Marciano Brunette is speaking out after The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives’ Demi Engemann accused him of engaging in “unwanted touch” during a cast trip to Italy.
“I want to be absolutely clear: I am taking this matter extremely seriously,” Marciano said in a statement to People on Thursday, November 20. “This is the most difficult situation I have ever faced, and the allegations against me are not only entirely false but profoundly damaging. I remain committed to addressing this issue fully and transparently.”
In response, a rep for Demi, 30, told E! News on Thursday, “As a woman, it distresses me that what happened to Demi is being minimized.”
The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives season 3 — which premiered on November 13 — explores, in part, Marciano’s claims that he was involved with both Demi and costar Jessi Ngatikaura when they filmed a Vanderpump Villa crossover episode.
In a confessional during the third season, Demi insisted that any physicality between them was “unwanted.” Marciano previously alleged that they kissed.
“Everyone is going to handle these kinds of situations different. You never deserve unwanted touch,” said the influencer, who is married to Bret Engemann. “No matter what it looks like, no matter what your relationship was like before or after, unwanted touch is unwanted touch.”
The latest season of Mormon Wives also delves into what Jessi described as an emotional affair with Marciano during a rough patch in her marriage to husband Jordan Ngatikaura.
“I wouldn’t say I was in love with him. It only lasted about two weeks, so it was quick. But I will say I confided in him a lot,” Jessi exclusively told Us Weekly ahead of the season 3 premiere. “The dynamic with Jordan that I had had in my marriage, I hadn’t really talked to anyone about it. My family and friends had been aware because they’d seen things, but I tried to be like, ‘Everything’s fine.’”
“I did feel a connection to him in that sense because he was there for me and he made me feel special,” she said, explaining how she disclosed some of her marital issues to Marciano. “Jordan would put me down a lot. Marciano told me how pretty and cool and fun I was. I felt like there was a connection there because he was giving me something I was lacking. But I wouldn’t say I was in love with him.”
According to Jessi, after a two-week emotional affair, she told Jordan what was going on.
“Jordan found out when he went through my phone and put an end to it. But it was a blessing in disguise because it needed to end,” she told Us. “I did not want to carry this on for months or years. I didn’t know how to get out of it.”
Marciano first revealed his affair with Jessi to Layla Taylor in the Mormon Wives season 2 finale.
“He was hurt that I ended what we had and so it was his way of getting revenge — or just maybe telling my story to make himself feel better,” Jessi told Us.
“But I definitely know that Demi was a part of it as well,” she went on to claim. “She was coaching him. They were talking a lot, and she was a big part of him exaggerating my story and talking about it in the first place.”
The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives is currently streaming on Hulu.
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