Mayci Neeley's final text to her boyfriend went unanswered. Hours later, she opened Instagram.

The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives is back with another season. And if it's anything like last year… we expect it to go absolutely gangbusters.

The first season of the show followed eight Mormon influencers in the aftermath of a 2022 TikTok sex scandal that made international headlines: when one member of the Mormon MomTok group, Taylor Frankie Paul, shared that she had been engaging in "soft swinging" within their group of married friends.

Shockingly, that wasn't all when it came to the drama from this cast.

Mayci Neeley is one of the stars, and on the show, her life appeared relatively picture-perfect. But behind the scenes, she had a tragic backstory that wasn't aired.

Now, in the show's second season, Neeley has opened up about her traumatic past.

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Who is Mayci Neeley?

Macyi Neeley was a young tennis star while studying at Brigham Young University. She has gone on to become CEO of Babymama, a natal nutrition company.

She's also a #MomTok influencer, like all the gals on The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, and documented her IVF journey with her husband, Jacob Neeley, on the show.

The couple share a blended family, with two kids — a four-year-old daughter and a nine-year-old son — and another on the way.

Jacob Neeley isn't the biological father of the nine-year-old son, though. Before her marriage, Mayci was in a relationship with Arik Mack. Then her life changed forever.

Mayci Neeley's former partner's tragic accident.

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In February 2015, Mayci was at university on a tennis scholarship when she found out she was pregnant. She and her boyfriend at the time, Arik Mack, were both 19.

In an article for The Mirror, Mayci described Arik as "a bit of a wild guy" who was "so full of life". With this in mind, she said he was likely not ready to settle down into a life of nappies and nursery drop-offs.

She was distressed that she would have to give up her burgeoning career in tennis to go through with the pregnancy. But she was happy that Arik assured her he was ready to be a parent, and that he had plans to marry her.

Mayci quit tennis and moved back home so that her family could care for her during the pregnancy.

Arik stayed at the university, which was in a different city in Utah.

"Being away from Arik was harder than I thought. My hormones were all over the place. On 24 March 2015, Arik and I had a fight. The pressure on us had become too much and we started to argue over text," she wrote.

"Little did I know that Arik was driving while texting me. Frustrated, I stopped replying to his messages."

Later that day, Mayci was scrolling through Instagram and noticed a series of tribute posts were being made for Arik. She saw a post that read: "I'll miss you, Arik", which had a photo of him.

The next post said, "RIP".

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Mayci rang Arik's father, who confirmed the news. She was told that Arik had been texting while driving and had gotten into a car crash. Arik was killed on impact.

Reflecting on that time of grief, The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star said: "I was utterly destroyed. I had no idea that he was driving – I never would have replied to him if I knew. Arik was my best friend and suddenly, he was gone."

"My baby would never be held by their father. It was too much to bear."

Mayci fell into a deep depression, grieving the life she dreamed with Arik and that her son would grow up without his father. In a TikTok video, she said she received a range of hurtful comments from those around her, following the loss of Arik.

"You're young, you have plenty of time to find a father for your son."

"God has a plan for you."

"At least you'll never have to co-parent."

In September 2015, Mayci gave birth to their son, Hudson. She credits him for saving her life.

"He is the one who truly saved me. Life had meaning/purpose again. I'm here because of him," she shared in a TikTok.

In 2025, during a confessional in season 2 of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, Mayci opened up — for the first time on the show — about her former partner and the impact his death had, and continues to have on her life.

"I truly feel like he was my first love and it just destroyed me. I didn't want to live, to be honest, and if it wasn't for my son, I don't even know if I'd be here today," she said.

She recalled the night of the accident and the moment she found out that Arik had passed.

"I was 13 weeks and 5 days pregnant. Me and him got into a disagreement. Mainly me, I was upset with him, and we were sending texts back and forth and one of his texts was unfinished at the end of it," she explained.

"I remember calling him and hoping he would answer. And the worst part of it was just hearing the dial tone and being like, 'Please God, answer the phone.' And I called his dad and his dad told me that he passed away in a car accident... It was the most traumatic time of my life."

When Mayci Neeley met Jacob.

Mayci soon went back to university after having Hudson, and continued on with her tennis scholarship as a single mum.

Then, Jacob Neeley came into her life when Hudson was seven months old.

Mayci says she and Jacob met through friends, and became friends themselves, though she was hesitant to make their relationship romantic given the recent loss she had endured.

"I was terrified of getting hurt again but, after four months, I couldn't deny my feelings any longer. He was kind and funny and made me feel safe," she wrote for The Mirror.

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A post shared by Mayci J Neeley (@maycineeley)

The pair began dating, and in November 2017, Jacob proposed.

In June 2018, the pair wed.

In August 2020, they announced they were expecting via IVF, and in February 2021, they welcomed daughter Harlow into the world.

"I love my wife. I love our baby. And I love God. Childbirth is a miracle," wrote Jacob.

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Jacob has also since officially adopted Hudson as his child. Jacob and Mayci have been extremely vocal about trying for a third child via IVF, as Neeley had been struggling with fertility. But in February 2025, after a long journey, the couple announced that they were expecting another baby together.

"Baby #3 is on the way and we couldn't be happier!" she wrote in an Instagram post.

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Mayci shared that her two children couldn't contain their excitement about welcoming another sibling into their close-knit family. According to the Mormon Wives star, they've been eagerly preparing for the new arrival.

"My kids are so excited to have a sibling. They already fight over whose baby it is, which is so funny," she told People.

"My daughter, she's like, 'It's my baby!' and my son's like, 'No, it's our baby.' They fight over who is going to change diapers and I'm like, 'Great, I've got some little helpers.'"

Read more of Mamamia's content on The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives:

• A sex scandal, teen pregnancy and Ben Affleck's cousin: Meet the Mormon Wives.

• Whitney received 'death threats' after dancing in front of her sick child in hospital.

• Mormon Wives star Mikayla Matthews had a baby at 16. Her partner was 21.

This article was originally published in September 2024, and has since been updated with new information.

Feature Image: Getty.