The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives season 2 reunion host Nick Viall has thoughts about cast member Demi Engemann voluntarily opting against attending.
“I do know people in production have mixed feelings about this,” Nick, 44, said on the Thursday, June 12, episode of his eponymous “Viall Files” podcast. “Demi is, in a way, very much a part of the reunion. You will have the opportunity to hear from Demi herself — in a way.”
Nick moderated the upcoming reunion for Mormon Wives, which will feature cast members Taylor Frankie Paul, Jessi Ngatikaura, Whitney Leavitt, Jen Affleck, Mayci Neeley, Mikayla Matthews, Layla Taylor and Miranda McWhorter. (Members of “DadTok,” a.k.a. the partners of the MomTok influencers, will also make appearances during the tell-all.)
Demi, 30, previously said that the reunion taping conflicted with a family vacation.
“I was [invited]. It was short notice and the only day they could get the location secured was the day that me and my entire family did Disneyland,” she said during an Instagram Story Q&A on Sunday, June 8. “We had already booked all of our flights, and the Airbnb was nonrefundable or / would’ve moved the trip to be there. I tried to have production move it to another day and they couldn’t swing it sadly.”
While addressing the situation on his podcast, Nick clarified that the entire cast was “gifted this opportunity to take their family to Disney.” (The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives airs on Hulu, which is owned by the Walt Disney Company.)
“They had the opportunity to pick whatever date they wanted,” Nick claimed. “All of these women were given the opportunity to go and have a ‘Disney experience’ with their family. All of them, and they could just go whenever they wanted [and the reunion] happened to be the date that Demi picked.”
Nick, however, did not know whether Demi — who is at odds with the majority of the women over allegations that she had an affair with Vanderpump Villa star Marciano Brunette and drama with former BFF Jessi, 33, over contracts — had picked her date before or after the reunion was scheduled.
“[I’m] obviously taking her word for it,” he said. “I think many of her cast feel that it was not as random as Demi suggests, but I guess that’s more [conjecture]. … I don’t think anyone in the cast feels like Demi was upset about not being there, but there’s no proof to suggest that the story was untrue.”
He added, “You will want to watch. I promise you that Demi is very much addressed.”
The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives season 2 reunion premieres Tuesday, July 1, on Hulu.
