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Kelly Rissman
US News Reporter
The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives viewers were quick to pick up on a cast member with a famous last name.
Jen Affleck is one of eight Utah TikTokers at the center of the new Hulu reality series. Naturally, fans have questioned whether Jen is related to Good Will Hunting star Ben Affleck and his actor brother Casey. The short answer is – yes!
The mother of two is married to Zac Affleck, Ben and Casey’s second cousin. Zac, a medical student who met Jen when she was only 18, is the son of Dave Affleck, Ben and Casey’s cousin.
Speaking to People magazine while promoting the hit reality show, Jen confirmed her familial link to the actors, admitting she’s still never met them.
“Zac’s dad has [met them], when [Ben] was very little. I’m hoping to meet him one day, too,” she told the outlet.
And to make matters even more peculiar, Jen pointed to a detail in her name that connects her to Ben Affleck’s current wife.
She confessed: “My name happens to be not only Jen, but Jennifer Lynn Affleck, which is the exact same as JLo. She went from Jennifer Lynn Lopez to Jennifer Lynn Affleck, which is so crazy.”
Lopez is soon to be an Affleck no more as she and the Gone Girl star are getting a divorce after only two years of marriage.
Like their cousins, Jen and Zac have officially stepped into stardom with the debut of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives attracting major attention.
According to The Wrap, The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives has become the most-watched unscripted series on Hulu this year.
Jen, Taylor Frankie Paul, Mikayla Matthews, Layla Taylor, Demi Engemann, Mayci Neely, Whitney Leavitt, and Jessi Ngatikaura were first noticed on TikTok in 2021, posting about their lives at home as young parents and dedicated Mormons. Then, in 2022, scandal struck when Taylor divulged the news of her not-so-secret swinging habit.
At the time, Taylor opened up to her followers, admitting she and her now ex-husband Tate were splitting up and that they’d been “soft-swinging” with a few other Utah couples, refusing to confess which ones.
Now, curious viewers can watch the details of their drama unfold on television.
In conversation with Bustle, Taylor and Neely talked about how they’ve had to adjust to the spotlight and who their influencer models are now. To Neely, the level of attention surrounding “Mormon life” has been very surprising and unexpected.
“I don’t think I’ve ever talked about being Mormon so much in my entire life in the last month,” she said. “On social media I never really talked about religion. The only time I’d talk about it is if people asked, or if I was making a TikTok about getting pregnant at BYU as a Mormon, then I would poke fun at it. But I never really talked about religion until this show, which is so weird to have it so incorporated.”
Taylor added: “Yeah we don’t understand the fascination with it. We were born and raised with it, so it’s our normal — it’s our life.”
For both of them, utilizing their new platform to pivot and launch personalized brands is the next step in their career.
“I think it’s hard because we haven’t watched a ton of reality TV... The only one I really know is the Kardashians, right?” Neely noted after being asked to name her reality star role models. “They all have their businesses and they’re super successful. So if we could model off them, sure, I’ll take that.
“Yeah, because they all turned it into businesses,” Taylor agreed.
