Avery Woods walks into reality TV with an audience she built herself, about 2.5 million TikTok followers and a weekly podcast, Cheers! with Avery Woods. She spent years as a pediatric ICU nurse, then traded hospital shifts for full-time content creation and a podcast deal.
Now she joins The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives: Orange County, the first spinoff of Hulu’s hit series, which premieres Thursday, November 12, 2026.
Woods is one of nine women in the Orange County cast, and she is new to the franchise. Jen Affleck is the only crossover from the Utah original. The rest of the group, Woods included, comes to the show with its own following already in place.
That following knows her as the host of Cheers! with Avery Woods, a weekly comedy interview show on Alex Cooper’s Unwell Network. It also knows her as a mom of two who talks about nursing, marriage, and motherhood without much filter. The show puts that version of her in front of a much bigger audience, and she has said on her own podcast that she is nervous about what comes with it.
Avery Woods at a Glance
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | April 19, 1995 (age 31; the Hulu trailer lists 30) |
| Known for | Cheers! podcast (Unwell Network); The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives: Orange County |
| Career | Former PICU nurse, then aesthetic injector; full-time creator since Oct 2023 |
| Husband | David Woods (former police officer), married since 2016 |
| Children | Son Ziggy, daughter Stevie; stepmom to David’s two older children |
| Socials | Instagram about 890K; TikTok about 2.5M |
| Faith | Has said she has “never been a religious person” |
Joining the Orange County Cast
Hulu announced the spinoff on April 22, 2026, at its Get Real House event in Beverly Hills. The show follows a new group of young mothers in Orange County, California, where faith shapes daily life and identity. The full first season drops at once on November 12, 2026, on Hulu in the United States and on Disney+ internationally.
The cast list Hulu confirmed for the premiere names nine women: Jen Affleck, Bobbi Althoff, Aspyn Ovard, Avery Woods, McCall DaPron, Madison Bontempo, Salomé Andrea, Ashleigh Pease, and Jordan McClanahan. Woods is one of eight newcomers. Affleck, who moved from Utah to Orange County, is the bridge between the original series and the spinoff. Chandler Higginson was named in the April announcement but is not in the final cast. Jordan McClanahan took that spot in the September 29, 2026 premiere announcement.
Woods has talked about filming on Cheers! itself. In a solo episode released August 17, 2026, titled “secret lives, real talk & q+a,” she answered fan questions about the show, explained why her family stays off camera, and spoke about her fear of public criticism once it airs. She has drawn a clear line around her husband and kids, and the episode made it plain that the line stays in place.
The trailer arrived in October 2026, about a month before the premiere. It leaned into the same mix the Utah show is known for: friendship, faith, family, and arguments about both.
For readers catching up on the original show first, our complete guide to The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives covers the Utah cast, the seasons so far, and how the spinoff connects to it.
Why Viewers Keep Asking if Avery Woods Is Mormon
The show’s title invites the question, and Woods has already answered it herself, more than once. She is not a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. On a January 2024 episode of Cheers!, she said she has “never been a religious person.” She has also described herself on the podcast as the “opposite” of a Mormon.
That puts her in the same camp as several of her castmates. Not everyone in the Orange County group is a practicing member of the church, and the show’s own premise treats belief as something the women argue about, not something they all share. Woods has never claimed a Mormon background, and nothing she has said publicly suggests one.
Woods enters that conversation from outside the church, which gives her a different seat at the table from castmates who grew up in it. Her podcast audience already knows where she stands. The Hulu audience is about to find out.
From the PICU to Full-Time Creator
Woods started posting on social media while she was still in nursing school. She went on to work as a pediatric ICU nurse, including through the pandemic, caring for critically ill children. She later moved into aesthetic nursing and worked as a cosmetic injector, a job that fit naturally with the beauty content she was already posting.
She left the PICU, kept working as a nurse injector while her content grew, and went all in on content when Cheers! launched in October 2023. Her TikTok following is about 2.5 million as of July 2026, and her Instagram account, @averyywoods, sits at about 874,000 followers as of November 2026.
Woods lived in Mesa, Arizona, before the move to California.
Her nursing background still shapes what she posts. She has recorded solo episodes that draw directly on her years as a PICU nurse, including one in July 2026 that walked new and expecting moms through baby and postpartum must-haves, the same list ICU doctors used to ask her for. She has also used the podcast to give straightforward advice to people trying to get through nursing school. The hospital years gave her a lane no one else in the Orange County cast occupies, and she keeps returning to it.
Cheers! and the Unwell Deal
Cheers! with Avery Woods launched in October 2023 and now sits under Alex Cooper’s Unwell Network. The format is simple: Woods sits down with a weekly guest, usually over a glass of wine, and talks through life, work, and whatever the guest is known for. Guests have ranged from reality stars to actors to other creators.
Cheers! has peaked at #2 on Top Shows and #7 on USA Top Podcasts. Off the podcast, Woods has worked with Mayfair Group on merchandise, Kosas on its DreamBeam campaign, and Olive & June on press-on nails.
The guest list shows how wide her circle already runs. Aspyn Ovard, now her fellow Orange County castmate, first came on the podcast in 2024, and Woods re-released that conversation as a throwback episode on October 5, 2026, a month before the premiere. Salomé Andrea, another castmate, appeared on the show in 2023. Jessi Draper, a star of the Utah original, joined Woods in September 2026 to talk about the fifth season of the original series.
In April 2026, Woods relaunched the show as Cheers 2.0. She described the new version as softer and more honest, shaped by motherhood, mental health, and a major life shift. The relaunch came with a step back from the hustle, in her own words, and a promise to be more open about the hard parts of the past year.
Recent episodes show the range she now covers. Her most recent episode, released November 2, 2026, brought on sister duo Sarah and Emily for “the art of roasting your sister.” October brought Christy Carlson Romano talking about life as a 2000s Disney star, and a solo episode in which Woods talked about two new cats, adopted by accident, and a travel app venture she is working on.
September included legal reporter Sierra Gillespie on the Lindsay Clancy trial and Daniella Monet on her return to acting. Jennifer Stone, the former Disney Channel star turned ER nurse, sat down with Woods in August 2026.
Marriage, Kids, and the Move to California
Woods married her husband, David Woods, in 2016. David is a former police officer. The couple met when Woods was 18, married when she was 21, and had their first baby when she was 23.
They share two children together, son Ziggy and daughter Stevie. Woods is also a stepmom to David’s two older children from a previous relationship.
The family lived in Mesa, Arizona, for six years. In late March 2025, Woods announced the family was leaving its Mesa home for California. The sale closed April 25, 2025, for $949,900, and weeks later she closed on a $3.67 million home in Calabasas, announced May 7, 2025.
The move came months before Hulu confirmed the Orange County cast.
Her family stays largely off camera, by her choice. She has said on the podcast that her husband and children come first, even ahead of work opportunities the show might bring. That boundary matters for viewers, because it means the show will likely show Woods herself far more than it shows her home life.
The February 2025 Podcast Joke and the Apology
Woods has had at least one public reckoning with her own words. In a February 10, 2025 episode of Cheers! with Too Hot to Handle star Harry Jowsey, she made a joke about Jesus that listeners found offensive. The clip spread fast, and the backlash followed within days.
Woods apologized on TikTok, saying she was “learning and will do better.” She said the show is a comedy podcast but that some jokes cross lines, and this one did.
“I never ever want to bash religion, bash somebody’s beliefs,” she said. “I regret that wholeheartedly.” She also said the episode had been scripted by producers and that she should have spoken up to tone it down.
The episode was edited after the fact, and Woods stepped back from posting for a short time. She returned with a brief message to fans on February 19, 2025. The moment still comes up in comment threads about her casting, and it is part of why she has said she worries about criticism once the show airs.
A Hard Year Off Camera
The months before the show’s announcement were heavy for Woods in ways that had nothing to do with her career. Her friend Emilie Kiser, a fellow creator who had appeared on Cheers! in October 2023, lost her 3-year-old son Trigg in May 2025. Woods stepped back from social media for about two weeks. She returned on June 2, 2025, with a quiet get-ready-with-me video, wearing a silver pendant engraved with Trigg’s name.
She has also talked openly about her own mental health. In a September 2025 interview on the Real Pod podcast, she spoke about hitting rock bottom, her struggles with bulimia and body image, and the cosmetic procedures she has had. The conversation fits the tone she set with the Cheers 2.0 relaunch months later: less polish, more honesty about the parts of her life that do not look good on camera.
None of this is the reason she is on the show. It is the background she brings to it, and the Orange County cast gives her a bigger stage for the direct way she talks about motherhood, marriage, and the messier parts of both.
What Avery Woods Brings to Orange County
Woods enters as a newcomer with a built-in audience, a weekly podcast, and a clear sense of what she will and will not put on camera.
How she fits the group will show quickly. The faith conversations come first, since she has been open about not being religious while several castmates are practicing members. Then there is whether her podcast habit of saying the blunt thing survives the edit, or whether the February 2025 backlash changed how far she goes. And there is how much of her family life stays off screen, given the line she has already drawn around her husband and kids.
Her podcast keeps running alongside the show, and it will likely be the first place she reacts to episodes once they air. The August 2026 Q&A episode already showed the pattern: she answers fan questions directly, she names her worries, and she does not pretend the attention is all easy.
Frequently Asked Questions About Avery Woods
How old is Avery Woods?
Avery Woods is 31 years old. She was born on April 19, 1995, and marked her 31st birthday in April 2026 with a family celebration she shared on Instagram. Her birth date comes from biography sites, while her age is confirmed by that birthday post and by press coverage. Hulu’s trailer graphics list her as 30, so the trailer and the press coverage do not agree on her age.
Is Avery Woods Mormon?
No. Woods has said on her Cheers! podcast that she has “never been a religious person,” and she has described herself as the “opposite” of a Mormon. She is not a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Who is Avery Woods married to?
Woods is married to David Woods, a former police officer. They married in 2016 after meeting when Woods was 18. They share two children, Ziggy and Stevie, and Woods is a stepmom to David’s two older children from a previous relationship.
How many kids does Avery Woods have?
Woods has two children with her husband David, son Ziggy and daughter Stevie. She is also a stepmom to David’s two older children, so the blended family has four children in total.
What is Cheers! with Avery Woods?
Cheers! is Woods’ weekly comedy interview podcast, launched in October 2023 and now part of Alex Cooper’s Unwell Network. She talks with a guest each week about life, work, and motherhood. In April 2026 she relaunched it as Cheers 2.0, promising a softer and more honest version of the show.
What did Avery Woods do before becoming an influencer?
Woods worked as a pediatric ICU nurse, including through the pandemic, and later worked as an aesthetic nurse injector. She left the PICU and went all in on content when Cheers! launched in October 2023. She still draws on her nursing experience in podcast episodes about motherhood and postpartum life.
When does The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives: Orange County premiere?
The series premieres Thursday, November 12, 2026, on Hulu in the United States and on Disney+ internationally. The full first season drops at once. Woods is one of nine cast members, and Jen Affleck is the only crossover from the Utah original.
