The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star Demi Engemann poked fun at her 16-year age gap with husband Bret Engemann — but not all fans were laughing.
Demi, 30, took to TikTok on Sunday, June 22, to share a video of herself and Bret while PinkPantheress‘ viral song “Illegal” played in the background, with the lyrics, “My name is Pink and I’m really glad to meet you / You’re recommended to me by some people / Hey, ooh, is this illegal?”
The reality star joked about her relationship with Bret in the caption. “Basically how it went when we met bc we’re 16 years apart and I thought he was cute when I was 10,” Demi quipped. “Married my local celebrity crush 
.”
As viewers shared their mixed feelings in the comments section, Demi defended her marriage.
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“Not the flex she thinks it is 
,” read one response, with Demi writing back, “Wasn’t a flex just my life 
.”
Another social media user questioned whether Demi would feel as proud if her daughter — 7-year-old Maude — was in a similar situation.
“Yeah except I was never introduced to Bret at 10,” Demi added. “He was friends with a mutual friend and well known around town. We never met until I was an adult.”
A third viewer pointed out the audio Demi used, writing, “It is illegal 
.” Demi brushed off the criticism and replied, “Lock him up!”
Demi also got support from some followers who appreciated her “top level” humor. She previously cleared the air on rumors surrounding her marriage to Bret, 46, during an Instagram Q&A earlier this month.
When asked whether it was true that Bret has known her since she was “a child,” Demi replied, “I’ve made a couple satire TikTok’s about this and people are concerned … for good reason. Oops.”
Demi clarified that the story was misconstrued. “We met for the first time at our mutual friends funeral when I was 22,” she noted. “I had heard of him but he didn’t know I existed before then.”
Before Demi and Bret were introduced to Us on The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, which debuted via Hulu last year, Bret was married to The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City alum Angie Harrington, with whom he shares two sons. Demi, meanwhile, was previously married to Maude’s dad, Blake Corbin.
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Despite the chatter about her marriage, Demi has frequently explained that she properly met Bret when she was older.
“So if you don’t know, my husband and I are 16 years apart and I knew him through a family friend growing up,” she shared in a February 2023 TikTok video. “He was so much older than me. When I was 9 years old, he was married to his first wife and having babies.”
Demi recalled having a crush on Bret before they became friends as adults, adding, “He was very sweet and supportive and just offered his help in any way that he could with both Blake and I [amid our divorce]. We met up a couple weeks later. At this point, I’m in no position to get in a relationship. I’m just looking for someone to talk me through a divorce, [someone] that had been through it.”
The reality star stood by the timeline of their romance. “Out of respect for my ex-husband and the divorce not being finalized, we waited to go on any official date,” she explained. “So we were kind of hanging out and keeping it casual while trying to figure out my new situation with my ex-husband and coparenting.”
Demi concluded: “I definitely needed to date other people and just be alone to figure out my new normal. I went crawling back to Bret, begging him to take me back. We got back together, we dated for about 10 months before getting engaged.”
