The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star Demi Engemann has spoken out about her season 4 absence.
“I might come and go, but there are people that stay that want to go that don’t have the balls to go,” Demi, 31, quipped in a TMZ interview published Friday, March 13, without sharing names. “I will always be the girl that walks away for my peace [and] mental health. Like, it’s my opportunity too, so I can do what I want.”
She added, “I don’t regret anything, and I’ll stand by my decision to come and go as I need to.”
After starring in the first three seasons of Hulu’s The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, Demi only made a few cameos in the newly released season 4. Demi’s former best friend Jessi Ngatikaura later told E! News that “it wasn’t super surprising” to see Demi leave the show.
“Running off makes you look worse, in my opinion,” Jessi, 33, told the outlet on Thursday, March 12. “I wasn’t surprised, because she does this a lot.”
For the uninitiated, Demi and Jessi’s friendship fractured after the cast’s trip to Vanderpump Villa. There, Demi was accused of flirting with Marciano Brunette despite her marriage to Bret Engemann before she claimed that she was actually assaulted. (Marciano, 33, vehemently denied the accusations and subsequently sued Demi for defamation.)
Jessi, meanwhile, had an emotional affair with Marciano later that year before she separated from husband Jordan Ngatikaura. Jessi and Jordan, who share two children, are still working through their marital issues.
As for Demi, she’s kept her distance from Jessi and has seldom addressed any of the drama.
“[Jessi] has been saying a lot,” Demi added to TMZ on Friday, noting that she’s also “taken a step back” from MomTok as a whole. “Like Jessi said, I come and go, so you never know what the future may hold. I’m not fazed by anything Jessi says or anyone. I’ve heard it all.”
Whether Demi returns for future Mormon Wives seasons will depend on each “moment to moment.”
“[It will be] based on what feels right to me, and where my mental health’s at and what’s best for my family,” she told TMZ, teasing that she has “so many fun things coming” in the interim. “I’m so excited, it’s something new, [but] I can’t say anything.”
Regardless of where she stands with MomTok, Demi stressed that she is still “rooting for the other girls,” including Whitney Leavitt, Taylor Frankie Paul, Jen Affleck, Mayci Neeley, Mikayla Matthews, Layla Taylor and Miranda McWhorter.
The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives is currently streaming on Hulu.
