NEED TO KNOW
MomTok has accepted they may never know the truth about what happened between Demi Engemann and Marciano Brunette.
Last season, many of the women believed that there was more than just flirtation between the two reality stars when the ladies of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives visited Italy to appear on Vanderpump Villa.
In Season 3, Demi is at odds with MomTok as they continue to question whether she and Marciano did have a physical connection during or after their visit to Italy. When Marciano tells the women he did kiss Demi, it leads to more confusion as Demi maintains that any contact between her and Marciano was “unwanted touch.”
When it comes time for Hulu’s Get Real event, the women are shocked to find Marciano taking digs at Demi, blaming her for him allegedly being asked not to attend, writing in an Instagram story, “uninvited from the function because a 30 year old Mormon wife is scared to tell her husband the truth.”
Demi fires back, alleging Marciano wasn’t invited because he’s a “sexual predator that can’t keep his hands to himself,” which shocks the women.
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In a confessional looking back at the Vanderpump Villa trip, Jessi shares, “The day after we left, Demi came into our hotel room crying and basically said that she confessed to Bret that she feels bad because she’s not a victim and that she played into it too much.”
Layla’s account corroborates Jessi’s, with her sharing in her confessional, “When Demi initially told us about this, we were like, ‘Oh my gosh, who do we need to call? What do we need to do for you? How can we help you?’ and then the narrative switched a little bit after, and then she was saying she wasn’t the victim and she was flirting with him the whole entire time and admitted to that.”
In her first confessional of the season, Demi admits she was already “very nervous” to come back to MomTok, and this wasn’t making matters better.
When Whitney asks about the Instagram exchange, Demi says, “I feel like that was like a blatant shots fired, and you’re accusing me of having an affair. Yes, so I’m going to say something.”
“Yeah, I’m not gonna have someone come out… there’s one 30-year-old in the group! You’re saying you had an affair with me. You’re not gonna get away with that,” she continues.
“You’re blatantly lying about me when you and Jessi had the affair. You and Jessi formed an alliance to try to spin things and make it look better for you, and try to throw me under the bus for something I did not do.”
Further, Demi shares her disappointment in comments from the other women online that insinuated their support for Marciano, not her, in the situation.
“I saw comments from the other women in favor of Marciano and against me, basically calling me a liar, asking why I was continuing the conversation with him afterwards if this happened. Just the classic case of victim-blaming,” Demi says in a confessional.
“There’s no excuse [for] going online and calling a woman who’s been a victim in any way, shape or form a liar, unless you have proof and evidence that that did not happen.”
In a TikTok posted by Marciano on May 30, he posted screenshots of an exchange on Instagram between them, where Demi responded to Marciano’s story, eventually giving him her phone number and a “multiple-hour conversation.”
Marciano then said Demi was making “crazy allegations” against him. “But if that were the case, why are you following me? Why are you DMing me? Why are you giving me your phone number and proceed to have multiple hours of conversation and have a continued relationship after that?” he said. “Yeah, doesn’t make sense to me whatsoever.”
Marciano has not responded to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
Demi and Whitney begin to talk about Mayci, who chimes in since she’s having her makeup done in the same room. Of the women talking about her, she tells Mayci, “I don’t know if that’s you specifically or if it’s Mikayla specifically. I really hope not given what happened to both you and Mikayla.”
She continued, “I would hope that you would be like, ‘Hey, if something happened, I’m going to believe you’ because that’s why people don’t come forward and talk about it, because they’re afraid of, ‘Oh, how’s it going to look that I handled it this way?’ But as you know, there’s no right way to handle being mistreated in that way.”
Mayci tries to stay neutral in the situation, but discusses being put off by that framing in a confessional.
“Demi brings up my past history with abuse, and it feels a little inappropriate to me because our situations are so vastly different. I was in an abusive relationship. I was abused, choked, hit, pushed, all these things. I was raped, and this situation is so different than what she went through,” she explains.
“So, to me, it almost feels insensitive that she’s trying to compare the two or use me as a scapegoat for what she’s going through.”
Later, Demi and Jessi sit down for a conversation about their feud and all things Marciano, during which each of the ladies stands their ground.
Jessi explained that, like some of the other women, she had trouble understanding why Demi stayed in contact with Marciano after the alleged incident between them. Demi says, “In my mind, it was literally a case of, ‘Keep your friends close, keep your enemies closer.’ ”
Jessi also noted they couldn’t understand why Demi would allow her daughter, Maude, to speak with Marciano and even FaceTime with him. Demi says that situation was blown out of proportion, and the video sent was just of Maude praying after Marciano asked her if she did when she interrupted a phone call of theirs. Demi maintained that she was never inappropriate with Marciano and any contact she’s ever had with him was with the knowledge of her husband.
“I think the thing that was so frustrating for me was that I confided in you about what happened with Marciano and then you had a physical and emotional affair with the guy. You were my best friend,” Demi tells Jessi.
“I get that, but from my perspective, you were still friendly with him, so I genuinely didn’t feel that you felt that way about him,” Jessi replies.
In a confessional, she explains, “I’m only hearing now that he’s her alleged abuser, now that it’s coming out publicly, but she’s told me and the girls so many times that she’s not a victim. I did not go out and intentionally find someone who abused Demi and decided to kiss him. And that’s how she’s trying to make it seem right now.”
Demi continues to stand up for herself, sharing in her own confessional, “Everyone is going to handle these kinds of situations different. You never deserve unwanted touch. No matter what it looks like, no matter what your relationship was like before or after, unwanted touch is unwanted touch.”
The conversation doesn’t come to a satisfying conclusion for either of them as Jessi tries to emphasize she’s not trying to “victim shame” anyone.
“At this point, I feel like I’m backed into a corner because Demi’s saying there’s no perfect way to handle assault and that is completely valid and so true,” she says.
“So I just feel like I can’t fight that right now. And even though we may never know the truth. I just need to let this go. Ultimately, I’m just glad we had this conversation, and I honestly never want to talk about this or Marciano ever again.”
The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives season 3 is now streaming on Hulu.
