Mormon Wives’ Jessi Ngatikaura breaks silence on Demi rift and split rumours after explosive finale

Jessi Ngatikaura is at the centre of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives season two. Now, she’s breaking her silence on the fallout with former friend Demi Engemann and the rumours surrounding her marriage after that explosive finale.

The show follows a group of Utah-based Mormon influencers known collectively as “MomTok,” whose picture-perfect content includes baking, parenting, beauty and traditional values — all filtered through a reality TV lens.

Now streaming on Disney+, the latest installment picks up after SLOMW became the platform’s most-watched unscripted premiere of 2024. Speaking with The Standard, Jessi opened up about the tensions that defined the season — from her fractured friendship with Demi to the speculation surrounding her marriage in the wake of the finale’s biggest revelation.

“That was obviously crazy,” she said, reflecting on Vanderpump Villa star Marciano Brunette’s claim in the finale that he and Jessi had slept together — a tense exchange with Layla Taylor that fuelled rumours about Jessi’s marriage to husband Jordan Ngatikaura. Fellow castmate Whitney Leavitt called the moment a “bombshell” for the entire group.

Commenting on how it was reliving that moment and how her marriage is today, she said: “The good thing about reality TV is… that you film it months ago, and then it comes on.

“So obviously that situation I was already aware of, so I knew it was coming, but watching it back and then seeing opinions and people talking about it was weird, and the hardest part is not being able to fully speak about it til the next season comes out.”

“I will say there's more to that story. It's a lot bigger than you know what just is shown right there. But reality TV is so hard on any relationship, friendship, anything like that,” she continued, highlighting how difficult reality TV is on relationships.

“So, I think the next season, I'm kind of excited to show a more vulnerable side of me, a bigger piece of my marriage, and hopefully something that people can relate to.”

The moment capped a drama-filled season that charted the collapse of Jessi’s once-tight friendship with Demi. Though they began as close allies, tensions flared off-camera — including Demi criticising Jessi’s business, JZ Styles, behind her back and allegedly trying to have her dropped from the show for a bigger paycheque — culminating in an on-screen fallout Jessi later described as a full-blown friendship break-up.

“It’s so hard,” she said of the break-up. “Everyone's gone through a friendship break-up, but to do it publicly with people's opinions is so weird, because I know how I felt, she knows how she felt, but now we add in the internet's opinions and everything, it's hard.”

She said the fallout came after “a few things happened over a few months” that gradually wore the friendship down. “And I think that it needed to happen because emotions were so high and we probably needed a break to cool down and think about what each of us did.

“I think actually the show airing was good because we both got to see our actions and kind of like reflect on, ‘should I have done this differently?’. I don’t think Demi and I will be what we were, but I do think the group as a whole is moving to a more civil place. I’d love to see MomTok stay together, not constantly up and down.”

Whitney agrees. “I really do too,” she says, adding that her own relationship with Demi has improved after the pair were at odds in season one, which ultimately led to Leavitt leaving MomTok. “I separated myself from the group and then, in turn, felt ostracised and kind of felt left on an island. And so I feel like, with Jen [Affleck at] the beginning of season two, she was starting to feel like that. So, I really related with her on that.

“And then even with Demi, now she feels that way. And I mean, things are slowly getting better, but with Demi, we've just related with each other on that and have built a relationship.”

This season viewers watched the cast navigate new babies, baking projects and bubbling tensions. Whitney gave birth on camera to her son, Billy Gene, and by the finale, three more women announced they’re expecting. Meanwhile, the husbands got roped into the chaos — dressing up as Chippendales and judging a Great Mormon Bake-Off, complete with Jesus-themed pumpkin pies and peanut butter bars in honour of Mormon founder Joseph Smith — all while being drawn into the group’s escalating drama.

With so much drama to unpack, fans have been calling for a reunion episode since season one. And their prayers have finally been answered as they announced earlier this week that Nick Viall will host a special one-off with the stars of the show on Tuesday, July 1.

Following the finale bombshell, Jessi promises the second half of the season, which has yet to air, will provide more clarity for fans — and the group more united. “There’s a lot of craziness. A lot more answers. And I would say it's a season unlike any other that we have so far — very different.”

The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives season two is available to stream on Disney+ now