‘Mormon Wives’ Season 3 Reunion Recap: Dakota Storms Off, Bret Breaks His Silence and More Revelations
The season 3 reunion of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives proved the drama in MomTok — and DadTok — isn’t going to end anytime soon.
During the reunion special, which premiered on Thursday, December 4, Stassi Schroeder took over for Nick Viall as host to sit down with Jen Affleck, Demi Engemann, Whitney Leavitt, Mikayla Matthews, Mayci Neeley, Jessi Ngatikaura, Taylor Frankie Paul, Layla Taylor and Miranda Hope.
The group gathered to break down season 3 — which largely followed the fallout from several cast members’ appearances on Vanderpump Villa. On that now-infamous trip to Italy, both Jessi and Demi met Marciano Brunette and were accused of having inappropriate relationships with the Hulu star.
Backstage at Thursday’s reunion, several of the husbands — Bret Engemann, Conner Leavitt, Zac Affleck, Jordan Ngatikaura, Jace Terry and Jacob Neeley — were having a fight of their own after Zac, 29, and Bret, 47, got into an argument over their wives’ drama. The group later joined the women on stage.
Dakota Mortensen, for his part, was missing from the beginning of the reunion after refusing to film the season 3 finale once he was accused of sexting ex Taylor Frankie Paul’s family friend. Dakota later came on stage with the DadTok after MomTok was escorted backstage.
Elsewhere in the reunion, Jessi’s affair with Marciano was rehashed and Bret made his first comments about Demi’s alleged relationship with Marciano. (While Marciano claimed they had an affair, Demi has alleged sexual misconduct, which Marciano has denied.)
Keep scrolling for the biggest revelations:
Bret Breaks His Silence on Demi and Marciano
Demi Engemann, Bret Engemann, and Marciano Brunette. Disney; Getty Images; Disney
Most of season 3 centered around Demi being accused of having a romantic connection with Marciano. Demi not only denied the claims, but alleged that Marciano inappropriately touched her. (Marciano has maintained that the relationship was consensual.) . Her husband,Bret, addressed the scandal for the first time at the reunion.
“The biggest problem I think I have with everybody is the knee jerk reaction to Demi saying that she was a victim was to not believe her,” he told DadTok. “She wasn’t building a relationship with them and was not flirty at all.”
This quickly turned into an argument between Bret and Zac backstage. They called a brief truce, but once they joined their wives on stage, they went at it again when Bret asked why some of DadTok defended Marciano after the men took their own trip to Italy for season 3 of Vanderpump Villa.
“He did seem like he was a nice guy there. He was charismatic and he stayed out of the drama. I felt like he was respectful to Jordan so it was confusing,” Zac said about Marciano. Jordan, for his part, made it clear he was “not OK” filming with Marciano.
Jessi and Jen Address Their Individual History With Sexual Abuse
During the reunion, both Jessi and Jen revealed that they were victims of sexual abuse in the past. Jessi mentioned that a recent therapy session with Jordan made her uncover that she was raped at 19 by an unnamed individual.
Jen, meanwhile, revealed she was assaulted while arguing with Demi about her claims that Marciano grabbed her off screen.
Jordan Questions Jessi and Marciano’s Relationship Again After Extended Clip
Jessi Ngatikaura, Marciano Brunette, and Jordan Ngatikaura Disney; Getty Images (2)
In new footage played at the reunion,Jessi and Marciano discussed their affair, during which Jessi agreed with Marciano that she once told him she planned to leave her husband — and that she loved the Vanderpump Villa star.
“I feel triggered. I was specifically told by Jessi that she never had said that she was going to leave me for that piece of s***,” Jordan said while Jessi clarified she never promised to leave him for Marciano.
“I didn’t say I was gonna leave you for him. I told him I most likely was going to leave my husband because I’m unhappy,” she said. “I never said it was for him.”
Chase and Taylor’s Date Gets Addressed
The final scene of season 3 showed Chase McWhorter bonding with Taylor years after their soft-swinging scandal. The meet-up turned romantic when Chase referred to it as a date, which was news to his ex-wife Miranda.
“From what I heard, it was a coffee to put water into the bridge. That’s what I heard,” she told Stassi. “It just felt like there were a few details left out and that’s really where my confusion came from.”
Taylor and Dakota Go Through Major Lengths to Avoid Each Other
Both Taylor and Dakota reportedly didn’t want to attend the reunion if their ex was going to be there.
“Our next guest only agreed to participate if the ladies of MomTok exited the stage while their interview takes place,” Stassi said ahead of Dakota’ appearance. “Out of respect for that request, I am asking Taylor, Mayci, Mikayla, Jen, Jessi, Layla, Miranda, Demi and Whitney to follow our stage manager back to their dressing rooms, where they can continue watching the reunion.”
Dakota then made his first appearance.
“Against all odds and expectations, we have Dakota here with me,” Stassi continued. “Dakota agreed to join us tonight on the condition that Taylor and the rest of MomTok be backstage. Dakota, I was rooting for you and Taylor’s relationship. Now you can’t even be on the same stage with her? You have to admit it’s kind of crazy that you kicked the girls out.”
Dakota clarified that the gesture “was a little more dramatic” than he thought it was going to be, adding, “It wasn’t supposed to be like that. All I wanted was just to be able to have a good conversation. I think most people would agree that when me and Taylor are together, it’s really hard for us to just talk.”
Dakota Struggles Under the Weight of Being Blamed for His Split From Taylor
Disney/Fred Hayes
Since season 1, which premiered in September 2024, Dakota and Taylor have been on and off. The drama led him to briefly seek solace with her family friend when Taylor was pregnant with their son Ever in 2024.
“It’s been over two years now. When this happened, me and Taylor were together for 10 months and we were both in a very toxic cycle. I was always getting broken up with and this was the first time where she broke up with me where for me it felt very legit,” Dakota said. “This lady that I had met through Taylor’s family, she was just checking in on me. She was just being super nice.”
Dakota argued it didn’t “get weird” until later. According to Dakota, he and the family friend — who has not been named — largely spoke about his relationship with Taylor before “out of nowhere” she “came onto” Dakota over text messages. He claimed he didn’t see it coming before the flirting turned to them swapping photos.
While trying to explain his side of the story, Dakota got flustered when asked how many photos he received and how many he sent in return. By that point, Taylor took it upon herself to join him on stage.
“It was a silhouette [in the photo]. It was so dark and it wasn’t super sexual to me,” he said. “I think what even prompted the picture was that we were talking about the gym and working out. It was nighttime and I sent a picture of my shirt off. It was stupid.”
Dakota didn’t realize it was a big deal until the family friend told him to delete their past messages. Taylo wasn’t happy with his story because she felt he was giving backstory to defend himself and not apologizing to her for the incident.
Dakota Turns the Tables on Taylor
After Taylor started to provoke Dakota, he flipped the script by asking about who she was dating when they were off and on.
“When you broke up with me, you could go f*** someone else and then come f*** me, right?” Dakota said, claiming Taylor cheated. Taylor subsequently argued it was one year after their split and she didn’t owe him anything.
Dakota continued to escalate the fight by accusing Taylor of sexting him the night before the reunion, which she didn’t deny.
“You should tell your new boyfriend that,” he fired back. “The one that you like a lot. Didn’t you just say that today? You should probably tell him how you were talking to me last night.”
Apologizing to Taylor’s Parents
Dakota’s apology tour continued with Stassi bringing out Taylor’s mother and stepfather.
“Obviously I know that I f***** up. I knew I was going to lose you guys and I kind of numbed out. It was just hard because me and Taylor obviously were just not in a good place. I am truly sorry,” he said. “I know that that caused a lot of pain for Taylor but for you guys. I don’t think I realized the magnitude of what I did. I don’t expect you guys to forgive me. I don’t expect anything like that. But I do just want you to know that I know I messed up. I know that I’ve caused a lot of pain for all of you guys and that’s all I can do right now is say I’m sorry.”
After Taylor confirmed that they were no longer in contact with the family friend, her mother and stepdad took turns calling Dakota out.
“I just don’t understand why. You do that behind your girlfriend’s back as she is pregnant with your baby? That’s sickening. What bugs me is that you’re just one of those people that you just can’t help but to love,” Taylor’s mom said. “But then you really get to know that you’re not that person. You’re just a different person behind closed doors. Your virtue has been taken away. You’re so dishonest and I just don’t know how you can keep lying.”
She continued: “The thing that hurts the most is that she’s my kid and you hurt my grandchild. You hurt Ever and he’s the one that’s going to pay for all of your guys’ crappy decisions that you both have made.”
Taylor’s stepdad jumped in, adding, “I can’t accept anything that comes out of your mouth because it’s all bulls***, dude. You have proven yourself time and time again that what comes out of your mouth is just spewing bulls*** So I can’t accept any sorry from you or nothing.”
Dakota Storms Off Stage
Araya Doheny/Getty Images
The reunion ended on a sour note when Taylor spoke about how upset she was for Ever to witness the drama between his parents. Things got heated when Taylor said it was her own fault for choosing Dakota to be the father of her child.
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“Taylor out of anybody, you know how much I care about Ever,” he fired back about being labeled a bad dad. “I’m done. Take this f***ing stupid f***ing mic off me.”
As Dakota stormed off — and never returned — Taylor stood by her comments.
“I just feel for Dakota, honestly. Did I care for him? Absolutely. Is this painful? Duh, I loved him. I wanted to be with him and I had a child with him,” she said. “It’s f***ing painful. It hurts to coparent to this very day. I do it every day and it’s one of the worst things I’ve ever done.”
