Yahoo Lifestyle “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” Star Mikayla Matthews Shares Her Struggles with Chronic Illness: ‘Doesn’t Define Me’
Mikayla Matthews' struggles with her chronic illness were not included in 'The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives,' but she has been opening up about online
Mikayla Matthews/Instagram, Mikayla Matthews/TikTok
Mikayla MatthewsThe Secret Lives of Mormon Wives Star Mikayla Matthews is opening up about her ongoing struggles with her chronic illness online.
In a TikTok posted on Sept. 15, the 24-year-old mom of three showcased some of the "good that has come from sharing about [her] chronic illness that has controlled [her] life."
In the caption, she elaborated that "it took me a long time to realize that my illness doesn’t define me, and I will continue to talk about it for those who [are] also debilitated by it."
Mikayla Matthews/TikTok
Mikayla MatthewsMikayla is one of the eight members of MomTok - a group of Morman wives that was founded by Taylor Frankie Paul and included other members like Jennifer Affleck, Demi Engemann, Mayci Neeley, Jessi Ngatikaura, Whitney Leavitt and Layla Taylor.
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While The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives mainly focused on the aftermath of the "soft swinging" scandal in 2022 that shook up MomTok, the show did not feature Mikayla's ongoing struggles with her health and illness.
In an Instagram post on Sept. 7, Mikayla showed photos of her skin flare-ups and her doctor visits throughout filming season 1. In the post, she explained how "showing up for filming the whole first season was not only physically exhausting but extremely mentally challenging."
"I was fighting for my life, not only cause I’m surrounding by crazy women lol but because I was really really struggling," she continued. "I want to continue to shed light on the many stages of my chronic illness and chronic illness in general."
Her fellow MomTok members shared their support for Mikayla in the comments and wrote that they were so "proud" of her for opening up.
Mikayla first shared her struggles on TikTok in May 2023, when she explained that she has dealt with chronic eczema since childhood and revealed that the breast implants she got back in March 2023 caused her flare-ups to spread to her face.
"I’ve been struggling the last couple weeks with my surgery, I had a whole bunch of issues with recovery," she said at the time. "I know it’s easier said than done to just not feel insecure about your insecurities, literally as I sit here crying about my insecurities, but I really am more confident than I’ve been.”
Mikayla Matthews/Instagram
In an interview with Newsweek on Sept. 9, Mikayla revealed that she had been struggling to find a diagnosis for three years after she experienced her first flare-up following the birth of her third child.
"Once we started filming is the first step I took to start healing my chronic illness," she said. "That's when I took out my breast implants, and they filmed that but it wasn't shown."
While she expressed "disappointment" that her health struggle was cut out of the season, Mikayla wrote on Instagram that she "hopes to come back again SEASON 2 and share my full story🫶🏼🫶🏼💅🏼."
The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives is now streaming on Hulu.
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