As the Hulu reality show universe gets bigger, so does the drama. The second season of Vanderpump Villa aired on the streaming service on April 24, and showed star Marciano Brunette making some flirty comments toward The Secret Lives Of Mormon Wives star Demi Engemann. So, what happened between Demi and Marciano on Vanderpump Villa? Here’s a breakdown of the drama on both shows, and what’s been said on social media since.
Demi made a brief appearance in Italy on Vanderpump Villa in the third and fourth episodes of the show, alongside her castmates Mikayla Matthews, Layla Taylor, Jen Affleck, and Jessi Ngatikaura. As soon as the women entered the villa, Marciano was caught commenting that the “Mormons are so f**king hot. Holy sh*t.” As the villa employees gave the MomTokers a tour of the grounds, Demi asked if Marciano was dating anyone at the villa. “You’re not feeling anyone else here?” she asked. Marciano replied, “Like, guests?” Demi acted surprised, implying she didn’t mean guests. “Are you, like, allowed to make your move on [guests]?” she asked. Marciano told her, “I gotta do it after I’m done working. And I’m off early today.” In a confessional, Marciano said, “I’m just physically attracted to [Demi]. I could tell that me and her would get along. It’s completely different and it’s throwing me all off, and I don’t know how to act at this point.”
On Demi’s final night at the villa, Marciano pulled Demi aside, and the duo had a conversation about their respective relationships (Demi with her husband, Bret, who she married in 2021, and Marciano with Hannah Fouch, another employee at the villa who he had an on-off relationship with). Demi told Marciano she thinks Hannah feels he “did her extremely dirty,” and gave him advice related to how she had to work through issues with Bret. “I have almost divorced him 27 times,” she told Marciano. “Are you living with regret?” he asked her. Demi then told Marciano, “We’ve gone through so much growth and nothing ever scares him away.” The two ended their conversation with an intimate hug, where Marciano kissed Demi on the head.
To the viewer, Marciano was undoubtedly in a one-sided relationship with Demi. He may have been attracted to Demi and felt a connection, but she didn’t seem to reciprocate. When Marciano thanked Demi for their conversation on the day she left the villa, she told him, “You’re sweet. You’re a growing man.”
But that’s not where the situation ended. On May 15, The Secret Lives Of Mormon Wives Season 2 aired on Hulu, showing the other MomTok members’ reactions to Marciano and Demi’s exchange on Vanderpump Villa. In Episode 2, it was clear Jen had feelings about Demi’s interaction with Marciano. In a conversation between Jessi, Demi, Zac, and Jen, Jen told Demi, “After Italy, you did come to me, and I could easily talk about that, which I’m not going to.” When Demi pressed her on it, Jen said, “After Italy, Bret was crying to you.” Demi replied, “No he wasn’t. He was like, ‘You have nothing to worry about.” Then, in her confessional, Demi opened up about Vanderpump Villa in Italy, saying, “One of the guys specifically, Marciano, was super flirtatious. I felt like I handled it the best I could. Truly did nothing wrong. I truly feel like Jen is grasping at straws. I feel like she just wants me to be in trouble or for there to be an issue with me and Bret, and the issue’s not there.”
The drama between Demi and Marciano has spilled over onto social media, too. On April 21, Marciano posted an Instagram with the caption, “Uninvited to the function cus a 30yo mormon wife’s scared I’ll tell her husband the truth.”
Demi has since responded to Marciano’s claims, and told Us Weekly in part, “Nothing happened with Marciano. At the expense of sounding rude, there wasn’t even a remote attraction to him. It sucks that women can’t be kind and friendly and even playful with men in this world without it being taken as, like, you’re open.” Demi also confirmed her relationship with her husband, Bret, is solid. “Bret was the first person I called [after Vanderpump Villa] and just laid everything out — the whole experience,” she said. “He’s been nothing but supportive and nothing but understanding. He has been so sweet and just really sought to understand me and helped me in the best way that he possibly can.”
TBH, there’s so much happening between these two, and undoubtedly more to come. I’ll be sat for it.