The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives cast drama with Vanderpump Villa’s Marciano Brunette explained
A crossover episode of reality TV has left Vanderpump Villa’s Marciano Brunette in hot water with The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives co-stars Jessi Ngatikaura and Demi Engemann.
The drama, which included explosive claims of an alleged assault and an affair, stemmed from a special episode between the two hit reality shows that aired in April.
While season three of SLOMW, premiering Thursday on Hulu, is expected to address the truth behind the alleged scandals, let’s take a look back at how it all began.
‘Momtoks and Mormons, Oh My!’
Vanderpump Villa, a spinoff of Bravo’s popular reality series Vanderpump Rules, documents the rivalries and romances between a group of employees hired to serve guests at a luxury property rented out for the summer months by restaurateur and former Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Lisa Vanderpump.
‘Vanderpump Villa’s’ Marciano Brunette (left) claimed he had an affair with ‘The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives’ star Jessi Ngatikaura (right) (Disney)
During the second season of Vanderpump Villa, five cast members from SLOWM: Ngatikaura, Engemann, Jennifer Affleck, Mikayla Matthews, and Layla Taylor traveled to Italy for a stay at the villa.
Titled “Momtoks and Mormons, Oh My!,” the episode featured an innocent drinking game between the castle staff and the SLOWM cast that devolved into hurt feelings and deception.
Brunette confesses his attraction to Engemann
In a confessional, Brunette, 32, admitted that he felt an instant “instant connection” to Engemann, “not only physically” but emotionally, too.
He then took her aside for a one-on-one chat. “I wanna get to know you,” he said. “I’m gonna ask these questions, if you’ll allow me to. I think you owe it to yourself, and you owe it to me.” However, instead of flirting back, Engemann, 30, who is married to Bret Engemann, 46, offered him relationship advice.
(L-R) Demi Engemann and Mikayla Taylor of ‘The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives’ on season two of ‘Vanderpump Villa’ (Disney)
Once their conversation ended, Brunette pulled Engemann in for a hug before planting a kiss on her head.
Engemann accuses Brunette of assault
During a May appearance on Nick Viall’s podcast, Engemann alleged she was groped at the Vanderpump Villa by a man whom she did not name. Although she didn’t identify the alleged perpetrator, she recalled telling her SLOMW co-stars about the incident and insisting that she didn’t want to file an official police report.
Engemann’s accusation came weeks after the Vanderpump Villa episode aired and the drama began spilling onto social media.
Brunette posted an Instagram reel, captioned: “uninvited to the function cus a 30yo mormon wife’s scared I’ll tell her husband the truth.” His post, which has since been deleted, was reportedly in reference to a Get Real House event hosted by Hulu on April 22, 2025, which welcomed stars from across the streamer’s reality shows, including Engemann and her co-star Whitney Leavitt, alongside The Kardashians, ex-Bachelors, and Dancing with the Stars contestants.
Brunette was notably absent.
Engemann later commented on a now-removed post from a fan account about the drama, writing: “Grown men acting like a child cause they couldn’t bag a woman that was beyond out of their league and MARRIED <<< the clout chasing is on another level.”
In a subsequent comment, she claimed Brunette was uninvited “because he’s a s3xual pr3dator that can’t keep his hands to himself, not because I’m hiding anything from my husband.”
Demi Engemann (second from the right) and four of her ‘The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives’ co-stars take cooking lessons on ‘Vanderpump Villa’ (Disney)
Things got even messier, however, when Ngatikaura cryptically commented on Brunette’s post, “The truth will always come out.” A fan responded to Ngatikaura, insisting that she “must really not f*** with Demi anymore” because “she doesn’t seem the type to cheat.”
“All I’ll say is it’s not ok to claim assault when it’s not true,” Ngatikaura, 33, replied.
In an Instagram Story shortly thereafter, Engemann clarified, “Unwanted physical touch = assault. PERIOD the end.”
Addressing “the people that were made aware of these events and watched me cry and attempt to navigate the best way to move forward due to this individual’s actions, and then proceed to use their platforms to victim shame, publicly call me a liar, and judge the way I handled it,” she added, “You are perpetuating the very problem as to why victims don’t feel comfortable coming forward about these things!”
Ngatikaura reveals NSFW texts allegedly shared between Brunette and Engemann
During the season two reunion episode of SLOMW in July, Ngatikaura, 33, exposed an alleged text chain between Brunette and Engemann, which showed the two exchanging suggestive banter.
Jessi Ngatikaura (front right) at ‘The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives’ reunion in July (Disney)
“Is this how you sweet-talk all the ladies!?” Engemann wrote in one message, with Brunette answering: “I didn’t realize I was sweet-talking you.”
Brunette eventually broke his silence, thanking Ngatikaura for “leaking our text messages.”
“Well this is awkward,” he wrote over an Instagram video. “[Demi] literally accused me of s3gual a$$ault & told the world ‘it was a legal issue’ when all of it was just an attempt to scare me & silent [sic] me.”
Engemann, who missed the reunion due to scheduling conflicts, has yet to address their alleged texts publicly.
Bombshell cheating allegations surface
As the drama unfolded between Brunette and Engemann, low-simmering rumors of an affair between Brunette and Ngatikaura were also bubbling.
Speculations that the two were romantically involved sparked in 2024, when they were allegedly spotted kissing in Los Angeles a month after filming the crossover episode.
Jessi Ngatikaura has been married to her husband, Jordan, since 2020 (Getty Images for Disney)
In an attempt to get to the bottom of all the drama, Taylor met up with Brunette in the penultimate episode of SLOMW’s season two to discuss what happened in Italy last summer.
Brunette admitted that he initially tried hooking up with Engemann, but she ended up shutting down his advances.
He revealed that after hearing about the “soft swinging” scandal involving SLOMW castmate Taylor Frankie Paul and her then-husband, Tate — the controversy that went on to launch the reality show in the first place — he mistakenly assumed all the Mormon wives were swingers.
“I didn’t really understand the boundaries,” he told Taylor. “I’d be lying if I said I didn’t at least try and kiss [Engemann].”
Brunette then went on to insinuate that he and Ngatikaura hadn’t just kissed but had also slept together.
“It’s not like this was just some freaking one-night stand,” he said to Taylor, who replied, stunned, “No, it’s a full-blown f***ing affair.”
He further claimed that Ngatikaura’s husband, Jordan, “doesn’t know the truth about how extensive it was,” and that he and Ngatikaura had “tried meeting up” additional times to continue their alleged dalliance.
Ngatikaura has denied the initial kissing allegations, saying in an episode, “If I was dumb enough to do that, I wouldn’t do it in public.”
While she still has yet to directly address the affair allegations, in a TikTok video posted the day after the finale aired, the mother of three teased, “I’ll speak when I can.”
Season three of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives arrives Thursday on Hulu.
Rape Crisis offers support for those affected by rape and sexual abuse. You can call them on 0808 802 9999 in England and Wales, 0808 801 0302 in Scotland, and 0800 0246 991 in Northern Ireland, or visit their website at www.rapecrisis.org.uk.
If you are in the US, you can call Rainn on 800-656-HOPE (4673).
