“The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” season two ended on a major cliffhanger when Marciano from “Vanderpump Villa” accused the MomToker Jessi of cheating on her husband with him.
The drama then spilled over onto social media, where Demi called Marciano a “sexual predator” after he said he wasn’t let into a Hulu event for reality stars.
Here’s what to know about the drama involving Jessi, Marciano, and Demi, and what the other cast members have said.
Marciano flirted unashamedly with Demi on “Vanderpump Villa.”
Andrea Miconi / Disney
Season two of “Vanderpump Villa,” where reality stars work in luxurious hotel pop-ups owned by Lisa Vanderpump of “Vanderpump Rules,” sees Jessi, Demi, Jen, Layla, and Mikayla of “Mormon Wives” staying in one of the hotels in Italy.
Marciano, one of the servers, tries to flirt with Demi and kisses her on the side of her head as they hug in episode four.
Referring to the hotel, in the season two reunion Marciano says he and Demi “had a strong attraction in the castle that led to something outside the hotel” but that “Demi was not the only person that I was interested in.”
Hannah from “Vanderpump Villa” responds: “so then you went for her best friend.”
Marciano declines to explain further, saying the truth will be revealed on “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives.”
Marciano says on “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” season two that he had sex with Jessi.
Natalie Cass / Disney
Whether Demi and Bret cheated on each other is a key storyline in “Mormon Wives” season two, which premiered on May 15 and was filmed after “Vanderpump Villa.”
In episode two, Jen accuses Demi of cheating by flirting with Marciano on the crossover show. And in episode three, Mayci says someone anonymously contacted her on Instagram to claim that they slept with Bret.
Demi and Bret deny the accusations, but their costars begin to doubt them by the end of the season.
In episode seven, Zac, Jen’s husband, tells Whitney, another MomToker, that Demi threatened to get a cease-and-desist order to stop Jen and others from talking about what happened on the “Vanderpump Villa” trip.
Demi denied she sent a cease-and-desist letter to Jen and said “nothing happened” between her and Marciano, in an interview with Entertainment Tonight published May 16.
In the final scene of season two, Marciano tells Layla that he misinterpreted Demi’s flirting, thinking she was attracted to him.
Then Marciano says he kissed and had sex with Jessi, and her husband, Jordan, doesn’t know the full extent of the alleged affair.
“It was not just a one-time hookup thing,” Marciano says.
The season three teaser shows that Jessi will discuss the scandal with Layla and her husband in future episodes.
The revelation seemingly comes out of nowhere, but in episode six, the MomTokers ask Jessi about rumors that she kissed Marciano at a party at a bar in Hollywood, which she denies.
On May 16, a day after season two was released, Jessi shared a post on Instagram and TikTok captioned: “I’ll speak when I can.”
The next day, Layla wrote on TikTok and Instagram: “can’t wait for more, lots left out after editing. Lots of truth to come out.”
On May 24, Scheana Shay, a friend of Marciano who starred in “Vanderpump Rules,” said on her podcast “Scheananigans” that she was at the party but did not see the pair make out. Scheana said that after the party, Marciano came to stay at her house, but left to meet up with Jessi.
Scheana said Marciano told her the next day they had sex, but Jessi denied this to her, and she was unsure who to believe.
Demi called Marciano a “sexual predator,” sparking a new argument on social media.
Ahead of the season, fans began noticing the tension between the MomTokers and Marciano.
On April 22, Marciano posted a video on Instagram captioned: “Uninvited to the function cus a 30yo Mormon wife’s scared I’ll tell the husband the truth.”
That was the night that Hulu hosted its “Get Real” event for reality show contestants in LA.
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Fans thought Marciano was referring to Demi, who responded in the comment section of a “Mormon Wives” fan account: “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.”
She later wrote: “Also he got uninvited by @hulu because he’s a s3xual pr3dator that can’t keep his hands to himself, not because I’m hiding anything from my husband. He’s a lying clout chaser. @marcianob hope your 15 min of fame is worth it, you’re pathetic.”
In the comment section of a separate post by “Mormon Wives” fan account, Jen wrote: “S3xual pr3dator?? It’s interesting considering she was FaceTiming him a week later, inviting him to dinner.”
Vulture reported in April that Jessi wrote in a since-deleted comment under a post by the same fan account that “the truth will always come out” and that the assault allegation was “not true.”
Vulture reported that Demi posted on her Instagram story on April 25 that any unwanted physical touch is assault and criticized her costars for calling her a liar, saying they were aware of what happened.
The drama could explain why Demi stopped following her costars Taylor, Layla, Jessi, and Jen on Instagram. On May 26, fans noticed Demi had refollowed them.
The majority of the cast address the situation on the Viall Files podcast.
Demi said on a May 15 episode of the “Viall Files” podcast that she told her costars that she got “groped, sexually assaulted” while filming “Vanderpump Villa” after they left the hotel.
Demi said she asked them to swear not to tell anyone about the alleged assault and let her handle it. She added that Jessi broke her trust by telling Scheana from “Vanderpump Rules” about the alleged assault two weeks later.
When asked about this on her podcast, Scheana did not confirm or deny the claim. Instead, she said Demi was annoyed with Jessi for telling Scheana about their pay negotiation drama.
Miranda, Mayci, Layla, Mikayla, Jen, Zac, and Jessi cast doubt on Demi’s assault claims in their respective interviews on “Viall Files” between May 14 and 28.
Layla and Jessi said there was another incident during filming “Vanderpump Villa” where they felt Demi acted inappropriately.
Jen said on May 28 that Demi cheated on her husband with Marciano and told the other women not to disclose the affair.
Jen and Zac also said Demi accused her of lying while filming season two of “Mormon Wives,” so no one would believe Jen if she spoke out about what happened on “Vanderpump Villa.”
Marciano defends himself against sexual assault allegations.
On May 28, Marciano shared a video on TikTok and Instagram responding to a comment that appeared to be from Bret, which BI was unable to verify.
The comment said Jen lied about Demi, but Marciano said Jen told the truth and offered to show Bret the evidence on a call.
In a follow-up video, Marciano shared screenshots of a conversation with Demi that he claims occurred after he was fired from the serving team on “Vanderpump Villa” last year.
Marciano said he posted on his story about being at an airport, and Demi immediately messaged him and then gave him her phone number.
“Demi has made some crazy allegations about me,” Marciano said. “But if that were the case, why are you following me? Why are you DMing me? Why are you giving me your phone number and proceed to have multiple hours of conversation and have a continued relationship after that?”
“Doesn’t make sense to me whatsoever,” he added.
“The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” Instagram fan page posted on May 31 that Marciano shared a statement saying that he doesn’t condone sexual assault and the truth will come out soon.
A representative for Hulu, Demi, Marciano, Jessi, Layla, Bret, and Jen did not immediately respond to a comment request from Business Insider.
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