The Biggest Bombshells From The Mormon Wives S2 Reunion

Graziadaily

11 hours ago

*Warning: This article contains themes of sexual assault and abuse that some readers may find triggering.*
Anyone who watched season two of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives on Disney+ will have a long list of questions after that cliffhanger of a finale. What happened between Demi and Marciano? And, importantly, what happened between Jessi and Marciano?
Elsewhere fans were left wondering how Jen and Zac are feeling after stepping back from the show, whether Whitney is back in the group chat, and what's going on between Taylor and Dakota.
Thankfully most of these points were addressed by The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives cast in the season two reunion special, hosted by Nick Viall. If you haven't had a chance to watch it for yourself, here are the biggest bombshells from the episode.
The biggest Mormon Wives reunion bombshells
Demi wasn't there
Demi Engemann, the undisputed 'villain' of season two, did not attend the special. She says filming clashed with a pre-planned family trip to Disney World, which the rest of the girls struggled to believe.
Instead, she sat down with Nick Viall for a one-on-one podcast discussion in advance. Clips from the interview, where she addressed some of the biggest storylines in the season, were shown to the rest of the cast. Read on to find out what Demi had to say.
The Marciano rumours are addressed head on
At the end of the season two, Layla Taylor paid Vanderpump Rules star Marciano Brunette a visit to get to the bottom of the rumours that there was something happening between him and Demi. He then alleged that it wasn't Demi he had an ongoing romance with, but her best friend Jessi Ngatikaura.
However, when these questions came up at the reunion, the cast said there was still more to the story. Mikayla says the cast of Vanderpump Villa had presumed the MomTok cast were all swingers because of the origin of the show and claims Demi spent a lot of time flirting with them. Jessi then whipped out 'receipts' to prove Marciano and Demi were flirting. The text conversation showed Demi allegedly sending Marciano sexual emojis and innuendos.
Jessi did not have her wedding ring on
After the season two bombshell, Jessi revealed she and Jordan are 'working through a lot of hard things'. However, she did not have her wedding ring or engagement ring on, so it looks like the events with Marciano may have taken a toll on their relationship.
She was asked point blank by Nick if she'd had sex with Marciano, as he alleged. 'Ummm, so a lot of this story is unpacked in season three so I can't talk about it yet,' she replied. As the husbands waited and watched from backstage, Nick then asked Jessi how she thinks Jordan might be feeling. 'I'm sure he's anxious, nervous, sad,' she said. 'We're both going through a lot right now, but he's willing to tell his truth too. There was a lot more to the story and it's not what you think it is. There are no secrets. We expose it all.'
Jessi says Demi is no longer part of the group
As her absence might suggest, tension was running high between Demi and the rest of the group when the reunion episode was filmed. Jessi, who was formerly Demi's right hand woman, said no one is currently talking to her. Whitney attempted to jump to her defence and said the girls were mocking her at their group shoot for People magazine and that Demi has just become the 'common enemy'.
Layla has had an orgasm
'I've officially become a woman,' she declared after two seasons worth of pressure (or encouragement) to have her first orgasm. Layla revealed it was the work of a vibrator rather than her boyfriend, but she was happy to join the club.
Mikayla and Whitney address their beef
Despite Whitney being reluctantly voted back into the group at the end of season two, Mikayla has always insisted they will never be friends again. The pair addressed the tension during the episode and Mikayla explained that she opened up to Whitney off camera in season one and was unfollowed a week later when she left MomTok, which is why she can't trust her anymore.
Whitney then brought up the Jay-Z party, which was when she asked the girls to bring all the issues they had with her to the table, and then apparently positioned herself as a 'victim of the situation'. At this point, Mayci joined the argument and told Whitney her and Mikayla tried to be there for her when she was going through a hard time with Conner, but she kept insisting they were 'better than ever' so eventually they stopped. Mikayla added that she was going through her own chronic illness struggles at that time, and that Mayci was in the throes of IVF, so they had their own problems to deal with too.
Taylor and Dakota are still Taylor and Dakota
If one thing is guaranteed to stay the same, it's Taylor and Dakota's toxic love-hate relationship. According to them, they are still following old patterns, but Taylor claims she never wants to be with Dakota again because of how much he has lied, and reportedly continues to lie, to her.
Dakota apologised for his behaviour and reinstated that he was addicted to drugs for 10 years and is possibly addicted to toxic relationships and sex in a different way. When asked if he could ever be a faithful partner he said, 'Yes 100%'.
Taylor admitted that she finds it hard to break away from Dakota completely, and found it especially hard when their baby was first born. However, she also admitted she has found out 'much more' about the cheating scandal with Jenna which was exposed at start of season two. And even found out new details weeks before the reunion special. All of which is likely to play out next season...
Demi shares her thoughts privately with Nick
'There's definitely some things going on with the girls, but I would have been there,' she told Nick on his podcast. 'We had planned a Disney Land trip with my family.'
Demi proceeded to lift the lid on her relationships with the girls and claimed everyone but her is scared to stand up to Taylor. After famously calling herself a 'fan favourite' after season one, Demi said Taylor, the founder of MomTok, doesn't give the other cast members enough credit. She said people are scared to confront Taylor because she takes all her arguments online and has a 'cult following' who jump to her defence.
When asked about her argument with Jen and the way she refused to back down even after Jen admitted she was suffering with pre-natal depression, Demi did not back down. 'I wish I could say I regret the way I handled that, I don't,' she said. 'There's a humanness to me that thinks "yeah, you were going through something," but we're all going through a lot. It doesn't discredit you lying about people and discrediting their reputation.'
'I don't know if it was the pregnancy or the absence that I felt like she was leaning into that,' she continued, 'as though it was her stepping away for her mental health instead of saying "I'm ashamed". What I saw was her running away from the problem.'
Whitney said Demi has 'bully tendencies'
The girls were aghast after Demi's comments and all in agreement that she had gone too far, but Whitney defenced her again and said she's not a bully but she has 'bully tendencies'. Jessi then added that the only reason Demi has gotten away with it for so long is 'because she's funny'.
DadTok join the Mormon Wives on the sofa
The first husband to be questioned was Jordan about the Demi and Marciano allegations. 'I knew what happened because of the conversations I'd had with Jessi,' he explained, 'but it was really tough to have the allegations made that were made.'
There is tension between Brett and the other husbands
Apparently, they still 'wave at the gym', but are otherwise estranged from Brett because of the divide between Demi and the rest of the group.
Conner Leavitt opens up about his past trauma
Conner addressed one of the biggest storylines in season one, admitting that he not only has a porn addiction, but he was indeed found on a dating app while married to Whitney, something they had previously denied. However, his explanation was heartbreaking and had several of the cast in tears.
Reading a letter he had written at the special, Conner bravely shared his story about being abused during his childhood with the hope of making others feel less alone. 'When I was a little boy, I was raped and when I was finally honest with that emotion and that memory, everything made sense. The validation I needed. I hate that I did that to you but I'm so proud I was able to be honest and start working through some really hard stuff.'
He made sure to emphasise that he is not trying to 'flip the script' on Whitney, who he thanked endlessly for her support, but he wants to explain his actions and say that he is seeking help. 'I want to thank everyone here for the sensitivity around the topic. I don't trust myself or my emotions when talking about it.
'I know so many people carry experiences like that even though they may not talk about them. For me, those experiences shaped me and developed truly destructive habits, but they don't define who I am today. What matters is how we grow, how we find resilience and how we support each other moving forward. If anyone is listening has been through something similar, I want them to know I'm sorry. Healing is possible and your story doesn't end with what happened to you.'
Jen returns with Zac
During a particularly difficult time between Jen and Zac in season two, she found out she was pregnant and decided to step back from filming to focus on her mental health.
In the reunion special, she opens up about her pre-natal depression during one of the worst periods of her life. 'I dealt with a lot of suicidal ideation,' she said. 'It was definitely one of the hardest times in my life and I felt like I couldn't turn to anyone. I didn't want anyone to feel like they were the reason. It really just is your body going through so many changes. Without the love I received at that time, I don't know where I'd be.'
Jen is still on bad terms with Demi
Jen claims that after her argument with Demi about the Vanderpump Villa rumours, Demi and Brett called her while she was in the car with Zac and he recorded the conversation. In the audio, Demi can be heard telling Jen that she should tell people they simply have 'different values' but she 'admires the open and honest communication that Demi and Brett share'. Demi added, 'Say "I may have jumped the gun and judged her" and then you don't have to go into any detail about what may or may not have happened.'
Layla opens up about her self-harm struggles
Layla made the devastating admission she has attempted to take her own life several times in the past. She has struggled with an eating disorder in the past, which is a theme on the show, as well as self-harm, admitting that she decided to seek help when her sons noticed her scars. Layla has since had her scars removed and says she is well on the path to recovery.
Mikayla opened up about past sexual abuse
After Conner's admission, Mikayla opened up about her own experiences being abused as a child and revealed Conner had reached out to support her, which she really appreciated. 'I think I physically cannot ignore this,' she explained, adding that Conner encouraged her to go to therapy. 'I know me and Whitney were going through a lot and he wanted me to feel supported from someone who had been through something similar.'
This was, of course, another emotional scene, which resulted in Whitney and Mikayla hugging. A sign of healing friendships in season three? Let's see.
If you have been affected by any of the issues in this article, help is always available. Contact the UK's 24 hour rape and sexual assault helpline by visiting the Rape Crisis website here, or calling 0808 500 2222. For urgent mental health support, visit Mind for more information or call the Samaritans on 116 123.