“Secret Live of Mormon Wives” Stars Demi and Bret Engemann's Journey to Love Included 2 Other Reality Shows

Before they officially got together, Demi's husband Bret was involved with two other reality TV stars

Demi Engemann's husband Bret might not bank a lot of screen time on The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, but he's still something of a reality star.

Demi and Bret Engemann started dating in 2020 before marrying in March 2021. The couple has a blended family with children from different marriages: Bret has two sons, Rome and Cole, and Demi has one daughter, Maude.

"I knew him through a family friend growing up, but he was so much older than me," Demi revealed in a TikTok video of her husband, with whom she shares a 16-year age gap.

"When I was 9 years old, he was married to his first wife and having babies. And I honestly don't think we ever met or crossed paths, which is so insane because the family friend that I knew him through was one of my best friends growing up and I was over there all the time and he was always over there all the time but we always somehow missed each other or maybe we didn't realize because of the huge age gap," she said, admitting she had "an innocent little girl crush" on him while he was a football quarterback for Brigham Young University.

While their relationship is spotlighted on The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, they have ties to two other reality franchises.

Bret's first wife was on Real Housewives of Salt Lake City

Prior to his relationship with Demi, Bret was married to Angie Harrington. Angie was a friend of the Real Housewives of Salt Lake City cast, appearing in two seasons of the show. The former spouses, who split long before her time on reality TV, share two sons, Cole, 16, and Rome, 19.

"I've learned not to care what people think," Angie told The Salt Lake Tribune. "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."

Following their divorce, Angie and Bret have continued to co-parent their children.

Demi has her own tie to RHOSLC, having admitted to auditioning for the show before the Hulu series.

“I actually interviewed to be on Real Housewives of Salt Lake City. And I know a few of the cast members just from past relationships,” Demi told Decider. “So, yeah, 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. So we do cross paths."

Demi's ex, Blake Corbin, also knew Bret

Before her relationship with Bret, Demi was married to Blake Corbin from 2015 to 2020, and the two share a daughter named Maude. Interestingly enough, her ex-husband Blake also knew Bret.

"My ex-husband had run into Bret a few times at the gym and they had talked business. At this point, I had maybe talked to Bret one time at the gym with Blake," she recalled in a TikTok video series explaining the couple's relationship.

She said the next time they ran into Bret, she and Blake were struggling in their marriage. Meanwhile, Bret was single after his second marriage, which lasted just a few months, had ended.

"My then-husband goes up to him and is talking to him about some business stuff and Bret had a connection at a modeling agency and we were trying to get Maude into doing some baby modeling stuff," she explained. "They're talking about that and I come up and ask Bret what his status was with relationships... He tells us that he's single and I suggest that he go on The Bachelorette."

Demi and Blake signed Bret up for The Bachelorette

"We anonymously submit him to The Bachelorette," Demi admitted in a TikTok explaining how they were all interconnected.

"A few days later, he gets a call that they want to meet him and potentially cast him for Clare [Crawley]'s season of The Bachelorette."

"He calls Blake freaking out because he knew it was us and we tell him we think it would be a really good opportunity. Plus he's single and he didn't have anyone in his sights, so we suggested he just go for it," she continued.

Bret took their advice but got sent home from filming due to the onset of the pandemic in March 2020. Meanwhile, Demi and Blake continued to struggle in their marriage until that spring, when they decided to separate and Blake moved out. Despite making the decision, they kept it close to the vest.

Eventually, Demi and Bret reconnected as she realized he was no longer filming The Bachelorette. Amid their conversations, she confided in him that she and Blake had split.

Demi admitted she felt a connection with Bret as he acted as a "support system" through her divorce, as someone who had been through it. That said, she added that "out of respect for my ex-husband and the divorce not being finalized," they waited to "go on any official date" until she figured out her new situation with her ex.

As Bret began dating Demi, he didn't immediately tell producers he wouldn't be going back to The Bachelorette when filming resumed. Eventually, the two were photographed on a date, which led to an onslaught of calls and messages for Demi, who hadn't publicly announced her split from her ex-husband.

"Not only does Clare think Bret is two-timing [her] with some girl from his hometown, but I am also being labeled as a cheater," Demi revealed, explaining she leaned on a friend with ties to production at The Bachelor to help explain the situation.

While they cleared things up, Demi decided she needed time before jumping into another relationship. Eventually, Demi and Bret gave their relationship another go and after 10 months of dating, they got engaged, tying the knot in April 2021.

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