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The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives Season 2 ended on a shocking cliffhanger when Vanderpump Villa star Marciano Brunette told Layla Taylor that he was allegedly having an affair with her married co-star Jessi Ngatikaura. When DECIDER caught up with Taylor and Whitney Leavitt via Zoom this week, we simply had to ask for their reactions to Brunette’s confession, including the fan theory that Demi Engemann conspired with him to shift the heat off of her and onto her former best friend.
“I think with that, there’s so much that’s been going on. There’s so much behind the scenes, there is so much talk, there’s much he said, she said, and I think the viewers are just gonna have to keep watching,” Taylor said when we asked about the online theory, which bubbled up after Engemann’s flirty encounter with Brunette when she appeared in Vanderpump Villa Season 2.
Leavitt, who’s grown closer to Engemann amid her ousting from MomTok, said her “jaw physically hit the floor” when Brunette claimed he had been hooking up with Ngatikaura. “No one wants to find that out and to have to find it out with everybody else finding it out with you, I think is really hard to navigate,” she added. “We’re all figuring that out together because these are our real lives and these are really serious situations.”
While the two women — who are currently filming Season 3 — couldn’t say much about how everything unfolded, Leavitt did react to Mikayla Matthews and Ngatikaura claiming on the Viall Files podcast that Engemann wanted to stage an affair between herself and Taylor Frankie Paul‘s baby daddy Dakota Mortensen to manufacture an explosive finale in the first season.
“I think it’s just so incredibly inappropriate that that was even shared,” Leavitt said.
The mom of three also spoke about her friendship with Matthews, while Taylor revealed why she didn’t stick up for Paul at the Saints and Sinners party. Check out the full interview below.
DECIDER: Whitney, Mikayla still has this one-sided beef with you and after a while I just had to laugh at the way she would talk about you as if you were not right there in the room and yet you were so unbothered most of the time. Did you have to hold yourself back from reacting? Or did you just stop caring after a while?
WHITNEY LEAVITT: Honestly, it’s a little bit of both. I had this fear again that I was gonna be looked at like this bad guy. Even when I watched it, I was like, “Man, I already know things that I wish I would have said in that moment.” But it was like the fear of being a bad guy again took over. But there were also moments where I’m just like, “This isn’t even about me anymore, I don’t even know what’s going on, but this is not about me.” You just let it go, brush it off your shoulders and whatever.
Layla, I loved to see you getting closer to Taylor this season. I do want to talk about that scene at the Saints and Sinners party when Taylor confronted Demi about the text messages. Why did you decide to stay quiet at that moment? If you could go back, do you wish you would’ve had her back more?
LAYLA TAYLOR: Yeah, so right before we walked into the room, I was telling her how anxious I was about showing the group chat messages. It’s not that I regretted my decision, but I just think that night was going to be so heightened already, I was like, “Hey, let’s wait to bring up the messages until we’re outside of tonight.” And then the second she walks in the room, she goes, “Well, I heard I’m dumber than a brick.” And I was, “Taylor. They’re going to know that’s from that.” It was a moment that like, yes, I let her down by not standing up for her, but she also let me down by not keeping her word of not sharing her knowledge of the messages. So it was kind of a double whammy there. Yes, I do wish looking back I would have spoken up, but I think I was a little taken back by what she did and then vice versa. So I feel like I had a right at that moment to not necessarily be super stoked.
Photo: HuluSpeaking of Demi, Whitney, the two of you have gotten really close in a wild turn of events. Jessi and Mikayla claimed on a podcast that Demi had this big plan to manufacture an affair between her and Dakota for the Season 1 finale. Is there anything you can say about that? Or anything you’d like to clear up on her behalf?
WHITNEY: I haven’t listened to that podcast. But if I’m going to be completely honest with you, I don’t even know how to respond to that. I think it’s just so incredibly inappropriate that that was even shared. So, that’s my answer to that.
There’s been so much coming out and the comments sections are always going. How have you guys been able to handle that? I imagine it’s been a whirlwind.
WHITNEY: I know it’s so funny. Layla, I don’t know if you feel the same way, but every time I’m like, “I’m not going to look at it,” and then I’m, like, [looks at phone]. You just can’t help it. I’m at the point where I’m like, “This is comical at this point.” It’s almost kind of like with Mikayla, I’m just like, “You’re reaching and you don’t even know me but it’s funny. And hey, you’re making me money, so keep talking.”
LAYLA: I think at the end of the day, you have to remember that they see such little of our lives. Yes, we’re on reality TV and we’re sharing things, but it’s edited and then it’s cut and it’s cut even more. And then they will edit it in a way that flows the storyline to make things make sense. So, at the end of the day, they see so little. And if they want to jump to the conclusions that they want to jump to, that’s on them. If they want to send me messages and say that I’m the ugly duckling of the cast, I mean, they’re throwing bricks from a glass house. I think that anyone that’s in a good mental state would never hate on a random person that they don’t even know. So I just look at them and I’m like, honestly, I just feel bad for them. I hope that they get healing.
WHITNEY: But I’m also like, “Come back. You’re giving me engagement.”
LAYLA: I know I’m like, “Oh, my views are getting boosted.” Send it to your friends some more.
Photo: HuluLayla, you were there with Marciano when he made his big confession about Jessi. Some fans online have been theorizing that Demi might’ve conspired with Marciano to take the heat off of her and what might’ve happened at Vanderpump Villa. As someone who knows everyone involved and was there in Italy, what do you make of those theories?
LAYLA: I think with that, there’s so much that’s been going on. There’s so much behind the scenes, there is so much talk, there’s much he said, she said, and I think the viewers are just gonna have to keep watching.
Whitney, how did you react to that final scene between Layla and Marciano?
WHITNEY: I mean, my jaw definitely physically hit the floor. I mean, no one wants to find that out and to have to find it out with everybody else finding it out with you, I think is really hard to navigate. And we’re all figuring that out together because these are our real lives and these are really serious situations. Yeah, I’m sure Layla was very overwhelmed at that moment. It’s like, what do you do with that information? And I almost like felt overwhelmed for Layla in that moment.
LAYLA: I smile when I’m uncomfortable. And I’ve seen some people say, too, when we played pregnancy roulette, they’re like, “She’s smiling.” It’s, like, an anxiety tick thing. So I’m sitting there and I’m like, “Ah, I don’t know how to process this. I don’t know what to do moving forward. Do I talk?” It was just – it was a lot.
Layla, you were the one who called Jen Affleck fake in the truth box. Knowing what you know now about what she was going through behind closed doors, do you still feel that way?
LAYLA: At that point, we didn’t know what she was going through behind the scenes, obviously. We did not find that out until New Orleans. So there was a lot of context missing on her behalf, but I think the word fake was definitely probably a little too harsh. And I think looking back, I wouldn’t have written that. Do I still think some of the actions she was doing were not okay? Yes. And there’s also things that have happened behind the scenes with me and Jen too that weren’t shown. Season 1, me and her had a very bad falling out and there’s always been comments and stuff like that made towards me from her behalf. So I think I am still valid in my feelings, like there’s definitely some places that me and Jen needed to work through. But since then, me and Jen have talked. I’ve apologized to her since then.
I go through mental health issues as well. It’s something that I’ve dealt with my whole entire life to extreme levels as well so it’s definitely something that I can resonate with. And the second I found out about it in New Orleans, I was like, “Hey, guys, we all have to leave her alone. She’s going through a lot right now.” And I feel like I can’t advocate for mental health and then attack someone that’s having mental health issues. So, yeah, definitely looking back, I wish I wouldn’t have written the note but I can’t take it back. I can only just learn and grow from here
Photo: HuluWhitney, you were the first one Jen told about her pregnancy and she confided in you about her mental health. What was it like for you to be that friend for her in that moment, when she was falling out with everyone else? Where do you stand with her today?
WHITNEY: Yeah, I think we’re definitely cordial and kind and support each other. I think that Jen turned to me because of the aftermath of what happened with Season 1. I think she knew that I could understand where she was coming from and I totally could. Like, it sucks being on the outs and it’s not a great feeling and it is daunting and it’s scary and it can put you in a really dark place. And I guess I’m just happy that I was there for her at that moment.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives Season 2 is currently streaming on Hulu.
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