The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives’ Jessi Draper responded to a report claiming that “sparks might be flying” between her and Vanderpump Villa’s Marciano Brunette.
After TMZ published photos of Jessi, 33, cozying up to Marciano, also 33, on Sunday, April 19, the outlet shared the images via its Instagram account. “Looks like sparks might be flying between Marciano Brunette and Jessi Ngatikaura … ’cause the two were getting real comfortable during a night out in Nashville,” a caption read.
Jessi, who was seen receiving a kiss on the cheek by Marciano in the snaps, simply corrected the post, “Jessi Draper*,” which attracted more than 17,000 “likes” and almost 200 supportive fan comments.
“Tell em queen,” wrote one person, while another commented, “Omgggg ur so iconic im so happy ur free girl!!!! Be single and keep having fun.”
Jessi’s estranged husband Jordan Ngatikaura filed for divorce on March 19 after five years of marriage. During an appearance on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast less than one week later, Jessi told host Alex Cooper that she had planned to file for divorce from Jordan herself — but he beat her to it. (The former couple share two children: son Jagger, 5, and daughter Jovi, 3.)
Marciano, who engaged in an emotional 2024 affair with Jessi while she was married to Jordan, responded to rumors of a rekindled relationship with Jessi in the wake of her divorce news and “Call Her Daddy” appearance. “Listen, I know what everyone is thinking. I’ve seen all of the comments,” Marciano said in an Instagram video on March 26 that included part of Jessi’s podcast interview. “But I want everyone to know that now that Jessi is single, I have no plan to …”
Jessi Draper Monica Schipper/Getty Images
The nature of his relationship with Jessi was put under the microscope again on April 9 when the pair teamed up for a photo shoot which was shared via Instagram by photographer Rachel Cook. In one of Cook’s photos, Jessi lounged on a picnic blanket as Marciano hovered above and fed her berries.
Another snap captured Jessi resting her foot on Marciano’s leg while dousing him with a pitcher of lemonade. The post even drew a cheeky response from Jessi herself, who commented, “Uh oh 🔥😜.”
Marciano Brunette Amanda Edwards/Getty Images
Jessi’s emotional affair with Marciano occurred after the pair met in Italy when the cast of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives traveled to film at Vanderpump Villa where Marciano was a server. Mormon Wives documented the pair’s connection, which Jessi denied at first before owning up to.
“We [Jordan and I] had been dealing with the affair for about six months behind closed doors. No one knew. During those six months, it got worse than it ever had. He was blackmailing me. He was threatening to send my texts out to Marciano to the world,” Jessi claimed on a November 2025 episode of “The Viall Files” podcast. “Anytime I did anything he didn’t agree with, he had it on his TikTok drafts and he was like, ‘I’m going to post it.’”
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