This is NOT the flex she thinks it is!
If you’re anything like us, you’ve been binge-watching Hulu‘s new show The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives. It follows several #MomTok stars after the group’s “soft swinging” scandal broke big in 2022. And one of the most controversial couples in the series is Demi and Bret Engemann — because of their 16-year age gap!
Fans have been concerned about the age difference since the get-go. But not Demi! She broke down the exact timeline of her romance with Bret in a February 2023 TikTok video series, in which she revealed that she was a literal child when her husband first got married and started having kids!
Related: Truth Behind Whitney & Husband Connor’s Tinder Scandal!
In the resurfaced clip, she explained:
“So if you don’t know, my husband and I are 16 years apart and I knew him through a family friend growing up. He was so much older than me. When I was 9 years old, he was married to his first wife and having babies.”
Um, WHAT? Why is she bragging about this?? This is so strange!
Bret was first married to The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star Angie Harrington and shares two sons with her. Per Demi, he was married to a second unnamed woman, too. Meanwhile, Demi was previously married to Blake Corbin, with whom she shares her daughter Maude.
Despite knowing Bret through a family friend (who was her “best friend”), the reality star clarified that she’s not sure they “ever met or crossed paths.” But she did have an “innocent little girl crush” on him, and thought he was “just so cute.” She detailed:
“I was over there all the time and he was over there all the time but we somehow always just, like, missed each other. Or maybe we just didn’t realize because of the huge age gap, and he wasn’t worried about a little 9-year-old running around.”
Yeah, we really hope he wasn’t too focused on her back then!! As for how Demi was aware of him without ever meeting, she explained that her friend’s dad was “really close to Bret” at the time because he was the quarterback at BYU and they’d watch games or talk about him a lot.
Once she turned 18, he started following her on Instagram, which made her “starstruck” because she’d been so obsessed with him for so long — and because of how big a deal he and his family were in their small town. But there were rumors swirling about him, and she wrote him off as a “bad boy.” She continued on with her romance with Blake and eventually had their daughter, but their marriage suffered as she struggled with postpartum depression.
@demilucymay_ Replying to @ashley816_ Part 1 of how I met my husband ???? #husbandwife #GetCrackin#agegap#agegapcouple#husbandsoftiktok#momsoftiktok#momtok#utah#utahcheck#grwm#thatgirl#products #makeup#makeuptutorial #hairtok #hairtutorial #husbandwife #storytime #relationshipstorytime #howwemet #ourstory #love
While she and her hubby were considering divorce, they ran into Bret at the gym and chatted about a possible modeling opportunity for Maude. That’s when Demi found out Bret was single, and she suggested he go on The Bachelorette. Demi and Blake actually ended up submitting him for the series, and just days later, he got a call to be considered for Clare Crawley’s season.
@demilucymay_ Part 2 of how I met my husband ????????❤️????????????#GetCrackin #husbandwife #agegaprelationship #agegapcouple #momsoftiktok #momtok #utah #utahcheck #storytime #howwemet #howimetmyhusband #relationships #couplegoals #relationshipstorytime #husband #wife #marriage #grwm #grwmstorytime #makeuptutorial #makeup #divorce #youngmom
Bret ended up getting cast on the show, but returned home when it was delayed due to COVID in early 2020. As luck would have it, Demi was splitting from her husband at that time, too. She shared:
“At this point, I didn’t really know what was going on with Bret, however, I did see him post some things about his boys on his page. He was supposed to be private at the time so I knew something was going on with filming. So I reached out to him asking what happened and he just said that everyone got sent home because of COVID, but that they were gonna go out and start filming again in a few months.”
They started messaging each other and when Bret asked about Maude’s possible modeling career, her momma used the moment to open up about her split. She recalled:
“He was very sweet and supportive and just offered his help in any way that he could with both Blake and I. We met up a couple weeks later. At this point, I’m in no position to get in a relationship. I’m just looking for someone to talk me through a divorce, [someone] that had been through it.”
Once they met up for the first time, as just the two of them, she said “it was like a movie” and there was “instant chemistry” — but they took it somewhat slow:
“Out of respect for my ex-husband and the divorce not being finalized, we waited to go on any official date so we were kind of hanging out and keeping it casual while trying to figure out my new situation with my ex-husband and co-parenting.”
But once they did finally go out, it was a disaster! She shared:
“The date was just a complete s**t show. I was so nervous. I literally was, like, shaking. I think it was just a combination of going on a date with another man and feeling super excited about Bret.”
Things escalated when paps leaked photos of their date — causing controversy because Bret hadn’t told The Bachelorette producers that he was dropping out of the show. The TV personality dished:
“TMZ had freaking leaked pictures of our date. I’m receiving phone calls from my family and friends asking if I am having an affair. In everyone’s defense, not everyone knew that I was separated and getting a divorce.”
@demilucymay_ Replying to @billdttoshine Part 3 it’s gettin steamy ☕️ ???? #GetCrackin #husbandwife #agegapcouple #agegaprelationship #storytime #howwemet #howimetmyhusband #relationships #bachelorette #tmz #lovestory #grwm #makeuptutorial #momsoftiktok #momtok #utah #utahcheck
Thankfully, one of Demi’s pals knew a Bachelor producer, and once they explained the situation, “it all fizzled out.” It was enough to freak her out, though! She said:
“At this point, I am just so overwhelmed and I can’t deal with the pressure of people accusing me of things, the press threatening to release things and also I’m just really sad about my marriage ending. As excited as I was about Bret, I just told him, ‘Now is not the right time for me to be dating somebody.’”
Bret “hated that.” But she continued to go on dates with him and other people:
“I definitely needed to date other people and just be alone to figure out my new normal.”
Despite seeing others, she felt Bret was the most “peaceful” to be with and ultimately begged him to take her back:
“I went crawling back to Bret, begging him to take me back. We got back together, we dated for about 10 months before getting engaged.”
@demilucymay_ Replying to @shirley..michelle The finale to how I met my husband! ???????? if you made it this far god bless you ???? #husbandwife #agegapcouple #agegaprelationship #storytime #howwemet #howimetmyhusband #relationships #bachelorette #tmz #utah #utahcheck #grwm #makeuptutorial #momsoftiktok #momtok #relationshipstorytime
They first hit it off in the spring of 2020, then eventually confirmed their romance in September 2020, and they were engaged by late March 2021 with a wedding just FOUR DAYS later in early April, per Us Weekly. Whoa! So once they got going, it went freaking FAST!!!
It’s still WILD to think that she was a child crushing on him while he was making babies with another woman… and now they’re married! Age gap relationships can feel so icky when looking back like this! Thoughts?? Sound OFF (below)!
[Image via Demi Engemann/Instagram]
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