After replacing Nick Viall as the host of the Secret Lives of Mormon Wives reunions, Stassi Schroeder stepped in to defend Whitney Leavitt from the mom-shaming drama.
Schroeder, 37, spoke out on the Wednesday, December 10, episode of her “Stassi” podcast after Viall, 45, and wife Natalie Joy were accused of questioning Leavitt, 32, as a mother.
“I don’t want to make it worse for them, but like you guys, that was weird,” Schroeder said about the ongoing drama. “It bothered me because that is an insecurity of mine that I have that I work too much and I’m like, ‘Am I a good enough mom?’”
Schroeder, who shares daughter Hartford, 4, and son Messer, 2, with husband Beau Clark, didn’t appreciate seeing a working mother be accused of not prioritizing her children.
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“That’s constantly in the back of my head all the time, especially right now with everything that’s going on,” she continued. “Hartford’s like, ‘Why do you work so much?’ Hartford’s asking me that all the time now. And I’m just like, ‘Because I love it and because I want to take care of you and because you said you wanted a bigger house.’”
Earlier this month, Viall and Joy, 26, discussed Leavitt’s upcoming plans to play Roxie Hart on Broadway’s Chicago.
“I am curious because, obviously, we had Taylor Frankie Paul being The Bachelorette, and she received a lot of criticism for leaving her children and prioritizing her and her career and finding love. I am curious how Whitney is managing both,” Joy, who shares 22-month-old daughter River with Viall, said on an episode of their “Viall Files” podcast. “She just did Dancing With the Stars for three or four months. She has kids on a school level — maybe they are homeschooled. I don’t know. To shift to Chicago in New York, that takes so much of her time. How is she managing being a mom?”
Viall, meanwhile, pointed out that Whitney had husband Conner Leavitt‘s support with their three kids: Sedona, 6, Liam, 4, and Billy, 13 months. Joy replied by comparing it to their situation, saying, “Obviously, we are very busy and are constantly on the go. But we realize that once she is in school, our life has to drastically slow down.”
Viall and Joy subsequently received backlash for not supporting Whitney’s professional endeavors, which came after the former host was accused of being too harsh on her during the season 2 reunion.
Schroeder was brought on to replace Viall, who has said that his new project with Netflix created a conflict of interest with Hulu. While weighing in on the discourse, Schroeder showed support for Whitney.
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“Whatever anyone chooses to do for their family and what works for their family is fine. Everyone’s situation is different, we can’t be out there judging other families for what clearly works for them,” she continued. “And it’s just like, if she was a man, this never f***ing would be [happening]. How crazy that they have a stay at home dad who’s awesome and present and there and supportive of his wife. How wild. Like that should be the norm.”
Schroeder specifically singled out Conner’s work as a full-time dad. “Connor is actually the most supportive, and he’s so sincere about it every time I’m around them,” she continued. “He is pumping her up, during Dancing With The Stars, he was coming over to me and Beau on every commercial break asking us what we thought and pumping Whitney up and being like, ‘You thought that dance was good? Just wait to her next one.’”
She concluded: “It’s so important that her kids are seeing her go after her dreams, and they’re now going to feel like any dream that they have, they can accomplish. It’s such a beautiful thing.”
Viall and Joy have yet to address the public backlash. While Whitney hasn’t directly addressed Viall’s recent podcast, her husband shared some thoughts.
“Teamwork looks different for everyone,” Conner captioned a TikTok in December of him with his kids. “This is how we do ours ❤️ couldn’t be more proud of @Whitney Leavitt.”
