The Surprising Ties Between The Secret Lives Of Mormon Wives And RHOSLC

Summary

• Secret Lives Of Mormon Wives follows scandalous Mormon influencers facing fallout from a swinging scandal.
• Connections between stars of Secret Lives and Real Housewives of Salt Lake City exist.
• One star almost appeared on RHOSLC but was rejected for lacking drama, now stars in Secret Lives.

The Secret Lives Of Mormon Wives has become must-watch television for reality TV fans. The Hulu documentary follows a group of Mormon mom-social media influencers who get caught in the middle of a sex scandal that makes international headlines.

The Hulu show has been compared to The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City, as both document the lives of Mormon women in Utah. The show does have some connections, with many of the stars aware of others.

“We do cross paths, and it’s not surprising because Utah is very small and especially the influencer world and community here is very tight-knit,” Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star Demi Engemann revealed. “So we do cross paths.”

Secret Lives of Mormon Wives' Demi Engemann’s Connection to Former RHOSCL Friend Of Angie Harrington

Before Bret Engemann got together with Demi, he was married to RHOSLC star Angie Harrington. Angie made cameos in the first two seasons of the Bravo franchise before appearing as a friend for Season 3 and leaving ahead of Season 4. Bret and Angie share two sons, Cole, 15, and Rome, 19.

Angie explained her previous marriage in 2023 and how it prepared her for reality TV. “I had a very public divorce in Utah Valley. And my ex-husband was kind of the golden boy of Provo. So that prepared me for reality television.” Angie left RHOSLC after season 3 to care for her autistic son.

She added that the marriage breakdown was “extremely challenging, but it gave me very, very, very thick skin. But it still hurts to be misunderstood and misrepresented. It’s still hard.”

The Engemann's are also close to another star of The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City. "I know Demi and Bret [Engemann] because that's Angie Harrington's ex-husband," Heather Gay explained, "and we're good friends."

"I didn't know the others, but I totally watched and I loved it."

Heather gushed about the hit 2024 Hulu show, "I felt like it was Housewife adjacent, a lot of the things that they talked about on their show we've addressed on Housewives."

Lisa Barlow also revealed she knew Bret before he had even met his wife Demi. “Bret used to come to my house and sing to me before I was dating John. We were totally just good friends.”

Bret and Demi's 16-year age difference has caused some controversy. “So if you don’t know, my husband and I are 16 years apart and I knew him through a family friend growing up,” Demi explained 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 was first introduced to her now-husband when she was 10, and he was 26. The pair started their romantic relationship in 2021.

Bret almost appeared on Clare Crawley’s season of The Bachelorette, which was delayed by Covid-19, before marrying Demi.

Secret Lives of Mormon Wives' Layla Taylor’s Friendship With Former RHOSLC Star Monica Garcia

Layla Taylor is friends with controversial former RHOSLC alum Monica Garcia. “I know Monica. We are just kind of internet friends, and we chat here and there,” Layla admitted. Monica was fired from RHOSLC after it was revealed she was a notorious Instagram troll.

The Secret Lives Of Morman Wives star, Laila, revealed Monica gave her some tips for appearing on reality TV, even though she no longer appear on the franchise which made her famous. "[I] wish she was still on this season, to be honest. I think she had a really good aspect to last season.”

Cast member Jessi Ngatikaura also knows some of the RHOSLC cast due to working in the beauty industry with JZ Styles. “I’m in the beauty industry, and we all live in Salt Lake, so I actually do some of their hair, and I’ve, you know, communicated with them," she said of the Utah housewives.

Jessi's job has made her aware of Heather Gay's Beauty Lab & Laser medical spa, and she admits she “really respects” the housewife as a businesswoman.

This The Secret Lives Of Mormon Wives Star Nearly Appeared As A Real Housewive

Taylor Frankie Paul almost appeared as a housewife on RHOSLC, but they didn't think she would be a good reality TV star. “I was actually interviewed for it, and I was told I didn’t have enough drama in my life, so I didn’t get it,” she explained, although there are no hard feelings.

“But that’s OK because now I have this show.”

Taylor suspects her modest life may be why she didn't land the role on the popular Bravo franchise. “There was an interest there. That’s why I interviewed, but I also don’t think I would have fit in. They’re known for having really big houses—very extravagant. I’m not really extravagant.”

Although Bravo felt Taylor didn't have enough drama to be a Salt Lake City Housewive, the viewers of The Secret Lives Of Mormons certainly felt differently. The Bravo star was the lead of the Hulu drama which followed the fallout of Taylor's “soft swinging” scandal. Her TikTok video, where she revealed she and her ex-husband, Tate Paul, were swingers, went viral in 2022 and led to her divorce.

Taylor admits she didn't share with Bravo what happened between her and husband in the bedroom. “I was obviously not admitting to what we were up to,” she confessed.

The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives is streaming now on Hulu. The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City is on Bravo.