Nick Viall hosted the first-ever reunion for The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives — but he isn’t returning for another round.
During the Tuesday, September 9, episode of “The Viall Files” podcast, Nick, 44, confirmed the news, saying, “Sadly, though, I won’t be hosting the season 3 reunion. I’m sad because I love those women. I love that show and it was great to be a part of it.”
Nick noted that his upcoming Netflix dating show Age of Attraction — which he is cohosting with wife Natalie Joy — was the reason. “But working with my wife with Netflix … you know,” he added about not being able to take part in a Hulu show.
The Bachelor alum previously hosted the season 2 reunion, which aired in July. While the special certainly made headlines, Nick received some backlash for the way he directed his questions toward Whitney Leavitt. Multiple times throughout the reunion, Whitney, 32, ended up in the hot seat while defending her friend and costar Demi Engemann, who was not in attendance.
As Nick attempted to get Whitney’s thoughts on Demi’s controversial behavior, he asked whether Whitney thought she was “better than Taylor” at taking accountability.
“No, I don’t think that I’m the one to judge that,” she said, as Nick fired back, “I’m not asking you to judge it. I’m asking you what you think.”
Whitney replied that she and Taylor Frankie Paul are “equal” in that. “Equally good or equally bad?” Nick asked.
Nick then took a poll asking which Secret Lives of Mormon Wives stars thought Whitney was good at taking accountability — only for her to receive almost no support.
“It’s so double standard. You just sat here and asked me, ‘Do you feel like you justify your actions based off of your feelings?’” Whitney told Nick. “Well, [Mikayla Matthews] is someone who constantly belittles me and hurts me. So is she justified in her feelings to treat me that way?”
Whitney expressed that she felt like she was “being called out” by Nick “constantly,” which he denied.
“Personally, I feel like I’ve heard Taylor taking accountability for a lot of things. She does a lot of things, too,” Nick replied. “I don’t think I’ve heard you take accountability from what I’ve seen.”
Later that month, Nick defended his approach as host.
“We are upfront that we are fans of the show. So as the host, I tried to have that balance between obviously being host and being objective,” he explained on his podcast. “I was also making sure everything was addressed.”
Nick specifically addressed the tense moments shown between him and Whitney when she accused him of being too hard on her.
“I was a bit surprised when Whitney did not like my line of questioning,” he noted. “When it comes to the past two seasons, I think the perceived lack of accountability of Whitney is something that I wanted to have a chance to address with her.”
Nick continued: “Whitney is one of my favorite characters — other than Taylor [Frankie Paul] is probably one of the most irreplaceable people on the cast. She’s one of my favorites.”
Season 3 of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives premieres November 13 on Hulu.
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