Marciano Brunette made a surprising confession about why he would support The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives‘ Jessi Draper hooking up with other guys — despite their own romance.
“I would say that currently we are dating, but we are not exclusive,” Marciano, 33, said in a clip from the Wednesday, June 3, episode of Hulu’s “Get Real” podcast when asked about his and Jessi’s relationship status. “Hence the point of you asking a girl to be your girlfriend. I have not done that.”
Marciano revealed he wouldn’t take issue if Jessi, 34, found a connection with another guy.
“I told her that’s 100 percent OK [if she went out and hooked up with someone else]. Am I going to be happy about it? No, I am not,” he admitted. “But I am not going to tell her what to do until she’s ready to actually get into another relationship. Then we can have that conversation.”
The Vanderpump Villa star has prioritized “supporting her as a friend first.” He also hinted that he is falling in love with Jessi, who replied in the clip’s comments section, “My little green flag.”
When The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives premiered in 2024, Jessi was married to Jordan Ngatikaura, with whom she shares kids Jagger, 5, and Jovi, 2. The pair faced various challenges in their relationship — including Jessi’s emotional affair with Marciano.
Jessi Draper, Marciano Brunette. Getty Images; Disney
“We 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. [Jordan] was blackmailing me. He was threatening to send my texts to Marciano out to the world,” Jessi said on “The Viall Files” podcast in November 2025, claiming the drama was addressed on the show but didn’t make the final edit. “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.’”
Jessi continued: “It was so toxic. I remember the day I left him, it got to a point where he was recording me and he’s taunting me and I was chasing him around the house. We were just screaming at each other. It was so bad.”
Marciano, meanwhile, weighed in on both Jessi and Jordan’s claims about their issues.
“When you’re told something, obviously, I was very sympathetic to Jessi. But seeing it is way different,” he told Us Weekly in December 2025. “I think just seeing it all in general, I was like, ‘Oh, now I can really understand what you guys were going through.’ It’s a really difficult situation and it was tough to watch. I felt like I obviously played a huge hand and not making it look good for either of them. Hence why I’ve since said I live with regret by doing that.”
Jessi and Jordan, 28, gave their marriage another chance, but news broke in March that Jordan filed for divorce from Jessi after five years of marriage. (He also filed a restraining order, which was denied.)
As Jessi and Jordan’s split continued to get more contentious, she rekindled her relationship with Marciano. The couple, however, have clarified that they were keeping things casual.
“I’m single, going through a divorce, and dating around, having fun,” Jessi told E! News at the 2026 American Music Awards last month, where she walked the red carpet with Marciano.
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