The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives‘ Marciano Brunette has publicly tried to get in contact with Bret Engemann — but have they privately spoken about Demi Engemann‘s sexual misconduct claims?
During an exclusive interview with Us Weekly at the Vanderpump Dog Foundation Gala in Beverly Hills on Thursday, December 11, Marciano, 32, confirmed he has yet to speak with Bret, 47, directly despite his — and Jordan Ngatikaura’s — best efforts.
“I was open to having a conversation that just never happened,” Marciano hinted about attempting to get in touch with Bret. “More than anything, it just hasn’t happened. That’s not to say I’m not open to it. I wanted to have an open conversation at the [season 3] reunion. I didn’t get that chance to do the reunion. I would have done it there.”
Marciano found himself at the center of the drama on season 3 of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives when rumors about an affair with Demi, 31, led to him confessing that he had an emotional connection with Jordan’s wife, Jessi Ngatikaura.
Marciano also claimed he had a romantic entanglement with Demi after they met while filming season 2 of Vanderpump Villa, but she denied his version of events. Demi has since accused Marciano of sexual misconduct. He has maintained his innocence but recently filed a lawsuit against Demi for defamation.
“It’s so unfortunate. I didn’t expect that this would ever happen where you trust someone so much — to think that it would turn on a dime and just affect you so much,” he told Us. “It affects your mental health, where it really is tough for you to get close to someone after that because I never would have expected it to go this far. Unfortunately, I’m put in a position where I have to do what I have to do because you have unfortunately said things publicly that I don’t think are correct.”
Marciano will get the chance to clear the air when season 3 of Vanderpump Villa premieres on Hulu. Earlier this month, it was confirmed during the season 3 Mormon Wives reunion that DadTok — a.k.a Conner Leavitt, Zac Affleck, Jordan, Jace Terry and Jacob Neeley — will be featured on Vanderpump Villa.
“I just saw some things,” Zac teased during the reunion. “Those aren’t my secrets to share. You are going to have to wait and tune in. Just wait.”
Zac hinted that his opinion on Marciano changed after they met on screen, saying, “He did seem like he was a nice guy there. He was charismatic and he stayed out of the drama. I felt like he was respectful to Jordan so it was confusing.”
Jordan, for his part, made it clear he was “not OK” filming with Marciano, who spoke about the upcoming crossover on Thursday.
“I really wish I got the chance to speak with Jordan earlier. But having that opportunity to do it on Vanderpump Villa, it was tough,” Marciano told Us. “I had to take that accountability that I hadn’t yet taken with him, especially publicly, which is way different. I think you’ll end up seeing that.”
Crossing paths with Jordan made Marciano regret his actions with Jessi, 33, even more.
“Jordan is a good person that cares about his family. But that being said, I think the main thing for me was that as long as I can make amends with these people and they can forgive me, I will feel better about the regret and try to move forward and do better,” he continued. “Move on, do better, do the right thing going forward and I will at least not try and beat myself up and not live in that regret.”
Before Marciano got a chance to sit down with Jordan, Jessi opened up about the emotional abuse she’s endured throughout her marriage. Jordan and Jessi are currently giving their marriage another try — and Marciano is rooting for them.
“That’s a tough situation, obviously, I’ve heard things [about Jordan], but I try not to judge people [on] what I’ve only heard. I judge them off of how they treat me and Jordan’s always treated me really, really well,” he told Us. “It’s unfortunate to see what has happened in their marriage. He would love to do things differently. It looks like he’s making those steps forward to be a better husband, a better man and I wish the best for him and Jessi. I’m hoping that going forward, it’ll work out for them.”
Marciano, meanwhile, is focused on moving forward, which has proven to be somewhat challenging in the public eye.
“My biggest issue is that I still have a 9 to 5 job. I’m a server at a restaurant that I never know if someone knows me when I’m going to a table,” he said on Thursday. “It’s unfortunate that it’s put me in that mental paranoia where I don’t know if [a confrontation is] going to happen again, and it easily can. It’s happened multiple times. That’s what frightens me the most — that the day-to-day life and a normal living is very difficult for me.”
He continued: “The hardest part for me has been being able to deal with everything that’s coming in — as well as my own mental health. It just affected me as a person and being in public. I’ve had some bad experiences and it has been really tough to try and navigate through those things. Recently, I’ve had so much support and it means so much to me with all the people that have had my back. It’s really turned a page and I couldn’t be more grateful for everyone that’s been supporting me right now.”
The reality star has been able to stay positive with the help of those who remained by his side — including Lisa Vanderpump.
“Lisa has had my back through a lot of things — publicly and even not publicly. She’s always checked in on me,” Marciano mentioned at the Vanderpump Dog Gala. “So I think it means a lot to me knowing that she’s willing to support me and have me out here to support her because that’s what I’m here to do.”
