Season 4 of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives dropped on Thursday, and we got a bombshell relationship update on one of the couples.
Mikayla Matthews and Jace Terry announced they separated due to their continued intimacy issues, which stem from the sexual abuse she experienced as a child. Earlier in the show, the MomTok star revealed she was sexually abused “for about four or five years” by someone close to her family until she was 15 years old, and the trauma from it has caused the estranged couple to struggle to connect physically and emotionally. And unfortunately, things have not improved.
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During the new season, Mikayla admitted that they hadn’t made a lot of progress on the problem because of her being postpartum and dealing with flare-ups from her chronic illness, and everything came to a head after a heated couple’s therapy session. Talking to her close pal Mayci Neeley, Mikayla said she left feeling “angry” and told Jace to sleep with someone else instead:
“I’m like, ‘Okay, fine, go have sex with someone else. Like, leave me alone almost.’ I feel like I’m working on so many different things outside of just sex, and I know that obviously he can’t just be like, ‘Okay, well we can go without that.’ We both get to a point where we get to a point where we feel really helpless about it.”
Oh no! The reality star added:
“Kissing is harder for me than sex, because I think kissing is more intimate for me, and I always have triggers with kissing.”
Both she and Jace agreed she doesn’t “have the motivation” to work on their issues because she has so much going on with her health — much to his disappointment. While opening up to Conner Leavitt, Jace shared what he just wants “more than anything and more than the actual sex, I just want to feel like I can connect with my wife again,” adding:
“And I want to feel loved by my heart.”
Mikayla later revealed that they decided to separate so she could work on herself without having to focus on their relationship. However, she won’t go to trauma therapy, which frustrates Jace. Mikayla insisted they would not be “separated forever” and would see each other every day because of the kids.
How heartbreaking! But where do they stand after filming? We have seen them on social media and at public events together over the past few months, including Whitney Leavitt‘s opening night in Chicago in January.
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Does that mean they are back together already? Mikayla told People on Thursday that she can’t say much, but said she still needs more time to heal:
“Last season, we dove into the beginning stages of it, and that was me revisiting all this trauma for the first time as well. It’s still new to me, and it’s new to him, and we’re just navigating it the best way that we can. Unfortunately, I think it’s just something that’s going take a lot more time. I feel like that’s all I can say on it now.”
It sounds like they are still separated! Sad! Reactions, Perezcious readers? Let us know in the comments!
If you have sincere cause to suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org.
If you or someone you know has experienced sexual violence and would like to learn more about resources, consider checking out https://www.rainn.org/resources.
