A deep dive inside the bizarre world of Mormon 'MomTok'

TikTok has given rise to countless unlikely internet stars who have turned their 15 minutes of fame into an entire career.

One online community of people, known collectively as "Mormon MomTok", has people utterly obsessed.

"MomTok" is the nickname given to the thousands of US mothers who have found fame on the popular social media app, and within it, there is another subgroup of Mormon mum bloggers.

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Who is Taylor Frankie Paul?

In the American state of Utah, TikToker Taylor Frankie Paul has single-handedly made Mormon MomTok the hottest topic on the internet right now.

Paul, 28, is part of a Mormon community in Draper, Utah, and she recently revealed she and her husband Tate were getting a divorce.

The pair share two children, Indy and Ocean, and have shared viral clips in the past about their unique marriage dynamic. In one video, Paul claimed she and her husband slept in separate bedrooms.

However, the couple's divorce announcement was unlike any other influencer relationship update.

This is because Paul told followers their marriage breakdown was due to swinging.

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What is 'soft swinging?'

According to Paul, she and a group of unnamed couples in the Utah Mormon community were engaging in "soft swinging".

"The whole group was intimate with each other," Paul told her followers in a bizarre TikTok confessional.

"Tate has made out with several girls and other things, and I've made out with all of the husbands and vice versa."

Paul explained their "soft swinging" arrangement came with strict conditions. You aren't supposed to get intimate with another person away from the group or have sex with them unless your partner is present.

In her video, she admitted to crossing a line with another woman's husband.

"We had an agreement, and I did step out of that agreement," Paul said during her livestream.

"It wasn't like I was going around like hooking up with my friend's husband. It was like, we were at a party, I got belligerent, and we went and messed around by ourselves rather than the whole group," she said. 

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Paul insisted her indiscretion was "a one-time thing" but also admitted she had feelings for the unnamed man.

Paul was sharing the intimate details of her marriage fall-out with millions of followers, and people were absolutely rapt.

A TikTok clip of Paul with the keys to her new home after moving out garnered 12 million views alone.

Paul first hinted at trouble in her relationship with Tate last month, posting a clip of herself with the title "an unfortunate announcement".

In the video, she added overlay text that read: "In my twenties, getting divorced, started therapy, living on my own for the first time ever along with two little kids."

In another clip posted to TikTok, Paul said she was unable to disclose the details of her split without "bringing them all down with me."

"My life is falling apart. And I can't even speak on why," she wrote cryptically. 

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Fans were quickly able to deduce something nefarious had happened after other members of the "MomTok" community unfollowed Paul and began liking videos suggesting she had cheated.

In her confessional video posted days later, Paul said she was being "shunned" by her friends, before claiming "no one is innocent." She also said the "soft swinging" had resulted in other marriage breakdowns within the friendship group.

"There are three divorces in our friend group right now," Paul added. "One not really to do with this situation, but there are two of us who are getting divorced." 

According to Paul, she and Tate remain on "good terms" but said there were multiple other reasons for their divorce.

The swinging incident was just the "tip of the iceberg", she claimed.

When Mormon MomTok made headlines, TikTok stars scrambled to distance themselves from the scandal and claimed they were not involved with swinging.

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Some fans also claimed Paul was purposefully causing "drama" in a bid to star in the next season of Real Housewives of Salt Lake City. Paul, however, has denied these claims.

And after her swinging admission went viral and triggered an internet frenzy, Paul said she was done with sharing her family problems online.

On June 1, the mum-of-two thanked her family for being "so supportive" but said she would not be releasing any more details of her divorce.

"After talking with my legal team, I have all rights to share my story if wanted. However I feel that I shared a part and will not be sharing anything else from here on out," she shared in a post on Instagram.