2025 certainly has been a year of surprises, but one thing I definitely didn’t expect was the cast of the Secret Lives of Mormon Wives to be guests at Lisa Vanderpump’s pseudo-fictional Italian chateau, AKA Vanderpump Villa. Like, it was already enough of a gag that Stassi Schroeder was returning to her roots (serving, serving, and screaming). But watching Utah’s religious finest rock up at a sillier, sluttier corner of the Hulu reality universe? Get those casting directors a raise, pronto!
Naturally, “what happened in Italy” did not stay in Italy, because Jen was throwing shady accusations at her fellow sinner/saint Demi, about exactly that at her first opportunity. So, if you are, IDK, normal and didn’t immediately binge the crossover episodes, I got you! Here’s the official SparkNotes on what happened with Demi in Italy on Vanderpump Villa to save you some screen time.
What did Jen say Demi did in Italy on Vanderpump Villa?
During a heated sit-down between Jen and Zac vs. Demi and Jessi, Jen dangled a big ol’ carrot to put Demi on the defense: “After Italy, you did come to me and I could easily talk about that, which I’m not going to.” When Demi immediately clapped back with, “What happened in Italy??” since the implication was that Jen was protecting a secret, Demi eventually pressed Jen to say “how, after Italy, Bret was crying to you,” which Demi immediately denied.
“No, he wasn’t,” Demi said. In the hotel room, Demi’s husband, Bret Engemann, “said I had nothing to worry about,” Demi continued as Jen nodded along.
The unstated incident Demi was or was not worried about surrounds one of Lisa’s most ridiculous staff members, Marciano, being “super flirtatious” with Demi. But Demi “handled it the best she could, truly did nothing wrong,” as she recapped on SLOMW.
It seems from Jen’s recount that after the Vanderpump Villa filming wrapped, Demi may have been concerned about the potential optics of her scenes with Marciano (on a show where the hotel staff is allowed to, erm, give the guests hands-on service). So she called her husband from the vacation to give him a heads up, a conversation she relayed in some capacity to Jen and the other Mormon Wives.
Either way, seeing how lovey-dovey and protective Bret is of his marriage with Demi during the season 2 Halloween party alone makes it seem hard to believe there are infidelity accusations lingering between the pair.
Did Demi hook up with Marciano in Italy on Vanderpump Villa?
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No, Demi and Marciano did not hook up when the Mormon Wives took their televised trip to Italy, and, frankly, it wasn’t even close.
Marciano followed Demi around like a puppy, because of their “instant connection” — AKA, he was “physically attracted to her” and “could tell they would get along.” Later on, he developed an “emotional attraction” based on basically nothing other than how hot she was. In return, Demi engaged in friendly small talk with Marciano, asking him about his exes in the Villa and expressing genuine surprise when he made it clear he was “allowed to make moves on the guests.” I guess her mild excitement when she learned Marciano was “going to be hanging out” with the entire group later that night was part of the reason Marciano (in his delulu mind) “didn’t know how to act” around her.
After some of the Saints headed to bed early, Marciano pulled Demi for a “talk” (a “clown” and “ick” move, as said by Marciano’s ex, Hannah). During their 1:1, Marciano told Demi she owes it to herself and to him to entertain this ~deep conversation~, the point at which Demi (and I) burst out laughing.
Demi pivoted the conversation to how it’s evident Marciano did Hannah “extremely dirty” and asked Marciano if he thinks there’s a chance he could get her back. Demi tries to relate to Marciano by telling him her marriage at times has been “up and down,” and that she almost “divorced [her] husband 27 times,” questioning if the age-gap relationship was truly right for her.
When Marciano (hopefully, might I add) probed Demi on if she “was living with regret,” she said “no” (run the clip back several times if you don’t believe me) and clarified that “the deepest and most successful marriages you are faced with, like where do we go from here, and it’s all about how you work on that together.” That led to growth with Bret, who is her “rock in the river.” She ends the heart-to-heart by thanking Maricano for making her think about her marriage and calling him a low-key amateur marriage therapist. LOL, the smoothest curving of all time.
Secret Lives of Mormon Wives and Vanderpump Villa Crossover Episode Recap
In episodes three and four of Vanderpump Villa season 2, the Mormon Wives head to Italy as a farewell trip to Jen, who at this time was getting ready to move with Zac to Arizona for med school.
During the trip, Layla is single and makes out with one of the staff hotties, Sam, even though he has a situation with another server, Alyssa. This sent Alyssa into major tears making Layla uncomfortable and LVP pissed (not at the employee-guest fraternization, though, ha!).
At the same time, Marciano makes Hannah mad by pursuing a very married Demi Engemann. But though Demi humors Maricano’s flattery, she ultimately shuts him down when he finally corners her for a talk. Marciano, level-headed guy that he is, still tells the confessional cameras he thinks there’s a chance.
