The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star Demi Engemann is breaking her silence about how Vanderpump Villa star Marciano‘s “manipulative” flirtation affected her marriage to husband Bret Engemann.
“That [experience] was a whirlwind and so much went into that. My husband and I had actually been in Italy for 10 days prior to jumping over and filming for Vanderpump Villa. So we had the best time ever [before that],” Demi, 30, exclusively shared in Us Weekly‘s cover story. “I was actually apprehensive about going into filming Vanderpump Villa. My husband was actually the one that was pushing for me to go and we honestly didn’t really know what we were getting ourselves into.”
Demi wanted to make it clear that her and Bret, 46, are “solid” despite the speculation.
“We’re good. I communicate with him and I’m honest to a fault. So every step of the way, I’ve communicated from jumping out of Vanderpump Villa, going back to the hotel and Bret was the first person I called and just laid everything out — the whole experience,” she recalled. “More will come from that. There’s a lot of things behind the scenes, as far as how I was mistreated and how that situation was handled.”
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After filming Vanderpump Villa, Demi was thankful to have Bret by her side, adding, “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. People are going to think what they’re going to think at the end of the day — you can’t control that. So we’re just focused on what we can control and focused on being communicative with each other and we’re solid.”
Season 2 of Vanderpump Villa showed Marciano finding himself smitten with Demi. They ended the season on good terms, but Demi has since called out Marciano for perpetuating rumors that she was unfaithful.
“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. I had a rock on my finger the entire time I was there,” she noted. “I brought up my marriage multiple times and they were told that we were married women — so it sucks that we couldn’t just go and have a good time and that he couldn’t respect that.”
Demi pointed out that everyone else was “so respectful” to her and costars Jen Affleck, Jessi Ngatikaura, Layla Taylor and Mikayla Matthews.
“I acted the same way toward him that I did everyone else. So that’s just my personality and I’ll never diminish that for anyone. I’m proud of the way that I conducted myself and for staying true to myself,” she explained. “I am equally as proud for the way that I’ve handled it post-filming as well. [Bret and I though] will always communicate our way through any hurdle.”
While Bret has defended his wife on social media, Demi told Us she has stayed more quiet online for a reason.
“A lot of the women [on my show] and now Marciano jump on the train of taking things out of context. To me, it’s completely a clout tactic in my mind of trying to ride the clout and ride the wave of the success of the show and confuse people. To me, it’s manipulative and I don’t roll that way,” she noted. “You’ll see that I’ve said very little about anything that happens behind closed doors or behind the scenes or that would give anything away or conflict with the girls.”
Demi won’t allow Marciano to slander her, telling Us, “I did come out with a pretty bold and true statement against Marciano [recently] because at that point it was like, ‘You’re lying about me. Actually, you were the predator.’ So I’m not going to stay quiet — and I stand by that statement. There’s more happening behind the scenes with that that will come to light. I’m sure at this point it’s become a legal matter. There’s not much more I can say on it as of now because I want to preserve the fact that it’s a serious situation. But I stand behind those statements.”
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While addressing Marciano’s more ambiguous public comments about their brief onscreen interactions, Demi called it “bold of him to try to get ahead” of the narrative.
“He’s trying to protect him. He’s in the wrong, and I think he’s scared. It’s fair to say that [the] majority of people that will come forward and are trying to speak out on things or diminish my experience or come out, it’s the protest too much oftentimes,” Demi shared. “It’s not always the case — but especially with people who weren’t involved in the situation that are going to come forward and have so much to say about it or opinions on the matter. To me, it’s a clear sign of damage control.”
She continued: “I’m just trying to stay in my lane as much as I can. I am trying to control what I can control, lean on my husband, lean on my family and then handle it professionally and handle it the best way that I possibly can. Given the fact that I was a victim in this situation, that’s how I’ve decided to handle it. There’s no right or wrong way to handle this type of situation but I am doing the best I can. Luckily I have the support of my husband and the truth on my side.”
Us Weekly has reached out to Hulu and Marciano for comment.
The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives season 2 premieres Thursday, May 15 on Hulu.
For more from Demi, watch the video above and pick up the latest issue of Us Weekly — on newsstands now.
