon Seo-yun), 29, made her acting debut in 2020 and has since appeared in dramas like Police University, Hellbound, and Pro Bono. She also had scene-stealing roles in two Netflix K-dramas. She played scheming teacher Han Ji-soo in Hierarchy, and the young version of Bu Sang-gil’s long-suffering wife, Young-ran, in When Life Gives You Tangerines.

Instagram: @serenity__an

Jo Seung-yeon as Seong Hyeon-guk

Hui-ju and Tae-ju's domineering father, Seong Hyeon-guk, is determined to have his son take over Castle Group, no matter how much better Hui-ji is for the role. Hyeon-guk is played by Jo Seung-yeon, a prolific TV and film actor who's appeared in dozens of projects. Some of his most notable K-dramas include Six Flying Dragons, Suspicious Partner, Arthdal Chronicles, Hospital Playlist, Little Women, Blind, The First Responders, My Dearest, and Bon Appetit, Your Majesty.

Receiving birthday advice from Stassi Schroeder is like getting communion from the Pope. And here, on the eve of my 36th birthday in early December, sitting poolside at a Hollywood Hills mansion—the setting of today’s photo shoot—I receive the blessed words: “Go to Magic Castle.”

I side-eye her. “It's like a haunted house,” explains the reality star, “but with magic everywhere and alcohol and food.” I’m familiar with the venue. It could be fun, sure, but not exactly the over-the-top spectacle, the near-religious experience, I’d anticipated from her. Because long before Scamanda or Scandoval, before Mormon Wives or Love Island, Schroeder’s birthdays were the stuff of reality TV gold: maximalist, dramatic, almost mythic. “It’s my fucking birthday” might as well have tolled like church bells across the Bravoverse, separating the anointed OG fans from the newer reality converts.

Sensing my hesitation, she pivots, quickly upgrading her recommendations to something more on-brand: The Polo Lounge for caviar towers, McCarthy salads, and martinis? Or maybe Sunset Tower? It is haunted, she adds, as a draw.

She keeps workshopping options, trying to land on something suitably extravagant. I stop her. It’s not that her suggestions are lacking; it’s just that I’ve come in expecting a version of Schroeder that no longer quite exists. “I resent my birthday now,” she says. “I feel so embarrassed by how big of a deal I made [my birthdays] on TV that if I were to do that now, it feels like I’m playing into a character or a trope.”

She’s acutely aware of her lore as a 20-something chaos agent immortalized on eight seasons of Vanderpump Rules. But now things have changed: she’s 37; a married mother of two; a podcaster (with episodes streamed on Netflix); a host (The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives season 3 reunion); an author (three memoirs-slash-advice-books); and an internet personality (3.5 million Instagram followers).

And the most significant change from early-twenties-reality-days? She’s now an executive producer, calling the shots on her return to TV with a new Hulu series, coming July 29, titled House of Stassi.

Even the show’s name—a change from the previously announced Stassi Says—signals a departure from the self-absorbed persona that once defined her. The original title reminded her of “bossy Stassi.” Instead, she needed it to reflect her current life. “It’s not just about me. It’s about my family and my chosen friends…the people in my home that make up the house.”

But just as Schroeder has evolved, so has the reality genre. When Vanderpump Rules first started airing in 2013, dysfunction felt novel, not commodified (consider: Schroeder was the original girl on reality TV whose best friend slept with her ex). In today’s attention economy, cheating scandals, legal drama, and on-camera implosions are practically table stakes across every franchise. So did Schroeder still have what it takes to compete in the new landscape?

Yes, she reassures, because reality TV is her bread and butter; what she was raised on. “I started doing it when I was 16 years old—that is more than half of my life,” she says. (Her on-screen career began in 2005 with The Amazing Race, then TeenNick’s Queen Bees.) “[Reality TV] excites me. I feel passionately about it…I will bleed out for this.”

She still knows that audiences may be expecting a bit of that old birthday tyrant Stassi, but she’s standing strong in her growth and excited for fans to witness it. “The last time people saw me, I was this crazy girl…crashing out, dark passengering,” she says. “I work really hard. I try really hard and I’m constantly trying to build the most for my family, and I’m proud of what I’ve done in the last five years.”

But, she admits, there’s still some edge left: “I still crash out. It just looks different.”

Nowhere is Schroeder’s evolution more apparent than in front of the cameras. The lenses may be trained on the star—both Marie Claire’s from this shoot and Hulu’s, who are filming today to use as footage on the show—but Schroeder is focused on the people there supporting her: her husband, Beau Clark, her 5-year-old daughter, Hartford, and her sister, Georgi. During a particularly sweet moment, Schroeder has to stop shooting to console Hartford, who doesn’t want to leave set. (It’s not fully clear what Hartford’s more sad about saying goodbye to: her mom or the cameras.) While it’s clear Schroeder is well-versed in good TV and had a built-in audience, this second act didn’t just materialize for her. Networks weren’t clamoring to give her carte blanche on a new project. “That’s not how Hollywood works,” she explains. “You really have to fight for things.” It was also because her entré back into the spotlight came with a caveat: she didn’t just want to be cast, she wanted to be in the driver’s seat. “I was very certain that if I'm going to do reality TV again I need to be able to say, ‘No, you can't show this with my kids.’ I'm protecting my family at this point.”

So she set out on a three-year “arduous journey” of pitch meetings and developing sizzles, alongside two producing partners and friends from her Vanderpump Rules days, before landing with Scout Productions (the team behind Queer Eye) who were willing to let her step into an executive producer role. She was involved in every stage from funding to filming. “I have marched my ass into Disney studios and the Hulu offices countless times,” she says. And being an EP wasn’t meant to dull or censor. In fact, her pitch was that she knew what made the genre tick: “I can see where the cracks are. Why a certain show doesn't do well or why one does.”

The result is House of Stassi, which will mark the first time audiences will witness her world in nearly five years—not the heightened drama of her twenties, but something more intentional. “People have seen my lowest moments, my highest moments, all of it,” she says. “This is the first time they’re seeing what my life is actually like now.” That life, she says, includes a role-reversed household where she’s the primary breadwinner and Clark, 46, is the stay-at-home dad, and friendships that have fractured and reformed over time—including with former VPR co-star Katie Maloney.

“No one knows that we had a falling out for years,” she says of her relationship with Maloney. “Now we're rebuilding our friendship after growing in two completely different directions.” The situation with Maloney is exactly the kind of impetus for the show’s concept. “I don't see TV shows out there that explore how when you get to a certain age and you all choose different paths in life, how that affects your friendships and then how you come back together.” In developing the show she didn’t want the glossy escapism of shows like The Kardashians or a completely dark portrait of adulthood. “We’re starving for something that’s not just aspirational or depressing,” she says. Instead, she wanted something that is messy but functional, ambitious but grounded.

“This is what it’s really like when you grow up.”

By the time Schroeder and I chat next, in early March, production has wrapped on House of Stassi. She Zooms me from her home office; I’m expecting a shell of who I met on set—someone nursing an emotional hangover after weeks spent performing for the cameras. But she sounds almost buoyant from the experience.

“Damn, I feel good,” she says. “It felt like one long therapy session.” Reality TV, she argues, works best when it forces you to face head-on what you’d sweep under the rug in real life. “You have to say what you’re thinking out loud—otherwise there is no show,” she says. But this time there’s no drink-throwing-fist-fight-level antics. “We just got all of our shit out on the table in a constructive way, being respectful of each other while being open and vulnerable and honest.”

Those open and honest conversations extended not just to her castmates but within her marriage. She and Clark (previously a casting director) have been together since 2017, even giving fans a glimpse of their courtship during seasons 7 and 8 of Vanderpump Rules. But just because Clark has been a part of the reality circus before didn’t mean he wasn’t cautious to re-enter the fray. Schroeder was confident their relationship could withstand the pressures of TV: “We’re a solid, stable marriage,” she says. Still, she’s protective of him, especially when it comes to the scrutiny that can follow reality TV. She kept reminding him: “What people in the comment section say, it doesn't matter. We need to just know that we always have each other, we're each other's priority.” And like any good executive producer, she also advised him to focus on honesty “because that is what makes a good reality TV show. And that is what people relate to and want to see.”When I ask if there were boundaries that she and Clark had in place ahead of picking up cameras, whether around their relationship or their kids, she says no. Everything was fair game, until it wasn’t, an open-ended conversation. Mainly, because that’s how she likes to live her real life.

“I don't like living with skeletons in my closet. I don't like living with secrets. It stresses me the fuck out. I prefer to live very openly so everyone knows my shit,” she says. “Because then it's like, ‘you can't catch me on anything.’”

Speaking of skeletons in closets, it’s impossible to talk about Schroeder’s reality TV legacy without reckoning with how abruptly it unraveled. In 2019, she was on a career high: Vanderpump Rules had just aired a season that culminated in her on-camera proposal from Clark; she was a featured speaker at Glamour’s “Women of the Year” event; her book, Next Level Basic, landed on The New York Times best-seller list; and a filmed destination wedding in Italy was on the horizon.

Then, in June 2020, amid the Black Lives Matter movement, she was fired from Vanderpump Rules after past racist actions against a former co-star resurfaced. A wave of scrutiny followed about previous egregious actions and insensitive comments made on her podcast. She lost her management and brand deals, retreated from public life, married Clark in their backyard, and quietly had her first child. A 2021 appearance on Tamron Hall intended as a public reset landed with a thud. In 2022, the tone began to shift. Schroeder released her second book, Off With My Head, a more candid accounting of that period and the work she did to recognize her ignorant behavior, including intensively working with a diversity coach. Gradually, she re-entered the public sphere—reviving her podcast, launching a book tour, and picking up hosting gigs for series like Tell Me Lies and The Gilded Age. She even waded back into reality TV in 2025 with cameos on Vanderpump Villa.

“I didn’t realize how privileged I was,” she says of her past self. While it was a “powerful, extreme” year for her, she is thankful for the scrutiny and the firing, a forcing mechanism to grow. “I was incredibly selfish and chaotic and I just feel like I didn't consider other people before I did things or said things. And if I were still in Vanderpump Rules, I'd probably be the same person. This time away from reality TV has shaped who I am now.”

But that doesn’t mean she’s left it behind; the experience still shapes how she moves through the world. “There is not a day that goes by that I don't think about the canceling,” she says. “I have this insecurity: Is this person I'm meeting, do they think these things about me? And that's my burden to have, and I'm okay with it. But it's not like it just happened and then I came back. No, I will live with this for the rest of my life.”

Particularly, she’s glad she can now parent from a place of more mindfulness. “These are things that I can teach Hartford. These are things that I can make sure that she is now aware of.”

Like most moms, Schroeder is often thinking about what she passes on to her kids. (In addition to Hartford, she and Clark have a 2-year-old son, Messer.)

For one, that big birthday energy is now redirected to her daughter: “I'm just creating a birthday monster,” she says, adding with a laugh, “so I can live vicariously through her.”

But there’s also the not-so-sterling parts of her TV reputation that Schroeder will have to answer for. For now, Hartford has seen only a sliver of her Vanderpump Rules reel (her parents’ proposal scene) and Schroeder is not planning on introducing her to more any time soon. It’s not that she’s running from her past—Schroeder has made peace with the show that launched her. She hasn’t watched the recent reboot (she’s been busy) and avoids popping into SUR, joking it would feel “like Mickey Mouse going to Disneyland,” but ultimately she embraces it. “There was a time when I would try to escape it and be like, ‘I don't talk about Vanderpump Rules. Let's pretend it never happened.’ I'm past that phase. I'm now at the phase where I really appreciate it and I know that’s why I am where I am. I have a lot of fond memories of that experience and I know that it'll always follow me.”

But that doesn’t mean she wants her kids to take cues from it. “I don't want Hartford to watch it and then be like, ‘Oh, that's how we act when we're 20 years old.’ It's not. I was kind of a dick,” she says. “So I’m hoping she watches it once her frontal lobe is formed.”

It’s clear becoming a mom has fully evolved Schroeder’s grasp on fame and ambition. A younger Stassi might have pointed to Kim Kardashian as a career north star, now it’s Kris Jenner—someone who built a family empire. “When you become a mom, all you want to do is give your kids everything that you didn't have, or every possible advantage, set them up for success,” she says. She still regularly wavers about putting her kids in the harsh lights of Hollywood and agonizes over if she should be posting them on social media. But she says her decisions to film them for the show were cemented when she reframed reality TV in her mind as her “family business.”

“This is what I'm good at…I'm just hoping that, you know, I'm able to protect them throughout this process.” She hopes the exposure and the access from these current opportunities will help set them up for whatever path they choose when they grow up.

Still, Schroeder’s selective when it comes to her career: she has no interest in becoming an Andy Cohen-style host; won’t slap her name on just any product or collab; and is turning down book deals until she has something new to say. And while a stint on The Traitors seems perfectly attuned to her brand (murder, macabre, exposing liars) she’s definitely not interested in going on a competition show. She hasn’t even watched it. “I just go based on gut feelings…does this make me feel excited and peaceful? And when I imagine going on a challenge game show I get a pit [in my stomach].” Not to mention, Traitors is an NBCU entity, and she doesn’t trust the network anymore. “It would be like throwing me to the wolves.”

She looks to peers like Paige DeSorbo and Hannah Berner as inspiration for what Bravo girls can accomplish, but she can’t be sure what the future of content creation looks like. “The old rules are out,” she says. “There are no new rules yet.”

For now, she’s focused on what she’s already done: getting House of Stassi made, filmed, and on air. “Even if it were to flop—which it won't—but even if it were, I'm so proud of myself to have been able to make that happen. That's a win.” It might not be her birthday, but that sounds like reason enough to celebrate.

Photographer Joelle Grace Taylor | Stylist Maren Taylor | Hair Stylist Bradley Leake | Makeup Artist Diane Buzzetta | Creative Direction Alexa Wiley | Entertainment Director Neha Prakash | Producer Erin Corbett

Lucy Halliday was a devout Margaret Atwood fan well before she landed the lead role in The Testaments, Hulu’s sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale series. The 22-year-old grew up reading titles like The Penelopiad (which she devoured amid an obsession with mythology); and remembers fondly the day her friend brought a copy of The Testaments to school in 2019.

“The moment this job came up, I was so enthralled by it,” Halliday tells Marie Claire over Zoom in early April. “I wanted to audition so badly—and I really wanted them to hire me.”

Inevitably, the newcomer landed a leading role with a self-tape audition. She stars as Daisy, a teenage girl from Toronto who goes undercover in the dystopian, theocratic Gilead as a convert of the Pearl Girl missionaries. Upon her arrival, she’s assigned one of the commander’s daughters as a mentor, Agnes (One Battle After Another breakout Chase Infiniti), and the series explores the depths of their relationship and the empowerment they discover through sisterhood.

It’s clear that Halliday shares Daisy’s rebellious spirit. The up-and-comer, who hails from Paisley, Scotland, begged her parents to let her do theater, and ultimately deferred studying medicine when she booked her first-ever on-screen role in the 2022 BAFTA-nominated indie film Blue Jeans. “How I got my first job was quite gutsy, a bit like Daisy,” she says. “There was an open call for a film that I saw online, and I didn't really match any of the description that they'd said, but I sent an email anyway, being like, ‘I'm perfect for this!’”

She brings that tenacity to her performance. For eagle-eyed fans who spotted resemblances between the actresses and thought Daisy was June's daughter, showrunner Bruce Miller has debunked the theories, but Halliday still delivers as feistiness feels resonant of how Elisabeth Moss portrayed The Handmaid’s Tale’s heroine, June. It’s unavoidable in the work they did together in The Testaments—as is Halliday’s ability to hold her own opposite the Emmy-winner. “Getting to share the screen with her was a real privilege, and getting to spar with her was the joy,” Halliday says of Moss, who also executive-produced the series. “She was a real source of support for all of us because she's an encyclopedia of knowledge when it comes to this world.”

With Halliday and Infiniti now ushering in a new generation into that universe, and the first three episodes of The Testaments out on Hulu, below, Halliday tells Marie Claire about what she knew going into the project, how she bonded with her castmates, and the message she hopes the show sends.

Maire Claire: What was it like playing a character who has such a huge secret and is trying her best to perform herself?

LH: The duality of Daisy really appealed to me from the very beginning because, especially in the world of Gilead, everyone's having to be very pious and composed all of the time, but then to have a character that has an alter ego and you get to explore a whole other realm of her was so exciting. I was continually trying to find moments where I could bring the Toronto side to the Gilead side—not lose the Daisy that existed before she came here. That was very important to me because, when you go somewhere new or you change over time, you don't lose your roots, you don't lose where you've come from. We've all entered a room or a place where we felt we've had to change who we are slightly or conform a little bit or hide who we are a little bit, so I think that being a universal experience definitely was something I drew on and was keen to explore more.

MC: Daisy has such a rich innerworld and backstory—considering she’s an outsider in Gilead and had a normal teenhood before becoming an incognito Pearl Girl. How did you get into her head?

LH: I do have a Daisy playlist. Playlists are something that I think I've done for every job I've done. They really allow me to get inside of a head of a character. But what's great about Daisy and this show was not only does she have two sides, so already there's going to be two very different styles of music or energies that are going to be added to the playlist, but so much occurs throughout the season that she really does experience so many different emotions. So, the variety of music really was quite incredible. It was interesting going back and looking through at the very end and being like, "Oh, my gosh, she's really gone on a journey here."

I'll quite often, on the way in to work in the morning, have it [be what] I'm listening to, just to get into the mindset. Especially in the show, when you are jumping about, not just storylines, but locations, whether she's in Toronto or Gilead, to put on the music and transport back to that specific place was so helpful.

MC: What was on your playlist for when Daisy was in Toronto versus when she became a Pearl Girl?

LH: I remember there being Doja Cat’s “Boss Bitch” at one point. I've got “The Times They Are A-Changin' by Bob Dylan; I think that's when she comes in. I've got “Rebel Rebel,” David Bowie, “The Wind” by Cat Stevens, “212,” Azealia Banks. I've actually got The Cranberries, which is funny because this was before The Cranberries was ever added to the soundtrack, so I was on the same wavelength. It was a real mix of songs; they didn't really need to have rhyme or reason. It was just if I listened to it and felt, This is Daisy, it would go in the playlist.

MC: Going into the project, did you know you were going to have screen time with Elisabeth Moss?

Lucy Halliday: I didn't know until I'd already had the job Bruce [Miller, showrunner] texted me to tell me before he then sent the updated script, and I was ecstatic because Elisabeth Moss is the embodiment of The Handmaid’s Tale. And aside from that, she's just a phenomenal actor. I really treasured the moments I got to share with Elisabeth.

MC: Working with her as an executive producer, what questions did you end up having for her that you didn’t expect to have?

LH: I do remember the best piece of advice she gave us was, not like a singular statement, but it was rather [that] she reassured us and gave us a space to step into these characters and to step into this world. I know both of us, Chase [Infiniti] and myself, we were nervous coming into this because we were aware of the weight of responsibility of how well The Handmaid’s Tale had done and we didn't want to mess up. She basically was like, "It's okay. You've got this,” and let us step into these characters and pass the mantle.

MC: When did you find out that you and Chase would be on-screen partners?

LH: I found out immediately after I got the job that Chase had the job—and it was an immediate friendship, an immediate kinship. That was so lovely to have from the outset; to have a support in someone and paralleled experience with someone was so crucial to the overall experience I ended up having.

MC: What surprised you the most about working with Chase?

LH: Something I've learned from Chase throughout this process was the power of advocating for yourself and speaking up for yourself on set. That's something she was continually encouraging me to do. It was something I noticed had already transformed in me by the end of filming because I was aware that I was utilizing that facet a lot more. I've been on sets since then and it's the same. I hold myself differently or I speak up differently now, and it's not something that I have as much qualms about approaching—and that's because of Chase.

MC: That’s so great to hear. Can you recall a moment on set of The Testaments where you felt compelled to advocate for yourself?

LH: I don't think I can recall a singular moment. It's more just about continually keeping the belief that you're not an inconvenience for advocating for what you need. Like, if you need five more minutes to reset between a take—because ultimately that's going to allow you to do the job better. That's key to a lot of it: You're not just advocating for something for yourself, it's actually going to benefit you professionally and the performance, which ultimately is the end goal for everyone.

MC: Stories about female teenage rebellion have been beloved and inspiring audiences for decades, and The Testaments is the latest series to join that pantheon. What do you think it is about those stories that resonate?

LH: I think what's going to resonate with audiences is actually just the universal experience of adolescence and how transcendent it is of location or culture or upbringing. We've all shared these same moments and these same milestones and felt these emotions at one point or another.

I think also just the idea of sisterhood and community and the power that we find in having each other and the power that can come when we come together, I think is going to resonate with audiences. We see it in the show and I hope it inspires individuals in real life to band together, to form communities, to use their voices and try to enact change because that's such a powerful thing, too.

MC: I love that you mentioned the universality of the coming-of-age experience in the show. What coming-of-age movies, shows, or books have stuck with you?

LH: Girlhood by Céline Sciamma. I really love that film. Lady Bird. I obviously watched Normal People when it came out, when I was in school. I think that just further reiterates how important art is in the coming of age [experience] because we remember the stories or books or TV shows or whatever that we watched and we felt resonated, we felt seen and we felt represented. It would be lovely to think if this show can have the same impact on someone coming of age right now.

MC: The crux of the show is really the iconic line, “Don’t let the bastards get you down.” How might you be taking that, and Daisy, with you after working on the show?

LH: I think it is essentially how important it is to remain hopeful, and how important it is to be there for each other, and to band together because we are powerful as a team, and that it is possible to make a change, whether it be on a small, minute level or a grand scale. We need to keep hope because without hope we have nothing.

MC: As you said, sisterhood is a big theme of the show. While you shot a lot of intense material, what were some of your favorite memories working with the other women, either off or on set?

LH: It was like being back in school. There was so much chatter and laughter, which was so great. I remember going to Medieval Times—We really liked Medieval Times. I don't know who suggested it. We also saw Superman like four times in the cinema. We had dinner together just about every weekend. It was moments like that that really further reiterated how much of a community we'd found in each other, and that was really beautiful.

I think having those girls really informed the experience that I had in this job, and allowed the levity, because we did have some heavy scenes, and they are difficult to film. You are pouring yourself into them and giving them your all, but having people who you can take a step back from those scenes with, and be supported and be held, was so important. It allowed that transition between reality and fiction to really take place, because you didn't need to take those feelings home with you at the end of the day. You had the girls to decompress with and add some laughter.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

This story contains main spoilers for The Testaments. As if the real world doesn’t feel dystopian enough right now, Hulu is bringing us back into the world of Gilead. The Testaments, based on Margaret Atwood’s novel of the same name, has officially arrived on our screens. The series is billed as an “evolution” of its predecessor, continuing the story and world we’ve come to know over six seasons of The Handmaid’s Tale. This time around, a new generation of young women is coming of age inside Gilead’s oppressive regime, under the unsparing glare of Commanders, Wives, Eyes, and Aunts (including Ann Dowd’s Aunt Lydia, reprising her role from the original series).

Read on to learn more about the new young cast of The Testaments—and how their characters fit into the show’s bigger world.

Chase Infiniti as Agnes

Agnes, formerly known as Hannah, is technically a character Handmaid’s Tale viewers have met before: She’s the eldest daughter of June, aka Offred (Elisabeth Moss), who was taken from her as the Gilead regime came to power. When the original series ended, Agnes was still in Gilead, having been raised by others inside their oppressive, fundamentalist government. The Testaments (re)introduces Agnes as a dutiful and pious young woman attending Aunt Lydia’s preparatory school for future wives.

Infiniti, 25, made her feature-film debut in 2025’s Best Picture-winning One Battle After Another, starring as Willa, the resilient daughter of Leonardo DiCaprio and Teyana Taylor’s vigilante characters. Rapper Tyler, the Creator cast her in his music video for “Darling, I,” after seeing her in the trailer for that film. Infiniti also appeared in the 2024 Apple TV limited series Presumed Innocent, alongside Jake Gyllenhaal and Ruth Negga.

Instagram: @chaseinfiniti

Lucy Halliday as Daisy

Daisy is a newcomer to Gilead. When she arrives, she appears to be a new convert of the Pearl Girl missionaries, after growing up in Canada. Agnes is assigned as her mentor, but unbeknownst to Agnes and their classmates, Daisy is actually working undercover for the Mayday rebel group. Over the course of the series, Agnes and Daisy's bond "becomes the catalyst that will upend their past, their present, and their future," according to the show's official description.

Halliday, 22, is a Scottish actress who earned acclaim (and a Scottish BAFTA award) for her role in the ‘80s-set lesbian drama Blue Jean. She also appeared in the 2025 musician biopic California Schemin’, directed by James McAvoy.

Instagram: @lucyhallidayy

Ann Dowd as Aunt Lydia

Does Aunt Lydia really need an introduction? If you watched The Handmaid’s Tale, her reputation precedes her: As a high-ranking Aunt in Gilead, she’s responsible for the instruction (read: indoctrination) of women inside the country’s brutally patriarchal system. In The Testaments, she runs the preparatory school attended by Agnes and Daisy, which is described as “a place where obedience is instilled brutally and always with divine justification.” However, the sequel series implies she has changed over time—and will call into question just how much she believed in Gilead's mission.

Dowd, 70, is known, of course, for portraying Aunt Lydia in The Handmaid’s Tale, a role that won her an Emmy Award. She’s a veteran actress whose film and TV credits include The Americans, The Leftovers, Hereditary, Garden State, and The Manchurian Candidate.

Instagram: @realanndowd

Rowan Blanchard as Shunammite

Shunammite is a classmate of Agnes. A pampered teen from a prominent Gilead family, her status affords her a certain level of respect and power amongst her peers.

Blanchard, 24, came to fame as a child actress—she appeared in Spy Kids: All the Time in the World and then played Riley Matthews on the Disney Channel series Girl Meets World from 2014 to 2017. More recently, she’s appeared in The Goldbergs, A Wrinkle in Time, Snowpiercer, and Poker Face.

Instagram: @rowanblanchard

Mattea Conforti as Becka

Becka is another student at Aunt Lydia’s school, but one who’s more working-class, comparatively speaking, than her peers. (Her father is a dentist.) She’s also questioning if she wants the wives-and-mothers future she and her peers are being groomed for.

Conforti, 19, has appeared on Broadway as the titular character in Matilda the Musical and as young Anna in Frozen—and she also provided the voice of young Elsa on screen in Frozen 2. Other acting credits include Power, NOS4A2, and The Many Saints of Newark.

Instagram: @matteaconforti

Mabel Li as Aunt Vidala

Aunt Vidala is a stern disciplinarian and the heir apparent to the women’s sphere of Gilead. That authority is tested as unrest begins among her students.

Li has appeared on TV series like Safe Home and Careless. She has also performed theater in her native Australia, including The Seagull at the Sydney Theatre Co.

Instagram: @mabel_liii

Amy Seimetz as Paula

Paula is a Gilead woman whose recent marriage to a powerful Commander has raised her social status. However, that new position is complicated by her relationship with her new stepdaughter, Agnes.

Seimetz, 44, is an actor and filmmaker who can be seen in films and shows like The Killing, Sweet Tooth, Pet Sematary, Alien: Covenant, and No Sudden Move. She also co-created the TV adaptation of The Girlfriend Experience, directed two episodes of the 2024 Mr. and Mrs. Smith TV reboot, and wrote and directed both the 2012 film Sun Don’t Shine and 2020’s She Dies Tomorrow. (You may also know her as the initial director of HBO's The Idol.)

Brad Alexander as Garth

Garth is a young Commander who becomes involved in the personal lives of the girls he’s sworn to protect.

Alexander is a British model and actor who portrayed Edward on season 4 of Netflix’s You. He was also seen in the TV series Surface and Lynley.

Instagram: @bradalexanderactor

Zarrin Darnell-Martin as Aunt Gabbana

Gabbana is another Aunt and a firm proponent of Gilead values. A strict and uncompromising educator, she’s also Aunt Vidala's right-hand.

Darnell-Martin, 42, is a Canadian actress who has appeared on TV’s Ginny and Georgia, The Good Doctor, and Fellow Travelers.

Instagram: @zarrindm

Eva Foote as Aunt Estee

If there’s such a thing as a “cool Aunt” in this world, it’s Aunt Estee. She’s the youngest Aunt at the school, and her energy and kindness endear her to her students.

Foote has appeared in Murdoch Mysteries, the short film Sally (which she also wrote), and Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy.

Instagram: @evateresefoote

Isolde Ardies as Hulda

Another classmate and fellow “plum” at Aunt Lydia’s school, Hulda is sweet and friendly but somewhat naive, and her frank observations and optimism have earned her loyal friends.

Ardies has featured in the TV series Ruby and the Veil and Netflix's Wayward, which also starred Toni Collette.

Instagram: @isoldeardies

Shechinah Mpumlwana as Jehosheba

Jehosheba (seen above, far left) is a competitive classmate from a respected Gilead family who is relentless in her pursuit of a high-status marriage.

Mpumlwana can be seen in 13: The Musical, Creeped Out, The Fire Inside, and has voiced characters on kids’s shows like PJ Masks and Blues Clues & You.

Instagram: @shechinahhhh

Birva Pandya as Miriam

A girl on the cusp of womanhood, Miriam (above, third from left) struggles under the pressure of the marriage season.

Pandya has appeared on TV series like The Umbrella Academy, Northern Rescue, Transplant, and The Institute.

Instagram: @birvaapandya

Kira Guloien as Rosa

Rosa is a caring, dedicated Martha (the domestic servants in the Gilead social structure) who acts as a maternal figure to Agnes. She’s a much-needed source of love in an otherwise cold household.

Guloien is a Canadian actress who has featured in Women Talking, The Good Doctor, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, and The Boys spin-off series, Gen V.

Instagram: @kiraguloien

Elisabeth Moss as June Osborne

Ahead of The Testaments's premiere, Moss played coy about whether her The Handmaid's Tale character would return. Perhaps it's no surprise that yes, she does: The woman once known as Offred is now a revolutionary working with the Mayday resistance group out of Canada. She's the one who sends Daisy across the border to pose undercover in Gilead.

Moss, 43, has won two Emmy Awards (for Handmaid's Tale and Top of the Lake). She also played iconic copywriter Peggy Olson on Mad Men and first daughter Zoey Bartlett on The West Wing. More recently, she's appeared in the series Shining Girls, The Veil, and Imperfect Women.

This story contains spoilers ahead for The Testaments. It's time to head back to Gilead — but rest assured, you've never seen it quite like this.

Over the course of six seasons, Hulu's The Handmaid's Tale adaptation told the story of June Osborne (Elisabeth Moss), a woman forced to serve as a concubine-esque "handmaid" after the United States falls to the theocratic dystopian state of Gilead. Although June eventually escapes and becomes a key member of the resistance, the battle isn't over by the time that its sequel series, The Testaments, begins.

In contrast to the grounded adult world of The Handmaid's Tale, The Testaments tells a coming-of-age story. Set against the backdrop of pastel uniforms and The Cranberries needle drops, the show follows two teenage girls (played by One Battle After Another's Chase Infiniti and Lucy Halliday) whose connection has massive implications in the battle to bring down Gilead once and for all. The Handmaid's Tale's Ann Dowd will also play a major role in the series, reprising her role as the imposing Aunt Lydia.

If you're curious about The Testaments but didn't finish The Handmaid's Tale or need a refresher, you're in luck! Below, we've rounded up everything you need to know before jumping into the new show.

How did 'The Handmaid's Tale' end?

In the penultimate episode of The Handmaid's Tale, June, Serena Joy Waterford (Yvonne Strahovski), and Commander Joseph Lawrence (Bradley Whitford) conspire to sneak a bomb onto a plane full of high-ranking Commanders. It successfully explodes and kills the men on board, sparking a revolution that led to the Mayday rebels reclaiming control of Boston.

June reunites with many of her friends and family, including her mother, Holly (Cherry Jones), and younger daughter, Nichole. (Nichole is the biological daughter of June and Commander Nicholas Blame, with whom she had an affair when she was forced into being the Waterfords's handmaid.) However, by the end of the show, she is still searching for her and her ex-husband Luke's (O-T Fagbenle) daughter, Hannah, who Gilead kidnapped.

What is 'The Testaments' about?

Based on The Handmaid's Tale author Margaret Atwood's 2019 sequel novel of the same name, The Testaments follows two teenage girls growing up in Gilead: Commander's daughter Agnes (Infiniti) and newcomer Daisy (Halliday). Unbeknownst to Agnes, Daisy is actually a spy sent from Toronto, Canada, to gather information for Mayday.

Together, they attend Aunt Lydia's elite preparatory academy for girls. As the show's official synopsis teases, Agnes and Daisy's "bond becomes the catalyst that will transform their lives."

Who is Agnes in 'The Testaments?' Is Agnes June's Daughter?

Agnes is June's older daughter, Hannah. Renamed and raised within Gilead, she's now a teenager being groomed for her impending arranged marriage. Over the course of The Testaments, Agnes's friendship with the rebellious Daisy and the grim realities of her future force her to question her surroundings.

During a March 31 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, The Handmaid's Tale and The Testaments showrunner Bruce Miller said that he cast Infiniti in the role, in part, because her performance reminded him of Moss. "She was unpredictable. I didn't know what she was going to do—not in a scary way, but I just didn't have any idea what she was going to say, if she was going to go left or right," Miller explained. "It was the same thing with Elisabeth Moss; she's not volatile, but she is unpredictable."

Who is Daisy in 'The Testaments?' Is Daisy June's Daughter Nichole?

Daisy is a typical teenager from Toronto, Canada, who discovers that her parents were actually allies of Mayday, and is thrust into going undercover with the rebel group. In Gilead, she pretends to be a convert of the missionaries known as the Pearl Girls and relays information through various networks.

In The Testaments novel, Daisy is revealed to be June's younger daughter, Nichole. However, because The Handmaid's Tale show takes place over a different time frame, that isn't the case in the show.

Whereas the book takes place 15 years after the events of The Handmaid's Tale, Miller recently told Variety that the show is set "around three or four years after" its predecessor. Nichole is still a toddler at the end of The Handmaid's Tale series. Because of that, Miller explained, it didn't make sense to cast her as a teenager in The Testaments. "People just aren't the right ages," he said. "Nichole is not going to high school, and so we had to make changes for that."

He explained how the series justified the "practical" shifts to Daisy's character in an interview with Gold Derby. "I was very reluctant to make any changes," he said. "[Daisy] does seem a lot like the Nichole in the book, and even the way June treats her is a lot like the Nichole in the book. [But], if I was June, whether I would send in my daughter, and I think her sending in Daisy is a little easier for me to understand [now]. In that way, it took away something that always seemed like an unbelievable sacrifice."

Is Aunt Lydia in 'The Testaments?'

Yes, Aunt Lydia will play a key role in The Testaments. The novel explains that Aunt Lydia was actually part of Mayday, having been forced to leave her career as a lawyer when the United States fell. Although The Handmaid's Tale originally portrays Aunt Lydia as a true believer in Gilead, she became disillusioned with it in later seasons. In the penultimate episode of The Handmaid's Tale, Aunt Lydia knowingly steps aside to let June and her allies plot against Gilead, setting the stage for her to fight the system from the inside in The Testaments.

"Lydia had time between The Handmaid's Tale and the beginning of The Testaments to really change and accept that she had to change who she is," Dowd told The Hollywood Reporter at The Testaments's premiere. "So we see a different side of Lydia—a softer and gentler person dealing with younger girls, still the girls that she loves who have always defined her life."

Is June in 'The Testaments?'

In an exciting surprise, Elisabeth Moss reprises her role as June in The Testaments, despite being tight-lipped about whether she would appear on the show, in addition to her role as an executive producer.

When we last saw June in The Handmaid's Tale, she was actively working with Mayday, in hopes of reuniting with Hannah. At the end of The Testaments's first episode, she's still taking refuge in Canada. A brief shot reveals her hanging out at the store owned by Daisy's parents, and Daisy briefly passes her by.

By the third episode, June is heavily featured, as she convinces Daisy to go undercover in Gilead. Her presence is felt even off-screen throughout the season.

Miller told Deadline why it made sense for June to return to The Testaments. "I think in some ways, June is such an anchor for the character of Agnes that I don’t think you could have the story without June, even if there was no Handmaid’s Tale," he told the outlet. "Elisabeth Moss has been our creative partner since the very, very beginning, and in every way. So I think that having her as an executive producer, you feel the presence of June all the time. Fortunately, we were able to move our schedules around and do everything that we could to get her into the show a little."

He added, "Bringing back people from Handmaid’s Tale into this world to continue their story is just such a rich pleasure...I think it’s a pleasure, but it also rounds out the world in a way that you understand how you feel about Gilead because you have June there going, ‘Oh yeah, I used to feel that way too.'"

Spoilers for all episodes of Love Overboard ahead. Hulu's new reality show Love Overboard is just what we need among the current dating-show landscape: something frothy, hot, and unserious. Hosted by Gabby Windey and produced by Alex Cooper, the series drops 22 beautiful singles onto a mega-yacht off the coast of Malta, where four couples get to live the life of leisure as Topsiders, and the rest have to live below and serve them as Downsiders. Through challenges and dates, the Downsiders can fight for the chance to claim one of the eight Topside spots. And yes, if a Downsider shoots their shot and forms a love triangle, someone will have to go overboard.

After eight episodes of flirting and scheming, three couples were left in the running for the grand prize, a trip around the world worth $100,000. When it was time to choose the most compatible couple, Gia Aldisert and Tim Demirjian received the cast's votes. Though it took them a bit to couple up, their growing bond left the cast predicting they'd have a great future together.

So, what happened to Gia and Tim after winning Love Overboard? Read on for everything to know about the couple, including whether they're still dating a year after the show (and whether they've gone on that prize vacation).

What are Gia Aldisert and Tim Demirjian's ages and jobs?

Though they grew up on opposite sides of the country, both Gia Aldisert and Tim Demirijian have entrepreneurial mindsets. 30-year-old Tim grew up outside of Boston; he now lives in L.A. as a content creator and the co-founder and CEO of all-natural vodka-seltzer brand Dezo.

Meanwhile, 23-year-old Gia is a luxury realtor and influencer known for her TikTok advice. Not only did Gia have a following before joining Love Overboard, but it also turns out the reality-TV world is surprisingly small. She's the best friend and former roommate of Iris Kendall from Love Island USA season 7.

What happens to Gia and Tim on 'Love Overboard'?

Upon boarding the Chakra, Gia and Tim have different trajectories. Tim gets to pair up with Enna and stay Topside, but unlucky Gia is sent to the Downside. As Tim's getting to know Enna, Gia forms a connection with another Downsider, Beau. Still, Tim and Gia find chances to chat when she comes to the deck to serve meals, much to the dismay of Enna.

In episode 2, the dynamics flip during a Sink or Swim challenge, where the men get a chance to "rescue" the Topside women. Andrew successfully saves Enna, but he quickly tells her he's interested in bringing Sofia up with him. When she's given the chance to stay topside with Andrew or go downside with Tim, Enna chooses to keep her spot topside, since she knows Tim has a wandering eye. In the same challenge, Beau saves Lexi, who chooses to go Downside with her man, James. So Beau chooses to bring Gia to the Upside.

Of course, in episode 3, Tim lays on the charm with Gia and receives a date card from host Gabby. In a confessional, Gia admits that her and Tim's humor matches, and they can talk for hours, while Beau appeals to her because he's so calming. During their grape-stomping winery date, Gia draws a line at kissing Tim out of respect for Beau, though she's "dying" to kiss him. They later chat over wine about their "immediate" spark, as Tim asserts that he's done with his fuckboi era and ready to settle down.

Gia's extremely torn before that night's plank ceremony, and even cries that someone's going to end up getting hurt. As Beau and Tim stand 30 feet over the ocean, Gia says, "I'm struggling right now with the battle of my head and my heart. In the past, I've always gone with my head. Today I'm gonna be going with my heart." After she dumps Beau (literally), Tim hugs her as she cries and tells her, "I promise you, I'm not going to hurt you."

The rest of Love Overboard is mostly smooth sailing for the couple, as other cast members bring the drama (cough David, Val, and Lo cough). Even during the beach party with the exiles, Gia and Beau only talk to get closure. There is a hiccup when Tim's fuckboi tendencies come out during a game of spin the bottle, but he listens to Gia's concerns. He even cries during a confessional when he says he never wants to make her feel disrespected or upset.

In episode 8, they're among the five couples who get to stay on the boat after a compatibility vote. The pair gets to have a date night off the yacht in Malta, but the men also have to go through a dating-show tradition: getting grilled by friends and family. Gia's twin brother, Louie, comes through for a tearful reunion with his sister, and gets directly to it, asking Tim if he's ready for "day-to-day Gia" rather than yacht Gia. We don't hear Tim's answer, but when Gia later tells Louie that Tim told her he was falling in love with her, Louie responds, "Was he drinking champagne?" (Love Louie. Stan Louie.) Louie does give Gia his blessing, but he's very realistic about them possibly being a fling.

In Love Overboard's ninth and final episode, the final three couples are narrowed down to Gia and Tim, David and Val, and James and Lexi. The debates about who should win get pretty brutal; David even votes against Gia and Tim because they haven't had sex yet. (Gia's furious response is legendary.) The final decision comes down to the exiled cast's votes, and when it's all over, Gia and Tim walk away with the prize trip.

Are Gia and Tim still together after 'Love Overboard'?

Though all episodes of Love Overboard landed on Hulu on March 26, Gia and Tim, it took a week for the pair to drop a big hint about their relationship status. On April 1, the pair shared a throwback clip from last Halloween, where they wear couples vampire costumes as Tim lip-syncs to "My Chick Bad" by Ludacris. Though the date of the post is suspect, they've since shared more couples content, so it looks like they're still going strong.

A few days earlier, Tim gave an interview to PEOPLE where he coyly spoke on their relationship. "Obviously, a lot happened on that boat that was incredible and amazing, and a lot of stuff has happened post-show, post-boat, real life that's been equally amazing," he said, adding, "[Gia] lives down the street from me so, yeah, we spend a lot of time together."

Tim also revealed that the pair haven't actually gotten to go on their prize trip, but that they plan to "very soon."

"As far as the trip — that end montage of all the photos and stuff was really just a funny gag thing that we did with production. We were just going through Malta and eating a bunch of food and taking fun pictures. ...From after filming until now, we had to keep a lot of things very much under wraps. [Now] we can plan the trip."

For the past two years, Hulu's Paradise has become the must-watch show of the winter. Created by This Is Us boss Dan Fogelman, Paradise started as a political murder mystery and quickly expanded into a dystopian thriller, following power struggles between climate-apocalypse survivors living in a massive underground bunker. Season 2 expanded the world, introducing survivors outside the bunker as Secret Service agent Xavier Collins (Sterling K. Brown) ventured to find his wife.

After several weeks of heart-wrenching (at times meandering) episodes, season 2's dual timelines finally merged in the explosive March 30 finale, which saw the death of a major character and a major cliffhanger. Luckily, there have already been updates about where the Emmy-nominated series will go from here. Below, read on for a breakdown of everything we know about Paradise season 3 so far.

Everything We Know About 'Paradise' Season 3

Has 'Paradise' been renewed for season 3?

Yes! On March 17, 2026, Hulu announced that Paradise will return for season 3, dropping the news two weeks before the season 3 finale. Along with the announcement, the streamer revealed that season 2 had amassed 30 million hours of viewership so far, along with an additional 25 million hours for season 1.

When will 'Paradise' season 3 be released?

Though Hulu has yet to announce an official release date for Paradise season 3, it looks like the series is set to continue its annual cadence for new episodes, with new ones dropping in 2027.

On March 21, nine days before the season 2 finale even dropped, creator Dan Fogelman shared on Instagram that the show's writers' room had already completed the scripts for season 3. "We finished writing s3 of Paradise," Fogelman wrote, alongside an airplane selfie with the writers. "This very fun, very talented room has completed the assignment. Vegas here we come."

It swiftly moved into production in April and wrapped in August. The showrunner shared a selfie with the entire cast behind him in mid-August, confirming filming was complete. "That’s it for Paradise in Los Angeles," Fogelman wrote in the caption. "Three years with this crew (and almost a decade for most of us between Paradise and This Is Us). I’m very proud of this dedicated, talented group… and incredibly grateful. Until the next one … "

While it's bittersweet that the show is wrapping up (more on that below), at least we know episodes are on the way and will likely arrive in early 2027.

Will season 3 be the final season of 'Paradise'?

Since its debut, Fogelman has been clear that he had a three-season plan for Paradise already mapped out. "It’s going to be a three-season show, I know where it goes. I know what the shape of each season is," he told The Hollywood Reporter in January 2025. "Each season of the show is a slightly different show, within the same show with the same characters."

More recently, executive producer/writer John Hoberg told THR in February 2026 that the finale was in sight. When asked about a possible fourth season of Paradise, Hoberg said, "We know what the end [of season 3] is, and it’s an end that would make it very difficult to make a season four come afterward."

Fogelman has, of course, since confirmed that the show wrapped production, but even before then, he expressed his hesitancy in letting it run for too long. The creator told LAT, "There is always pressure. But I try to resist the pressure because I think it’s the right way to tell the story. Sterling [K. Brown] feels similarly. I was very clear from the beginning that I had a three-season plan. I don’t imagine a world where I would shift that plan. And, frankly, what we do in season 3 doesn’t leave room for it."

How did 'Paradise' season 2 end, including who is Alex and is Sinatra really dead?

Major spoilers ahead for the Paradise season 2 finale. If your head's still spinning from the season 2 finale, "Exodus," let's quickly go over everything that will play a major role in season 3. "Exodus" reveals that the mysterious "Alex" is an AI-powered quantum computer that manipulates time. Before the bunker, Sinatra killed Henry Miller (Patrick Fischler) because he thought that AI time distortion was too dangerous. (Can't say I disagree with him.) Of course, Sinatra continues with the ALEX project in hopes of saving humanity, and, by Paradise's present-day timeline, the computer (which apparently still hasn't been activated) is predicting thunderstorms and earthquakes (and deaths) and causing "anomalies," such as Link (Thomas Doherty) somehow being Sinatra's long-deceased son Dylan.

Meanwhile, "Exodus" is the evacuation order for the bunker, which comes as the nuclear reactors powering the habitat start to melt down. After it seems like everyone makes it out, Sinatra sacrifices herself to close the bunker doors and make sure the radiation blast doesn't get outside. She does this because she realizes that another ALEX prediction was true: User X, A.K.A. Xavier, is meant to get to the separate ALEX bunker to activate it and save the world, presumably with the help of his nosebleed-twin Link. (ALEX's bunker is 100 miles away under the Denver Airport, so it didn't explode.)

Who in the 'Paradise' cast will return for season 3?

Despite the main bunker literally exploding, Paradise season 2 had a surprisingly low death count. The main cast will return, including Sterling K. Brown (Xavier Collins), Enuka Okuma (Teri Collins), Sarah Shahi (Dr. Gabriela Torabi), Nicole Brydon Bloom (Jane), Krys Marshall (Nicole Robinson), Aliyah Mastin (Presley Collins), Percy Daggs IV (James Collins), and Charlie Evans (Jeremy Bradford). Season 2 addition Thomas Doherty (Link/Dylan) will presumably have a massive role.

As for the dearly departed (R.I.P. Sinatra, Annie, Anders, Henry Miller, and Geiger), characters on Dan Fogelman shows never really stay dead. Likely, Julianne Nicholson, Shailene Woodley, Erik Svedberg-Zelman, Patrick Fischler, and Michael McGrady will return in at least one flashback. We at least know that's true of James Marsden (President Cal Bradford) and Jon Beavers (Billy Pace); Fogelman shared a photo of the two actors alongside Brown from a monitor during production.

Who are the new cast members in 'Paradise' season 3?

We haven't met everyone in and outside of the bunker quite yet. In late April 2026, as production began, a big name was added to the cast. Deadline reported that Emmy winner Julianna Margulies has been cast in a recurring role. The word is still out on who the longtime TV star (known for her roles in The Good Wife, The Morning Show, and ER, among other hits) will be playing.

What will 'Paradise' season 3 be about?

Prepare for Paradise to go full Lost (whether you like it or not) in season 3. Speaking to The Los Angeles Times, Fogelman teased that season 2 sets viewers up for a lot of wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey stuff in season 3, as the show will "definitely play with time" as it leans fully into sci-fi. With that, it's safe to say that Xavier's new mission to activate ALEX will give viewers answers to the many questions that the season 2 finale left us with.

However, it may take a while for Xavier to make the dangerous 100-mile trip. "That’s a big part of what we explore in season 3," Fogelman told the outlet. "He just got his nuclear family back, plus two white kids. He got back everything he’s wanted, and then a lunatic billionaire is telling you that 100 miles away under the Denver Airport, there’s this thing that sounds crazy. It’s not necessarily a scenario where you run off and do it tomorrow. Part of the journey of the third season is: What is he doing with that information? And does he resist it?"

Some other teasers from the interview re other characters: The bunker dwellers (even Xavier) will have to adapt to roughing it in an actual dystopia for the first time. We're "meant to believe" that Link is somehow Sinatra's son, though it's "a tricky question because of where we’re going on a science fiction level." Also, Annie and Link's baby will play a big part in season 3. "Or, I should say, the child plays a huge part in season 3," corrects Fogelman, before hinting at that timey-wimey stuff.

Another big question for Paradise season 3 is whether or not Jane is alive. Though she was still passed out on Torabi's shower floor at the start of episode 8, after the shrink stabbed her in episode 7, "Exodus" includes a flash of Torabi's empty shower right before the bunker blows up. The rule of TV is that a character isn't dead until you see the body, but even Paradise's team seems to be mixed on the assassin's fate.

Following episode 7's release, Nicole Brydon Bloom did an interview with PEOPLE, treating the stabbing as Jane's death. And in his postmortem THR interview, Hoberg said of the scene, "She seems pretty dead to me. We intend her to be dead." But in his Los Angeles Times interview, Fogelman teased, "It sure seems like [she's dead]. But there is that shot at the end that is meant to make you wonder." Guess we'll have to wait until the season 3 cast announcement to see whether there's a payoff to Jane's intense backstory.

There may be a lot to unpack going forward, but fear not, executive producer John Hoberg told The Hollywood Reporter in an August 2026 interview that they plan to address everything fans are curious about. "We are ending at the end of season 3, and I promise that we will answer every question I believe you have," he said. "And if not, then people can direct message me on Instagram, and I’ll answer questions because our goal is to let you have an answer to everything."

For the past few weeks, the ‘90s have been back in a big way as the world has become engrossed in Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette.

The biographical drama delved into the couple’s political-dynasty scion (played by Paul Anthony Kelly) meets Calvin Klein cool-girl (Sarah Pidgeon) courtship, their subsequent marriage, and the intense media scrutiny the pair faced before their tragic deaths in a 1999 plane crash. After the series finale aired on March 26, many have been wondering if there will be a new season to come, chronicling another fairy-tale (or is it?) romance.

Love Story is part of executive producer Ryan Murphy’s American TV universe, in which each season focuses on a different standalone story—the other iterations include American Horror Story, American Crime Story, American Sports Story, and American Horror Stories. Murphy’s Feud, while not part of that wider franchise, also takes a similar track, using an anthology format to dive deep into real-life figures and events we think we know well, often prompting viewers to think about them in new ways.

What could this mean for another Love Story? Here’s everything we know so far, including which iconic couple a future installment could focus on. (Hint: Think Hollywood.)

Has ;Love Story' been renewed for season 2?

As of March 27, 2026, Love Story has not yet been renewed for a second season. But given that Variety reported that the show is FX’s most-watched limited series ever on Hulu and Disney+, with the first five episodes being streamed more than 25 million hours since the February 12 series premiere, it wouldn’t be surprising if the show comes back for more.

What would 'Love Story' season 2 be about?

Even if a renewal announcement hasn’t come down (yet…), series creator Connor Hines has already given some thought to which high-profile pairing he’d like to follow next. When asked by Vanity Fair who he’d be interested in taking on for his next project, Hines responded, “Maybe Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. They have the right intensity.”

Burton and Taylor, of course, had a famously passionate (and famously tumultuous) Hollywood love story. The couple met on the set of 1963’s Cleopatra, when Taylor was married to her fourth husband, Eddie Fisher (the ex-husband of Debbie Reynolds and father of Carrie Fisher), and Burton was married to Sybil Williams. They both left their spouses for each other and married in 1964, making 11 movies together while also drawing headlines for their lavish lifestyle and public arguments. They got divorced in 1974, only to remarry a year later, but that second union was much briefer; they divorced again in 1976.

"Even though there were rough times, I wouldn't give up one minute of my time with Richard Burton," Taylor wrote in her autobiography, per PEOPLE.

What other couples could be covered in 'Love Story' season 2?

Famous couples who’ve captured the public’s attention? We could spend all day coming up with ideas! It sounds like Hines is already toying with Burton and Taylor—and certainly, there’s plenty of drama to mine there—but fans of the series have also been speculating about potential Love Story subjects.

Names that have come up (again, all in speculation) have included a mix of rock stars, paparazzi fixtures, and Old Hollywood staples: Courtney Love and Kurt Cobain, David Bowie and Iman, Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake, Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier, Sonny Bono and Cher, John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Victoria and David Beckham, Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck…the list goes on.

Which cast members would return for 'Love Story' season 2?

As an anthology, Love Story would start a new story with a new couple, if the series is indeed renewed. But, that said, Ryan Murphy loves to work with the same actors over and over again, so it wouldn’t be impossible to imagine that some of his regular players—like Sarah Paulson, Jessica Lange, Evan Peters, Lily Rabe, Emma Roberts, and Naomi Watts (who played Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis in Love Story and Babe Paley in Feud: Capote and the Swans)—could appear in a new season in one way or another.

When would 'Love Story' season 2 come out?

Again, with no renewal news on the books, it’s hard to say when another season could arrive. But this season arrived just before Valentine’s Day, and it wouldn’t be out of line to think they’ll stick to that timing if (when?) the show comes back around again.

Calling all reality TV fans: Hulu is coming for your watchlists with Love Overboard. After debuting the original reality series Are You My First? last year, the streaming giant expanded its unscripted offerings with a new dating show from Alex Cooper's Unwell Productions. Hosted by Bachelorette alum Gabby Windey, Love Overboard is the latest reality show that could float up to the top of streaming charts.

As for the rules, Love Overboard is what would happen if Love Island USA and Below Deck had a Gen Z love child. A group of gorgeous singles spends nine episodes aboard a yacht floating off the coast of Malta. Four lucky couples get to enjoy the life of luxury on the Upside, while the rest of the singles are banished to the Downside and forced to cook, clean, and serve the Upsiders. Outside of challenges, where Downsiders can compete to rise, the singles can only come to the Topside by breaking up one of the existing couples.

When a love triangle forms, the two competitors have to walk the plank, as the chooser decides who matches with them and who goes into the water. (Yes, eliminated singles literally plunge thirty feet into the Mediterranean Sea.)

For the show's inaugural season, Hulu recruited a hot roster of influencers and fitness enthusiasts, ranging in age from 21 to 30 and hailing from across the U.S. (and even Germany!). Below, read on for everything to know about the new reality stars of Love Overboard.

The Women of 'Love Overboard'

Bella

Instagram: @belluhlou

Age: 22

Hometown: Kansas City, Missouri

Occupation: Linedance instructor/bottle service server

Fun Fact: "She’s the glam Barbie with grit, glitter, and a mechanical bull-riding résumé."

Enna

Instagram: @enna_nutschell

Age: 33

Hometown: Centerville, Maryland

Occupation: Full-time content creator

Fun Fact: "She’s flirtatious, fabulous and fiercely protective of her peace."

Gia

Instagram: @giaaldisert

Age: 22

Hometown: Topanga, California

Occupation: Luxury real-estate agent

Connections: She's best friends and roommates with Love Island USA's Iris Kendall.

Fun Fact: "Known for being dominant and emotionally intelligent, she’s not afraid to call it like she sees it."

Leela

Instagram: @Leelafleck

Age: 21

Hometown: Los Angeles, California

Occupation: Student at Northeastern University

Fun Fact: "Known as a type-A clean queen with a creative soul, she walks into a room with her head high and her nails done."

Lexi

Instagram: @Lexiborges_

Age: 26

Hometown: Tulare, California

Occupation: Executive assistant at a top tech company

Fun Fact: "Lexi is that girl—the one getting invited backstage, hopping on private jets, and lighting up every room (or yacht) she walks into."

Lo

Instagram: @Lolo_ollivierre

Age: 29

Hometown: Charlotte, North Carolina

Occupation: Healthcare recruiter/marketing maven

Fun Fact: "As a self-proclaimed 'Queen of Raya,' she’s a wellness-obsessed jetsetter who might just be one’s favorite therapist, hype woman and style icon rolled into one."

Sadé

Instagram: @sadeidera

Age: 30

Hometown: Morris Plains, New Jersey

Occupation: IT project manager

Fun Fact: "As a former basketball star, Sadé's got the competitive drive of an athlete and the heart of a lover. She’s a self-described 'secret nerd' who loves flirting, traveling, and talking."

Sofia

Instagram: @sofia_bevarly

Age: 28

Hometown: Louisville, Kentucky

Occupation: Real estate agent/content creator

Fun Fact: "Working as a competitive real estate agent, she is effortlessly captivating with brains, beauty, a sense of humor, and an unapologetic sense of self."

The Men of 'Love Overboard'

Andrew

Instagram: @andrewpetersen_

Age: 29

Hometown: West Chester, Pennsylvania

Occupation: Former Wall Street worker

Fun Fact: "As he crept to age 30, he quit his finance job in search of a life with more depth."

Beau

Instagram: @Beaubailey__

Age: 25

Hometown: Lakeville, Minnesota

Occupation: Former college basketball player/personal trainer, and model

Fun Fact: "Raised by his mom and older sister, Beau is a proud mama’s boy with depth, grit, and heart."

David

Instagram: @itsdavid.fuhrmann

Age: 29

Hometown: Kansas City, Missouri

Occupation: Pediatric trauma therapy

Fun Fact: "Born on a cattle farm in Texas and raised in the suburbs of St. Louis, David grew up riding a horse named Pegasus before trading in his cowboy boots for a therapist’s chair."

James

Instagram: @jamesbarranca

Age: 26

Hometown: Rancho Cucamonga, California

Occupation: Chemist

Fun Fact: "Known as a deep thinker, loyal friend and someone who values time, James isn’t just a presence—he’s an experience."

Keif

Instagram: @chiefkeifers

Age: 23

Hometown: Nebraska

Occupation: Officer

Fun Fact: "He is the unapologetic all-American guy—boots, blue jeans, country concerts, and a love for lifting heavy and living hard. Protective and principled."

Koray

Instagram: @Korayeast

Age: 27

Hometown: Frankfurt, Germany

Occupation: Former soccer player/tech sales worker/model

Fun Fact: "Now in tech sales, coaching kids’ soccer, and modeling, he’s grounded, confident, flirtatious, and fluent in good vibes."

Reece

Instagram: @reecekane

Age: 26

Hometown: Kansas City, Missouri

Occupation: Boat captain

Fun Fact: "Living life at full throttle, he’s a boat captain, a jet ski guide, a photographer, a world traveler, and an MMA-trained, rugby-playing adventurer with a heart of gold."

Tim

Instagram: @timdemirjian

Age: 30

Hometown: Boston, Massachusetts

Occupation: Co-founder of a vodka seltzer brand

Fun Fact: "As a self-proclaimed 'dork,' Tim is smart, sharp, and the definition of no-bullshit charm."

The Shipwreckers of 'Love Overboard'

Bradley

Instagram: @bradleyjohnson

Age: 25

Hometown: Arizona

Occupation: Fitness coach/comedian

Fun Fact: "Known as a rebellious kid growing up, he now spends his days making people laugh, dodging dishes at home, and attempting to unlock the secret of love without actually looking for it."

Christine

Instagram: @Kingchrxstine

Age: 26

Hometown: Montclair, New Jersey

Occupation: Social media manager

Fun Fact: "Christine is proof that resilience is sexy, and confidence is everything."

Delaney

Instagram: @delaneykluger

Age: 26

Hometown: Noblesville, Indiana

Occupation: Model/makeup artist

Fun Fact: "Resilient, independent, sharp, and real to the core, Delaney was raised in chaos but built for greatness."

Jake

Instagram: @jake.rath

Age: 23

Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee

Occupation: Fitness trainer/singles run club owner

Fun Fact: "Known as 'Cupid,' he trains celebrities and athletes by day, and rallies crowds and connects strangers by night."

Prasad

Instagram: @lordpjr

Age: 26

Hometown: Boulder County, Colorado

Occupation: Business consultant

Fun Fact: "As a dedicated surfer and world traveler, he thrives on adrenaline and loves throwing himself into new adventures."

Val

Instagram: @valzuluaga

Age: 26

Hometown: Tampa, Florida

Occupation: Recruitment consultant

Fun Fact: "Fiercely independent, Val is a powerhouse, laid-back but protective of her boundaries. As a fitness junkie, she balances pilates and weight training with her unapologetic love for food."

In the past decade, artists have repeatedly tried to crack the mystery of Princess Diana. In 2020, The Crown introduced the princess in its fourth season, first played by Emma Corrin, with Elizabeth Debicki taking over in seasons 5 and 6. In 2021, Kristen Stewart played the royal enduring a Christmas from hell in Pablo Larraín's expressionistic movie Spencer. There was even a misbegotten Diana musical, panned by critics but embraced as a camp classic by some Broadway fans.

And, while she doesn't appear on screen, Diana still haunts FX's series Love Story, which follows the romance of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy (Sarah Pidgeon) and John F. Kennedy Jr. (Paul Anthony Kelly). In the eighth episode, "Exit Strategy," Carolyn—bristling against the excessive, invasive media attention surrounding her own life—gets news of the car crash that resulted in Diana's death.

After that fateful call, the newly married Carolyn becomes obsessed. She’s glued to the television, the camera giving us a close up of her wide, tear-filled eyes as Radiohead plays. While we don't know exactly how the real Carolyn learned of Diana's passing, she was reportedly affected by the event. In a 2017 PEOPLE magazine story, Kennedy's former assistant said that Bessette was "rattled" by Diana's death, which came as a result of her vehicle being hounded by paparazzi. At the time, Bessette too was feeling threatened by photographers trying to capture her every move; here was an example of another prominent woman whose life ended as a result of the same phenomenon.

But by evoking Diana, the episode also highlights Love Story's own limits. After all, if we've never been able to really understand Diana, how are we supposed to understand Carolyn?

As Love Story makes clear, it's easy to draw parallels between Diana and Carolyn. They are both beautiful blonde women who married into prominent families that demanded a certain amount of public decorum. Diana wed literal royalty. Carolyn wed the U.S. equivalent. (JFK Jr. was arguably a more desirable prince than Charles—the latter never ended up as the "sexiest man alive.") Also, both Diana and Carolyn drew media attention not just because of their association with their respective country's elites, but because they had enviable personal style and the ability to look casually glamorous.

They also share untimely deaths—Diana in that car crash and Carolyn, ultimately, in that plane, piloted by her husband on the way to a family wedding. The violent, horrific nature of their endings only adds to their mystique.

Part of their combined appeal is that they were both essentially unknowable to the people who followed their lives through issues of PEOPLE and copies of The Daily Mail. And that means every subsequent interpretation of them is weighted down by a hefty level of speculation.

All of these works of art—whether that's The Crown or Spencer or Love Story—are required to invent these women's interiority using the writers' imaginations and bits of details we've gleaned from reporting over the years, stories their friends and acquaintances have told to biographers, gossip whispered to the press. At least in the case of Diana there were notable televised interviews, which have allowed actors to mimic her distinctive speech patterns; Carolyn rarely made public comments.

As such, the performances that result from Diana’s media are occasionally impressive and a little bit elusive. In Spencer, Stewart gave her an almost feral quality; In The Crown, Corrin plays her like a wounded bird. The two actors nail the accent and the slightly bowed head, while each imbuing their Diana with the qualities the work around them wants to highlight. They are both entrancing, but leave the viewer aware that no one really knows who she truly was.

That sensation has remained in Love Story. In the early episodes, Pidgeon offered up a portrait of Carolyn as the ultimate '90s cool girl, fingers constantly running through her perfectly mussed hair or dangling a lit cigarette. As the show has gone on, Pidgeon's portrayal has started to feel burdened by the weight of Carolyn's trauma. Recent episodes have presented her less like the whole person we got to know at the beginning of the series, and more like the representation of the tragic figure we can only try to glean from images.

"Exit Strategy" brings this into relief because of the Diana comparisons. For years, we've tried to guess how Diana was feeling in her unhappy marriage to Prince Charles and her final moments; now it's clear we're just doing the same when it comes to Carolyn.

These projects do a good job of keeping these women's memories alive, but only up to a point. Their lasting impact is the perpetuation of Diana and Carolyn's aesthetic above all. That's evident in the brand Rowing Blazers recreating two of Diana's most iconic sweaters in 2020. Love Story, meanwhile, has resulted in young West Village denizens now seeking to recreate Carolyn's iconic look and waiting in lines outside of the Indian restaurant where the show depicts her and John's first date.

But all this just serves to remind us what we're invested in is the idea of these women rather than the actual women. Love Story even posits that Carolyn herself was guilty of this, staring at the television trying to graft her own life onto Diana's even though she was a mere acquaintance. Now, anyone watching Love Story is forced to do the same for Carolyn.

For the past four seasons of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, Taylor Frankie Paul and Dakota Mortensen's tumultuous relationship has brought no shortage of drama. Even with the pair fully broken up and Taylor set to become the next Bachelorette, season 4 includes some of the lowest lows in the co-parents's history. In the last four episodes of the season, Dakota brings someone new into their chaotic dynamic: Utah influencer Shinia Powell.

Though Shinia fully steps under the spotlight in season 4, she's actually a familiar face to #MomTok fans. She's best friends with Miranda Hope (formerly McWhorter), the original #MomTok member who reunited with Taylor after their highly-publicized swinging scandal. That means season 4's explosive love triangle threatened several relationships, from Taylor and Dakota's to Miranda and Shinia's to Taylor and Miranda's.

Below, read on for everything we know about Shinia Powell and where she stands with the Secret Lives of Mormon Wives cast, as well as the odds of her returning for SLOMW season 5.

Who is Shinia Powell?

Shinia Powell, 29, lives in Utah and is a single mother to two children, a 6-year-old daughter and a 4-year-old son. According to her Instagram, she was previously married to McKoy Allred, a Utah real estate agent.

Shinia appears to be a part-time influencer, though on a smaller scale than the rest of #MomTok; she currently has around 8,800 followers on Instagram and 12,500 followers on TikTok. On her accounts, Shinia primarily posts glamour shots, fitness content, and updates about life with her kids.

How long have Shinia Powell and Miranda Hope been friends?

Shinia is officially introduced on The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives in episode 7 of season 4, as she joins #MomTok's team for their pickleball tournament. Miranda describes her as her best friend, who's also friendly with Taylor Frankie Paul and Layla Taylor. She also attended Stagecoach with the cast in season 3, where she and Taylor shared a kiss for fun.

According to their Instagrams, Shinia and Miranda's friendship began in 2017, when they were both training to become estheticians. They regularly made content together about being each other's biggest supporters up until the love-triangle drama began last October.

What happens beterrn Shinia Powell and Dakota Mortensen on 'The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives' season 4?

On October 14, 2025, Taylor Frankie Paul publicly accused Shinia of sleeping with Dakota Mortensen, Taylor's ex-boyfriend and the father of her youngest child, Ever. In an Instagram Reel, featuring a video of Layla, Shinia, and Miranda from the pickleball tournament, Taylor wrote, "Just found out the snake in the middle IS sleeping with my baby daddy, meanwhile crying to me because she just got dumped by a married man." (According to Reality Tea, Taylor deleted all of the posts about Shinia within a few days.)

The day after Taylor's allegation, Shinia seemingly shared a response via Instagram Story. "If you have a problem with me, call me. If you don’t have my number, then that means you don’t know me well enough to have a problem," she wrote. This seems to be the only statement Shinia has made about the allegation.

SLOMW season 4 shows the real-life drama leading up to and following the tweet. Per Miranda, Dakota sent Shinia a DM ahead of the pickleball tournament. However, Jessi Draper (formerly Ngatikaura) decided they shouldn't tell Taylor, so she wouldn't be distracted ahead of filming for The Bachelorette. Episode 7 also includes part of a conversation between Shinia and Taylor, where Taylor commiserates with Shinia about her recent breakup. In the scene, Shinia says that her ex blocked her and got back together with his wife, adding, "they're just acting like they're a perfect little family." When Taylor asks Shinia's ex was ever separated from his wife, Shinia says that she "saw paperwork."

While the cast attends a country festival in episode 8, Jessi, Mayci Neeley, and Mikayla Matthews get Dakota to admit that he has been seeing Shinia. Later in the episode, Miranda and Shinia go to a different day of the festival, where Dakota and Jordan Ngatikaura are also in attendance. Miranda tells Jordan that she thinks Jordan's being calculated, dating someone Taylor knows, so Taylor would get upset ahead of The Bachelorette. She adds in a confessional that she thought Dakota and Shinia would be a one-time thing, and that she didn't know it was still going on. Miranda makes it extremely clear to both of them that she disapproves, and tells Shinia that Dakota's using her, but Shinia says that she really likes Dakota. When Dakota apologizes for dragging her into the drama, Shinia says, "I want us to stay in our bubble."

The bubble bursts in episode 9, when Taylor learns that Dakota hooked up with both Shinia and Jenna, the woman whom Dakota cheated on Taylor with at the start of their relationship. (Jenna met with Taylor in SLOMW's season 2 premiere.) Despite the rest of #MomTok deciding not to tell Taylor anything, Taylor finds out from Dakota off-camera. Filming captures a furious, triggered Taylor as she calls Miranda and Jessi; she says she feels betrayed by Shinia and Jenna because they were trying to be friends with her. Though Jessi and Mayci warn her not to ruin The Bachelorette, Taylor starts posting about Shinia.

Shinia and Taylor don't have an onscreen confrontation after the fallout in season 4, but the women of the cast do talk to Shinia at a party, the same night as Taylor's post. They try to make Shinia understand that Dakota not only lied to Taylor, but also to her; he had allegedly hooked up with someone after forming a "sex pact" to be exclusive with Shinia. However, Shinia says that she sees a potential future with "him as a person." She also says that she didn't think Taylor would be so mad, since she was dating and preparing for The Bachelorette.

Despite all the drama (and Dakota's attempts to keep her with him), Taylor does leave Utah to film The Bachelorette in the season 4 finale. The episode ends with Jessi's annual Halloween party, where Shinia reunites with Dakota. As a chyron onscreen reads "Six hours after Dakota asked Taylor to save a rose for him," Dakota—literally wearing a Red Flag costume—apologizes to Shinia for the drama and confesses to her that he slept with Taylor the night before. Shinia says that all she cares about is that the drama doesn't fall back on Miranda. The show leaves things unknown whether Dakota and Shinia get back together.

Are Shinia Powell and Dakota Mortensen still dating after 'The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives' season 4?

Based on Dakota and Shinia's social media activity in the five months since Halloween 2025 and season 4's March 2026 airing, it doesn't seem like the pair ever grew into a serious relationship. Last month, Dakota confirmed in a TikTok comment that he was single (at least at the time). Also, back in December, he posted a TikTok with the caption, "When you realize you can date 30 girls without being on a TV show?" Miranda commented on the subtle Taylor shade by writing, "respectfully dakota, from what i hear, you’re well on your way my guy," with Mayci adding, "Are you going through Taylor’s friend list to find your 30? Bc that would be v on brand for you."

Meanwhile, Shinia has been subject to even wilder dating rumors. In late November, she and Miranda's ex-husband, Chase McWhorter, were spotted at an NBA game together, where they were allegedly "all over each other and making out." Though none of the three have directly addressed the rumors, Miranda did post an interesting TikTok comment the week after. Responding to a fan who asked, "Why do all your friends want your man?" Miranda replied, "he's not my man but I guess girl code ain't what it used to be."

Looks like we'll have to wait to get the full story in The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives season 5.

Are Shinia Powell and Miranda Hope still friends after 'The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives' season 4?

After scrolling through Miranda and Shinia's social media, it's clear that the pair aren't as close as they used to be. Though they still follow each other on Instagram as of season 4's premiere, they haven't appeared in each other's posts since mid-October 2025.

In an interview with Us Weekly, Miranda confirmed that she and her former bestie are no longer close after what happened. "I think the Taylor and Dakota of it all was definitely a contributing factor, especially since I was very vocal about how her pursuing that relationship would affect her and would affect me, and it felt like it was just blatantly disregarded on multiple occasions," she told the outlet.

"Also, I understood where Taylor was coming from with her frustration as well. As things continue to play out, I think other things unfolded, and it just made that decision [to take Taylor's side] easier," she continued. She also confirmed that her and Shinia's fallout was "based on a lot more" than we see in season 4, adding, "We’ll see that play out more."

Meanwhile, in a group interview with Entertainment Tonight, Miranda, Jessi, Mayci, Mikayla, Layla, and Jen Affleck all quickly shut down any possibility that Shinia could join #MomTok one day. After the host followed up with a question asking what had changed, with Miranda previously being "ride or die" for Shinia, Miranda teased, "You'll see. There's a lot more going on...It'll unfold eventually."

Mikayla and Mayci then jumped in, explaining that Shinia didn't have a relationship with any of the #MomTok women besides Miranda and Taylor. "I think as far as letting someone into #MomTok, it's probably someone that we all have a relationship with, that we all know," Mayci said. She later added, "She's not a girl's girl, just put it that way."

They say the devil works hard—but The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives works harder. The hit Hulu reality show has already filmed and premiered four seasons in the two years since its first episode aired in 2024, and it shows no signs of slowing down.

While many of the #MomTok influencers have become bona fide stars beyond TikTok and the Hulu series (Whitney Leavitt and Jen Affleck on Dancing With the Stars! And Whitney on Broadway!), they won’t be departing the show that became the initial phenomenon any time soon. Shortly after season 3 aired, Hulu revealed the show's fate beyond season 4—so even if you’ve binged the episodes that dropped on March 12, we already know what’s to come. (God bless!) Read on for everything we know about The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives season 5, including what drama it's set to cover.

Everything We Know About 'The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives' Season 5

Is 'The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives' renewed for season 5?

Yes! Just days after the season 3 premiere, Deadline reported Hulu had already more episodes. The streamer renewed seasons 2 and 3 together, as well, and Mormon Wives continues to be one of Hulu’s most popular reality offerings, so it makes sense that season 5 is coming.

When will 'The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives' season 5 be released?

When the official season 5 trailer dropped (more on that below!), Hulu unveiled the premiere date: Thursday, September 10. The season features only five episodes, and they'll all release on the 10th.

The forthcoming installment was shot almost immediately after season 4, according to a Deadline interview with producer Jeff Jenkins, and went into early 2026, per both E! News and eagle-eyed fans.

The schedule went according to plan, at least until production halted in mid-March. According to PEOPLE, filming was paused due to an ongoing "domestic assault investigation" involving Taylor Frankie Paul and her ex, Dakota Mortensen. The outlet reported that the alleged incident was sometime in late February, and "allegations have been made in both directions." (Taylor and Dakota's relationship was tumultuous at the end of season 4. After the filming pause was announced, Taylor's season of The Bachelorette was cancelled indefinitely.)

Jessi Draper weighed in on the pause during a late-March visit on the "Call Her Daddy" podcast. "Me and the girls, we did decide to stop filming when we found this out because we were starting to hear things a little bit before it leaked. We just didn’t want to be filming and say the wrong thing on camera, not knowing the full story yet," Draper explained. "We didn’t want to have to process all this information for the first time and then also be speaking about it. We just thought, for everyone’s mental health, let’s take a beat and let’s not film right now. That’s probably the best thing for everyone in this situation."

She added that the producers and Hulu have been "supportive" and emphasized that she thinks production will be underway in due time. "I feel like all of us right now are just trying to be like, ‘Okay, we’re human beings first, and let’s figure that out, and then we’ll get back to filming the show.' Clearly, there’s no shortage of drama in our lives. So, if we get another season, it’s going to be good."

In late April, The Hollywood Reporter revealed that production resumed. The series typically releases one season in the spring and one in the fall, and it met that timeline (though truncated the episode count) to allow for its September release.

How many episodes are in 'The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives' season 5?

As it turns out, per Deadline, the season will be truncated and feature just five episodes. (That's half of the show's typical 10-episode installments.)

The outlet reported that season 5 will explore the altercation between Taylor and Dakota and its fallout, which may be why the season is as limited as it is. Star Layla Taylor explained on the "Get Real" podcast that fans should expect a more somber season. "It’s no secret that #MomTok has been going through some drama this year," said the reality star. "It was the start of the blow-up; it was definitely a darker season but a necessary one to understand where everyone’s at."

Nevertheless, more episodes will come soon enough: The show was renewed for seasons 6 and 7, as well. (We'll get to that eventually.)

Who in the cast will return for 'The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives' season 5?

The core women of #MomTok will return for more Mormon Wives; however, a few names will receive less screen time. We know for certain that Whitney Leavitt has plans to exit the series. According to Variety, production followed Whitney to N.Y.C. to "document her Chicago experience for season 5" (and there are clips of her in the teaser!), but this will probably be her last major on-screen appearance on SLOMW. She announced her departure on the final night of her starring run as Roxy Hart in Chicago on Broadway in early May, and Deadline reported that her reps confirmed the news.

It shouldn't be too surprising to fans that the once-villain-turned-showbiz-star is moving on from Mormon Wives. She spent most of season 4 filming Dancing With the Stars in L.A., and exchanged her Swig of dirty soda for the Big Apple throughout winter and spring 2026 for her extended Broadway run. And her schedule is only going to get busier: She starred in her first film, a holiday rom-com, back in December.

Whitney has long been vocal about her acting ambitions and, in previous seasons of Mormon Wives, expressed that she’s not afraid to walk away from the show if it isn’t serving her. In a February 2026 interview with Variety, she confirmed she “would” be interested in leaving SLOMW, but didn’t clarify when. The breakout star explained that she and her husband Conor “go back and forth” about stepping away from it. Whitney told the outlet, “Because this is what I wanted, and I wasn’t shy about sharing that. So at what point do you move on to the next journey?” Well, now we know that after season 5, she's called it quits.

We can also assume that Demi Engemann won’t return. After refusing to film for most of season 4 over pay disputes and wanting to spend more time with her family, getting cut from the show’s title sequence, and her ongoing feud with fellow MomToker Jessi, she's distanced herself from the show.

Draper teased as much while speaking with E! News by joking, “I don't know what I'm allowed to say, but let's just say I've had a much more peaceful experience this season.”

It also seems that #MomTok's other Dancing With the Stars alum may have a smaller role in season 5. Jen Affleck has officially moved to California and signed on to SLOMW's first spinoff, The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives: Orange County. Though Jen will likely appear in the flagship's fifth season, it's unknown whether she'll do double duty on future installments.

Finally, for some time, there was a big question mark about the return of #MomTok leader Taylor Frankie Paul. Inevitably, she's back, and her personal life is a big focus of season 5. She's taken to social media to say she'll be in season 6, as well.

Elsewhere in the cast, fans can rest easy that we’ll definitely see more of Jessi, Mayci Neeley, Layla Taylor, Mikayla Matthews, Miranda McWhorter, and, for better or worse, their husbands in #DadTok.

What will 'The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives' season 5 be about?

Season 4 ended with a whole lot of drama: Jessi is contemplating divorcing Jordan; Mikayla and her husband Jace Terry are living separately; Layla reveals she’s struggling with an eating disorder; Jen tells Whitney she no longer considers her a friend; Whitney’s about to head off to the Great White Way; Conner Leavitt is angry at Zac Affleck for berating Whitney on behalf of Jen; Taylor leaves to film The Bachelorette shortly after her ex, Dakota Mortensen, tells her that he loves her, before going off to flirt with Miranda’s best friend Shinia; and, if that’s not enough, Dakota rells Jordan and Jessi he suspects Taylor might be pregnant.

And that doesn't even touch on what's unfolded since season 4. Even beyond the incident involving Taylor and Dakota, in early 2026 Jessi and Jordan initiated a heated divorce, Whitney's run on Chicago smashed box-office records, and rumors have swirled that Miranda's ex-husband Chase hooked up with another member of #MomTok.

That's all to say: There's no shortage of drama. We know for certain that the coming episodes will uncover what happened between Taylor and her ex, and perhaps how it affected their circle. We can only begin to imagine what else will make it to screen.

Is there a trailer for 'The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives' Season 5?

Take a deep breath because the season 5 trailer is a lot to take in. The teaser dropped in late April, ahead of the installment's September premiere, and confirmed just how much of the episodes will unpack the fallout of the allegations surrounding Taylor. It opens with a producer asking her co-stars what they know, to which they confirm that the public doesn't know everything. "How did she get here?" Miranda asks.

Taylor accuses Dakota (who tattooed her name on his inner-lip) of being obsessed with him, and fights abound.

There's spats between the #MomTok stars, as well, with someone noting, "It feels like there’s no friendships left in #MomTok." While we're always wondering whether #MomTok will survive this, it seems as though the ladies are really at their boiling point this time around.

Is season 5 the last season of 'The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives?'

While everyone seems at their wits' end in the season 5 trailer, there is (inevitably) more drama coming down the pipeline. In summer 2026 (long before season 5 had a release date), Hulu ordered 20 more episodes. This has been typical of the streamer, as it's ordered seasons in batches—meaning those will be split into seasons 6 and 7.

It should continue to release at breakneck speed, too. Season 6 is already filming, as of summer 2026, according to Layla's "Get Real" podcast appearance. She said, "We’re filming season 6 now. I am exhausted…we have this battle that all of the girls talk about. When we’re not filming, I miss it and, honestly, I get kind of bored, and so much happens conveniently when the cameras go down, so it’s like at this point, let’s just film the whole year."

At this rate (and for better or worse), that seems to be the case. Continue to check back, as we'll keep this story updated as more information about the coming episodes is released.

When Taylor Frankie Paul was announced as the next Bachelorette on ABC’s long-running franchise in fall 2025, it was a casting choice that felt both random…but also obvious. For some members of Bachelor Nation, who weren't familiar with The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star, she may have seemed like a surprising—perhaps even controversial, given her “soft swinging” scandal—decision. But for fans of the hit Hulu reality show who have watched the #MomTok influencer struggle, blossom, cry, and push through the highest highs and the lowest lows for four seasons, it felt like an organic growth—a true IYKYK moment—despite the risk.

However, we now know the Bachelor producers' risk did not pan out. Days before Taylor's Bachelorette debut was set to air in March 2026, the season was cancelled amid a legal battle that also put the brakes on her original series. Months later, the fate of the shelved Bachelorette season is still up in the air—even as SLOMW season 5 spills all on its unaired ending.

With season 5 now on Hulu, we’re breaking down the timeline of Taylor Frankie Paul's involvement with The Bachelorette, and whether her dating-show journey will ever see the light of day.

Why was Taylor Frankie Paul selected as the next Bachelorette?

The Bachelor and Bachelorette franchise famously selects from within its own roster of previous “Bachelor Nation” contestants to lead the forthcoming season. It keeps viewers tuned in—and also stirs drama, with contestants frequently questioning whether their co-stars are there for reasons other than the heart of the current Bachelor or Bachelorette. The only exception to this casting practice was in 2021, with season 25 lead, Matt James. (He was originally cast as a contestant for Clare Crawley’s Bachelorette season, but before filming began, he was plucked from the lineup and promoted to lead the next installment of The Bachelor.)

While Taylor wasn’t part of Bachelor Nation, she did previously express her interest in crossing over in June 2025. When asked by Variety what she thinks of fans saying she’d make a great Bachelorette, she said she’d “absolutely” be interested. It’s hard to know exactly what transpired for her to secure the spot—but the team behind SLOMW has been particularly strategic in turning its influencer ensemble into bona fide stars, and it’s worth noting that ABC and Hulu are both owned by the same parent company, The Walt Disney Company. On top of that, one can assume that, as The Bachelor franchise experiences an identity crisis, it has an incentive to cast a new lead with an established audience to attract new viewers. That’s not to mention that there was already drama to start the season, with Taylor’s on-and-off relationship with her ex/the husband of her children, Dakota Mortensen, and her unabashed willingness to wear her emotions on her sleeve and speak her mind, no matter the consequences. Basically, producers found a lead who was sure to make for a must-watch season of The Bachelorette.

When was 'The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives' season 4 filmed?

The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives season 4 covered most of fall 2025, leading up to Taylor flying out to L.A. to start filming The Bachelorette. Audiences saw the moment the world learned of Taylor’s Bachelorette casting in episode 2, which shows how that announcement sent ripples among #MomTok. While Taylor’s journey to The Bachelorette certainly wasn’t the only major storyline that season, it did loom over each episode.

A tracker counting down the days, hours, and minutes until Taylor left for Bachelor Mansion frequently flashed across the screen, reminding viewers of the dwindling time until Taylor stepped into her new leading role. It lent an ominous weight to many decisions she had to make, including what to do about her relationship with her ex, Dakota, and how she wanted to “heal” herself by dating 30 different men.

When was the Taylor Frankie Paul season of 'The Bachelorette' filmed?

While Hulu and ABC have not confirmed, longtime reality TV aficionado Reality Steve reported that The Bachelorette began filming on October 26, 2025. That makes sense, considering SLOMW season 4 ends with Jessi and Jordan’s Halloween party. It’s been confirmed that she filmed during the last few months of 2025 and wrapped sometime in December. At the time, she commemorated the end of filming on Instagram.

“Never experienced anything like this. Can’t wait to talk all about it, share it, show it,” she wrote in the caption, paired with a series of photos of her from throughout production. “This will be worth the wait, stay tuned coming in March.”

What was Taylor Frankie Paul and Dakota Mortensen's relationship status going into her season of 'The Bachelorette?'

Taylor had a few romantic interests in SLOMW season 4: At the start of the season, she divulged her crush on fellow TikToker Ben Lambert (going so far as to hang out with him when he visited Utah), and fancied a brief dalliance with another reality star, Harry Jowsey. However, Taylor’s ex and baby daddy, Dakota Mortensen, remained at the center of Taylor’s orbit for much of this season. It seemed season 3's revelation that Dakota was texting inappropriately with a close family friend of Taylor’s during her pregnancy was the “point of no return” for Taylor and her family. It showed there was no hope for the two to ever be in a happy relationship in the wake of all of Dakota’s transgressions, thus pushing Taylor into the arms of The Bachelorette.

Many people, including Taylor, admitted throughout season 4 that the only way for her to move on from Dakota was to go on The Bachelorette—and yet they couldn’t seem to let each other go. It was a tumultuous, Sisyphean season for the two. The countdown to Taylor leaving for The Bachelorette didn’t seem to register as an expiration date for them, as they kept fighting, making up, recoupling, and then trying to break away. Just when you think it’s finally over, they tumble back into each other again, or another of Dakota’s wrongdoings is revealed (like how he hooked up with Shinia Powell, one of Miranda McWhorter’s friends) and breaks Taylor’s heart—sending them both rolling back to square one.

This continued until hours before Taylor left to film The Bachelorette. Dakota went to Taylor’s house to drop off their son, Ever, the night before Taylor was due to fly out, saying it might be the last time they see each other for two months. We then saw Dakota the next morning, walking out of Taylor’s house. When producers asked what happened, Dakota smirked. The coupling sent Taylor spiraling enough that she didn’t board her morning flight to L.A. with her mom and sister, telling her mother she felt sick.

Taylor ultimately got on a later flight before jetting off to film The Bachelorette—but Dakota still made one final attempt for her attention right before producers took her phone for filming. In a FaceTime with Taylor, Dakota apologized for hooking up with Miranda’s friend. “All I’m gonna say is, save a rose for me,” he told Taylor. Hours later, at Jessi Draper and Jordan Ngatikaura’s Halloween party, we saw Dakota flirting with Shinia.

The season ended with a bombshell from Dakota to Jessi and Jordan that Taylor hadn’t had her period yet. “Is she going to be a pregnant Bachelorette?” Jessi asked in disbelief. (Spoiler alert: She wasn’t.)

Why was Taylor Frankie Paul’s season of 'The Bachelorette' cancelled?

Three days before the premiere of Taylor Frankie Paul's season of The Bachelorette, ABC announced it would no longer air. Variety reported on March 19 that the network has paused the release of Taylor's season of the hit dating show until further notice. And as of mid-September, there is no firm plan to reschedule the release.

The cancellation comes amid an ongoing domestic assault investigation involving the #MomTok influencer. According to Variety, a Disney Entertainment Television spokesperson explained that the decision came after a leaked video about the alleged incident surfaced. They said, "In light of the newly released video just surfaced today, we have made the decision to not move forward with the new season of The Bachelorette at this time, and our focus is on supporting the family."

News of the alleged domestic assault surfaced shortly after season 4 of Mormon Wives aired. At the time, reports emerged that filming on season 5 was paused due to allegations of domestic violence from both parties, including Taylor and her ex, Dakota Mortensen. The reality hit eventually resumed production that May.

When was 'The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives' season 5 filmed?

Despite fan speculation that season 5 would show both the lead-up to and the aftermath of its filming hiatus, SLOMW’s latest installment only includes scenes filmed before cameras went down in mid-March 2026. Season 5 premiered on September 10, 2026, with only five episodes, just half of the episodes originally ordered by Hulu. Though the show’s cast (sans Taylor) returned to finish filming confessional interviews in May, there wasn't new scenic footage from that period. (We’ll have to wait for season 6.)

As for what season 5 does cover, the show’s timeline picks up almost immediately after Taylor returns from filming The Bachelorette. SLOMW’s eventual production pause hangs over the entire installment, with a countdown similar to season 4’s, and an intro montage of influencer clips recapping the public response to the allegations and the Bachelorette cancellation. After the show sets up a how did we get here arc, we follow Taylor as she juggles her new engagement(!), her ongoing feelings for Dakota, and her newly strengthened feelings for Ben (the TikTok guy).

What do we know about the Taylor Frankie Paul season of 'The Bachelorette' so far?

Despite the fate of Taylor’s Bachelorette season still being up in the air (more on that later), The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives season 5 doesn’t make any attempt to avoid spoilers. In the premiere, Jessi Draper, Mayci Neeley, and Mikayla Matthews discuss visiting the Bachelorette set to meet Taylor’s top three men: Shane Parton, Lew Evans, and Doug Mason. Though they don’t know who she picked at the time, Jessi, Mayci, and Mikayla agree that Shane and Lew are the “healthy choices” and that Doug seemed like he wasn’t there for the right reasons. Cut to Taylor, who reveals that she got engaged to Doug.

However, as internet sleuths know, Taylor and Doug’s engagement didn’t last long. Before season 5 even arrived, rumors began swirling that Taylor had slept with Dakota again upon returning to Utah post-Bachelorette. She admits in the season 5 premiere that she’d been regularly cheating on Doug with Dakota since they got back. (Dakota was also cheating on his new girlfriend, Emma Shippen, with Taylor.) We see her confront Dakota with the knowledge that he continued hooking up with Shinia while she was away, but it's unclear whether she plans to keep on sleeping with him. (Her exact words are “Only for one thing. That’s all I need you for.”)

Meanwhile, although she keeps Dakota secret from both Doug and the Bachelorette producers, Taylor reveals she’s in love with a third guy! It turns out she also reconnected with Ben Lambert after returning to Utah, and he’d given her more butterflies than any of the other men. In fact, Ben knew about Taylor cheating with Dakota before Doug did. In classic Taylor chaos, she later turns #MomTok’s trip to support Whitney on Broadway into a secret tryst with Ben, who has to stay sequestered in her hotel so they don’t get papped. She dumps him at the end of the trip because he wants to date for marriage, and she doesn’t.

Amid all this, Taylor does at least knock her fiancé off her roster. To be fair, she points out that Doug had been distant since they went back home after filming. He even left her a voicemail suggesting that they take a three-day break from talking to each other. So, in episode 2, we learn that Taylor dumped Doug offscreen after cancelling their “happy couple,” A.K.A. one of the getaways where the Bachelor/Bachelorette and their final pick have private one-on-one time before the season airs.

With that, Taylor’s Bachelorette season is completely spoiled before it can even air.

Will the Taylor Frankie Paul season of 'The Bachelorette' ever come out?

So, will Taylor’s infamous Bachelorette run ever make it to our screens? I’d argue that the answer is now “what’s the point,” after SLOMW gave the whole thing away. However, before season 5’s airing, it was still a possibility. In late April, Disney’s head of unscripted entertainment, Rob Mills, told The Hollywood Reporter that “everything really is a day at a time.” That was followed by rumors in late July that ABC still had plans to air the shelved installment.

There is one possible reason that ABC would still want to air Taylor’s season. One of her finalists, Shane, has been floated as a possible lead for the next season of The Bachelor, which is set for early 2027. If he, or any of Taylor’s men, gets the gig, then the network could air the shelved episodes to make sure viewers get to know the new lead before his season.

The fate of the Bachelor franchise is best left to the producers, but if Taylor had her way, she’d be up to returning for a do-over. Following season 5’s airing, the reality star revealed that she is now celibate, while posting pictures from a shelved magazine cover paired with her season. She wrote in the caption, “ps should we release the tapes now just to see? ..and maybe bachelorette round two?? lmfao”

Hulu’s The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives (which dropped its fourth season on March 12th) is many things. A reality show about women in Salt Lake City estates who built six-figure influencer empires via choreographed TikTok dances? Yes. But it’s also a kind of social experiment, a religious unfettering, a plastic surgery PSA, and the reason “soft swinging” has become part of our cultural lexicon. This is a show that began with a cheating scandal and a dream: to proselytize so hard that the temple garment industry would be forced to churn out more modern (read: sleeveless) designs. Since its premiere in 2024, The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives was a bless-this-mess mix of artificially-manufactured chaos, sincere feminist awakening, and clout chasing dressed in bronde extensions and wildly puffy peasant dresses.

But here’s what The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives has, unfortunately, also become about: the husbands.

Now, nobody asked for this. Not one person turned on this show and mused, “I wonder what the men think.” And yet here we are, four seasons deep, watching Temu Scott Disick (cough Jordan Ngatikaura) and friends attempt to monetize their wives reality TV fame while also being upset that they have achieved reality TV fame. They are selling merch on Instagram that gives new meaning to the phrase “ugly as sin.” And, worst of all, they have opinions.

The betrayal stings for two reasons. First, while The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, like nearly every reality show of its ilk, has always operated under a set of heavily ring-lit rules—staged catfights in coffee shops, relationship-ending calls conveniently caught on dashcams, confessionals edited with a machete to perfectly narrate the IRL drama—it also felt different. Think about what these women are technically supposed to be: modest, submissive, defined entirely by the gendered stereotypes of wives and mothers. Instead, they weaponized the influencer economy to rail against a centuries-old religion, using TikTok of all places as a backdoor to build a following, an income, and their own autonomy. The Mormon Church had not yet issued guidance on whether a sponsored post for a sex toy brand constituted a threat to its divine institution, and in that regulatory gap, these women created entire careers.

Maybe Taylor Frankie Paul was a walking disaster haunted by an energy-draining vampire known as her baby daddy, Dakota Mortensen. Maybe Whitney Leavitt’s theater-kid energy derailed many a birthday and baby shower. Maybe Jen Affleck really did hallucinate familial ties to the Dunkin' Donuts-loving half of Bennifer. Maybe we did confuse Jessi Ngatikaura with Demi Engemann anytime the former was in her natural habitat and not her warehouse-sized hair salon. Or Mayci Neeley and Mikayla Matthews did judge their fellow moms so harshly, we’d imagine an excommunication was preferable to being on the receiving end of their shit-talking. And, yeah, maybe we did forget Layla Taylor and Miranda McWhorter were there half the time. But in season 4, they’ve all evolved into producers, Dancing With the Stars contestants, authors, entrepreneurs, and ABC-endorsed Bachelorettes. That’s a trajectory no one—certainly not the men in their orbit—saw coming, so distracting from this girlboss glow-up just feels wrong.

The second reason the betrayal stings is simpler, and somehow worse: the show handed the camera to the husbands. And those husbands? They’re aggressively mediocre and terminally uninteresting.

That’s all well and good. Background furniture, after all, has its place. Except these particular pieces of furniture are now getting trips to Vanderpump Villa, hoodies with logos, and, perhaps most horrifying, unlimited time on-camera to share their feelings. Look, if we wanted to hear a group of emotionally stunted manbabies think tank the word “emasculating,” we’d turn on one of the thousands of podcasts already available. But here we are.

And what these men do with their screen time is, frankly, enlightening. They gather. Around fire pits, in living rooms, at parties they're hosting in their wives's backyards, all to do one thing: remind each other that they are, in fact, the most important people on this show. Season 3 was monopolized by these discount group therapy sessions, usually led by the self-appointed founder of #DadTok, Jordan, as he tried to wrestle with wife Jessi’s infidelity. But season 4 has taken an even wilder leap, imagining #DadTok is its own separate entity worth caring about. It’s why Jordan interrupts a Sip & See butterfly ceremony in the premiere to pull focus from the women and the miracle of birth they’ve just performed to congratulate himself and his bros on negotiating a free trip to Europe. It’s why Zac Affleck—#MomTok’s most devout hater in seasons past—has decided to drop out of med school, follow his wife to L.A., and live on her dime while posting the same dumb little TikTok videos he once openly mocked her for. It’s why Jacob (Mayci’s husband) gives his post-partum wife the ick when he prioritizes a #DadTok pact to keep the naughtier details of his boys’s trip under lock and key.

Individually, each of these moments is just bad television. Collectively, they're something else.

What’s always been true about The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives is now impossible to ignore: This is a show about women living inside a framework that was specifically designed to keep them small. The faith, the culture, the very specific aesthetic demands of Utah County; all of it exists to remind these women of their place. For three seasons, watching them transcend that place was the whole point.

But signal-boost the men enough, and the subtext becomes the text. Suddenly, the show isn't about women finding loopholes in a restrictive system; it's about the system asserting itself, regaining control of the status quo. Jordan's fire pit summits aren't just annoying filler. They're a deacon's quorum with a production budget, dressed up in therapy-speak and delivered on a streaming platform.

It would be easy to leave this at annoying. To file #DadTok under "unfortunate creative decision" and move on. Except the consequences of centering these men end up being more than just entire scenes we collectively fast-forward our way through. They're a pretty accurate map of what happens when male discomfort gets treated as something to cater to. (Sure, male loneliness may be an epidemic, but why is that something we’re being asked to care about in this, our holiest of shared feminine spaces?)

Take Jen Affleck, for instance. A woman who spent the better part of season 2 in a perinatal depression so debilitating that production stopped filming her mid-season. Her husband Zac uses her crisis to start "hard conversations" that reliably end in the same place: his wife being at fault. The camera follows him through all of it, never issuing a correction. Taylor Frankie Paul gets slut-shamed by her own family in the same season Dakota cheats on her with one of her mother's friends. And Jessi, who spent years absorbing emotional abuse from Jordan before any cameras were pointed at them, gets to report as a season four milestone that he has recently started putting the kids to bed. The bar for these and all men is truly below sea level.

Giving the husbands the camera makes watching paint dry more preferable, but it also reframes everything we thought this show was about. The moment the series starts treating Jordan's wounded ego as a storyline with equal weight to Jessi's, the moment Zac's feelings about #MomTok get their own confessional, that’s the moment the women's choices stop being the point and start being the context for the men's reaction to them. Which is, to be clear, a much older story, one these women's faith has been telling about them for two hundred years.

At the end of the day, though, the moms are still producing, competing, publishing, and franchising themselves into something the Mormon Church definitely did not see coming. The husbands, meanwhile, are selling hoodies on Instagram to an audience of each other. No amount of extra screen time can rewrite those facts. Let #DadTok make like its members's receding hairlines and drift back into obscurity. The wives have actual work to do.

Ryan Murphy shows that depict real-life historical figures have become infamous for their loose relationship with the truth. According to Daryl Hannah, FX's Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy is allegedly no different.

On March 6, four weeks into Love Story's run on FX and Hulu, the Splash star penned an op-ed for The New York Times addressing her portrayal on the hit drama. Early episodes dramatize the end of her long-term relationship with JFK Jr. (played by Paul Anthony Kelly), as the scion simultaneously met and fell for then-Calvin Klein employee Carolyn Bassette (Sarah Pidgeon).

"The character 'Daryl Hannah' portrayed in the series is not even a remotely accurate representation of my life, my conduct or my relationship with John," the actress wrote in what marks her first time speaking on her romance with Kennedy Jr.

Described by Vulture as a "portrayal border[ing] on caricature," Love Story depicts Hannah (played by Dree Hemingway) as a ditzy on- and off-again girlfriend who hosts drug-fueled parties in Kennedy Jr.'s apartment. Their relationship ends largely because his mother, Jackie Kennedy Onassis, disapproves, and their breakup is made all the worse when Hannah crashes the late First Lady's memorial service, embarrassing the family.

In her op-ed, Hannah rebuts each of these scenes. "I have never used cocaine in my life or hosted cocaine-fueled parties. I have never pressured anyone into marriage. I have never desecrated any family heirloom or intruded upon anyone’s private memorial. I have never planted any story in the press. I never compared Jacqueline Onassis’ death to a dog’s."

"It’s appalling to me that I even have to defend myself against a television show. These are not creative embellishments of personality. They are assertions about conduct—and they are false," she added. The actress/filmmaker also described the show's choice to depict her as "irritating, self-absorbed, whiny and inappropriate," and to pit her against Bassette-Kennedy. She asks, "Isn’t it textbook misogyny to tear down one woman in order to build up another?"

In addition to debunking her character's salacious scenes, Hannah's op-ed also revealed how the series has affected her. "When so many people watch a dramatization that uses a real name, real-life consequences follow," she wrote. "In the weeks since the series aired, I have received many hostile and even threatening messages from viewers who seem to believe the portrayal is factual. When entertainment borrows a real person’s name, it can permanently impact her reputation."

Neither Murphy, FX, nor the Love Story team has responded to Hannah's claims as of the time of writing.

Hannah isn't the only public figure to decry Love Story as controversial. During his appearance on CBS News Sunday Mornings on March 1, JFK Jr.'s nephew (and congressional hopeful) Jack Schlossberg accused executive producer Murphy of profiting from the notoriously private family.

"If you want to know someone who’s never met anyone in my family, knows nothing about us, talk to Ryan Murphy," Schlossberg said. "The guy knows nothing about what he’s talking about, and he’s making a ton of money on a grotesque display of someone else’s life."

This story contains heavy spoilers for Paradise season 2, episode 4, “A Holy Charge.” When Hulu's Paradise returned for its highly anticipated season 2 on February 23, instead of checking in with the lead character, Xavier (Sterling K. Brown), it opens with a departure episode about a woman named Annie Clay. Primarily set after the super volcano eruption that upends society in the series, the premiere titled “Graceland” follows the med school dropout turned Graceland tour guide (played by Shailene Woodley) as she finds the will to survive. It’s arguably the show’s best installment yet.

Thanks to Woodley's exquisite performance and the telling glimpses of her life before the apocalypse—her mother’s death, the panic attack that brings her career to an end, and the comfort she finds in teaching strangers about her mother’s favorite singer—we quickly come to care for her. It's all the more heartbreaking—and frustrating—then, when it's clear three episodes later that the character was introduced only to die.

When Annie and Xavier’s paths inevitably cross by the end of “Graceland,” it seems to signal a new future for her and an important allyship for both of them. Strong-willed and pragmatic, Annie could’ve seen Paradise’s mysteries with new eyes, and without the complacency of the average bunker dweller. However, no matter how well-written she appears to be, she was never meant to be the hero. Instead, she’s just the latest victim of a misogynistic plot device that has plagued female characters for decades.

The beginning of Annie’s plummet from compelling character to emotional-manipulation device comes via a plot twist near the end of “Graceland”: She’s heavily pregnant. A year before Xavier’s plane crashed, Annie met Link (Thomas Doherty), a charming biker who gate-crashed the museum two years after the eruption, in search of vintage car parts. Though she was initially guarded, Annie bonds with Link during his time at the mansion, and they sleep together before he leaves. Link, who’s determined to get to the mysterious Colorado bunker, asks Annie to join him, but she's too afraid to leave her familiar shelter. So by the time Xavier falls from the sky, Annie is very late in her pregnancy.

It makes little sense beyond melodrama. Shrewd Annie and mature-beyond-his-years Link are both extremely smart, careful people, and they didn’t once think of contraception? The odds of getting pregnant from one instance of unprotected sex range from 3 to 42 percent within a woman’s fertile window, but you wouldn’t know that if your sole source of sex ed is this exhausting postapocalyptic trope. (See A Quiet Place, The Walking Dead, Children of Men, etc.)

Though some viewers may have hoped that Annie and her baby would survive—after all, the concept of the entire show requires some suspension of disbelief—what we get is much more lurid. After Annie stitches Xavier back up in the March 2nd episode, “A Holy Charge,” the pair have two weeks together while he heals before setting out to find his wife, Teri (Enuka Okuma), in Atlanta, and eventually reach Colorado. But, to appear travel-ready, Annie had been hiding the severity of her condition, so it’s not long before she experiences preeclampsia and is pushed into early labor. In the 25 minutes of screen time before that labor begins, her interiority takes a back seat. The show doesn’t explore whether she regrets locking herself in Graceland, if her feelings for Link have evolved since their separation, or what she thinks about motherhood outside of their dystopian circumstances. Save for flashes that hint at her condition and urgency to leave, we only see her with Xavier, who centers himself in the moment, dadsplaining the joys and fears (and swaddling tips) of parenthood. Every conversation between them rehashes the same existential dilemma: Nihilist Annie can’t see the future as anything but bleak, but, to optimist Xavier, the baby inside her is a symbol of hope.

Before Annie ultimately dies in childbirth, she tasks a crying Xavier with “A Holy Charge”—delivering the baby to Link—in a prime example of fridging. The bane of every feminist fangirl, the trope coined by comics writer Gail Simone in 1999 is when a secondary character (usually female) dies or goes through grievous harm so a more significant character (typically male) can experience growth or change because of it. Not every instance of a male character’s sorrow over a female character’s death is fridging, but Annie’s death caps off the end of an episode that treats her like the trope’s most notorious examples. Her own character arc and potential are pushed aside so she can serve as a plot device and conduit for two men. Link—the specter in Xavier’s dreams whose past is tangled in the existence of the bunker itself—becomes the lynchpin holding the series together, giving it momentum. Annie’s discarded, and her only legacy is a letter to her child that echoes Xavier’s message.

Television has made major strides in its depiction of nuanced female characters, but even the best shows can’t avoid all pitfalls. Over the past few years, speculative-fiction shows like House of the Dragon, The Handmaid’s Tale, Yellowjackets, The Last of Us, and even Bridgerton season 4 have explored pregnancy trauma and traumatic childbirth in scenes more graphic than Annie’s. While some of these have been controversial, they’ve also treated the death of the mother with gravitas, not glossing over the cruelty and sorrow. Instead, “A Holy Charge” joins Squid Game season 3 as a recent show in which a mother's death is sidelined for the male hero to find a new purpose as her baby’s caretaker. Considering how reproductive harm is a longstanding sci-fi trope, it’s troubling to think that a portion of mainstream Hollywood could be regressing in their approach to these stories. It’s also telling that this episode’s flashback juxtaposes Annie’s childbirth with a bunch of men (and Julianne Nicholson’s Sinatra) more concerned about the bunker’s first newborn than the mother who carried him to term.

Beyond the simplistic writing and lost potential, the most frustrating thing about Paradise’s discarding of Annie is that we know the show can do better. The fourth episode of Paradise’s first season, “Agent Billy Pace,” also ends with a central character’s tragic death. Over the course of an hour, we learn the titular assassin’s (Jim Beavers) tragic backstory and empathize with him as quickly as with Annie. But we also get to see Billy grow: his redemption arc, his feelings for Jane, and how his friendship with Xavier and love for Xavier’s kids inspire him to be better. Billy gets to be a whole person, not a character in a fable. Annie and all the other female characters coming to TV deserve the same courtesy.