Jen Affleck Breaks Free: The ‘Mormon Wives’ Star on Her Divorce and Finding Herself on the ‘Orange County’ Spinoff

[This story contains spoilers from season one of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives: Orange County.]

Jen Affleck is ready to talk about it.

After five seasons on The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, the soon-to-be mother of four makes the jump to the Orange County-based spinoff series with its Thursday debut on Hulu. An anchor from the original, her personal story immediately makes waves for the new show; in the first few moments of episode one, Jen admits she wants to divorce her husband of seven years, Zac Affleck.

The couple has navigated conflict in their marriage since season one of the main series, but Jen opens up about the dynamics of their relationship further on Mormon Wives: Orange County. She discloses she learned her husband lost the total of their bank account after losing a bitcoin investment (that he made without her knowledge); the jealousy she’s felt watching her co-star Whitney Leavitt have the support of her own husband, Conner Leavitt; and finding out that she was pregnant with she and Zac’s fourth child all while coming to the decision that they would split as filming began for the new show.

Amid the chaos, filming The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives: Orange County also provided a space for Jen to shed the fear she felt working on the original series.

“I went into every scene with fear,” she tells The Hollywood Reporter of filming the original Utah-based Mormon Wives. “This was the first season that I actually felt like I could just be me and not feel like everything I was saying was being monitored 24/7. And filming with [Zac] sometimes kind of felt like that.”

After news that Jen filed for divorce surfaced in the press last Wednesday, the reality star posted two videos on TikTok from earlier in their marriage. The first video, which has amassed over 17 million views, features footage of Jen filming herself two weeks postpartum as she was “trying to become an influencer,” she writes. In the video, Zac says, “I hope you’re not making a TikTok looking like that… Your tits are sagging all over the place.” She writes in the caption, “He was never my biggest supporter.” (Jen’s second archival TikTok video has been deleted.)

Jen declines to comment when asked by THR why she posted those videos of herself and Zac. She, however, jokingly references his insult when asked later during our interview if Sports Illustrated has picked up the phone after expressing her desire to appear in the magazine during season five of the original Mormon Wives.

“I’m like, who wants postpartum saggy tits on Sports Illustrated?” she says with a laugh that reads back somber when putting the pieces together of the social media whirlwind she’s experienced in the past week.

Jen hopes that as the new show comes out, she and Zac can “hopefully not let the world get in between everything.” But that doesn’t mean she can’t share her side of the story on her terms, more raw and unfiltered than before.

Below, Jen gets honest about how soon during (or before) filming Mormon Wives: Orange County she knew she wanted to get a divorce; why Zac didn’t appear on the show at all; her quarrels with the public deeming her “selfish” for filing for divorce; and the strength she hopes to offer viewers with her story.

How are you doing? How has the press cycle for the new Orange County Mormon Wives been for you?

I’ll be honest, it’s been pretty stressful. I feel like one of the reasons why I avoided filing for [divorce for] so long was because of avoiding the public finding out. And, you know, when these types of things become public, everything kind of spirals. There was a little bit of mixed emotions between Zac and I when everything came out. But we’re just taking one day at a time. Anyone who’s gone through a divorce knows how hard and challenging it can be. But just trying our best right now to be on the same page and hopefully not let the world get in between everything.

As you prepare for the show to come out, is that a worry for you, having to see all these hard scenes? Zac didn’t film, but he’ll be maybe learning more of your feelings potentially as the season comes out?

I actually spoke with him about it [Tuesday] night, and he knows everything that happens on the show. I’ve told him everything. But I used to be worried, and now that I’ve moved forward with the divorce, I’m not worried anymore because we’re not together. If anything, I feel I want him to see it. I want him to see the pain that I went through this year. I mean, I really needed a supportive partner and someone to be there for me during the lowest moments of my life, and unfortunately, he wasn’t that person. Hopefully moving forward, this can be a moment of reflection for him.

Was it a conscious choice for Zac to not film at all for this new show?

It was more me. It was my decision of him not being on the show. I just knew, starting a new season with a new group of girls, I wanted a fresh start. I feel like I went into filming really stressed and overwhelmed, and because of that, I put a lot of pressure on myself and wasn’t able to fully show up as my authentic self. So I’m honestly glad I made that choice, because this was the first season that I actually felt like I could just be me and not feel like everything I was sharing or saying was being monitored 24/7. And filming with him sometimes kind of felt like that.

You say in the first few minutes of the show, in a confessional, that you have decided you want to move forward with divorce. In one of those first scenes, you’re with Aspyn Ovard, asking her questions about her divorce. When you went into filming, were you already settled on that decision, or did that decision come as you started to film?

I was pretty set before filming. But then finding out I was pregnant during that time kind of made everything a lot more complicated. That was the start of me speaking about it because I hadn’t told anyone. I had made the decision in my mind, but I hadn’t told anyone till that moment.

You were so honest, raw, vulnerable on Orange County. It seems a little bit departed from your past experience on the original Mormon Wives; not that you’ve not always been honest, it just seems more raw on Orange County. Did filming this show feel different to you from the original series?

Oh, absolutely. I felt like on the OG show, I went into every scene with fear, and this was the first moment that I felt empowered sharing because I had so many people around me supporting me. It made me feel like it was a safe place.

Was there a turning point or a specific moment that happened where you were like, “I’m just gonna put this all out there and share everything?”

I would have to say halfway through filming. At that point, I was just tired. I was exhausted [from] spending so much time protecting other people that weren’t protecting me. I didn’t know how everything was going to turn out for me.

The whole reason why I decided to do reality TV in the first place was to share my story. I started filming [the original Mormon Wives] at 24. This is the stage of life where I’m figuring out who I am, who I want to be, and I felt it was very important as I moved forward with this divorce to share this because I think there’s a lot of women who can relate, and also a lot of women who feel stuck, who aren’t brave enough to take the next step, whether that be fighting for their marriage or leaving, especially in my community within the Mormon religion. I felt it was really important to share, and I hope in doing so, and in pouring my heart into being vulnerable and into this show, that there’s someone out there that doesn’t feel alone. I just hope this helps other women.

This past week, after the news came out that you filed for divorce, are there any misconceptions that the public is getting wrong about your story?

Yeah, I think there’s a lot of people calling me selfish. There’s a lot of people telling me that I filed for divorce for fame and that I chose these things before my family, and that’s just not the case at all. In the show, you’ll see where my heart was at, and that I was willing to fight. In fact, I think I fought for too long, and it took an immense amount of strength to walk away. [Anyone] who’s seen my story has known that I’ve been fighting for my marriage. I’ve been protecting my marriage in hopes that we could figure it out, and that was just not the case for us. That’s hard for me to see, is that [people think] I was doing this out of selfishness and in reality I was doing this for my kids. I don’t think they deserve to think that our marriage was something that they should look up to.

Something you opened up about at the end of the season was feelings of jealousy about Whitney’s marriage to Conner, specifically how Conner would support her related to her career. Is there a specific moment or instance that you look back on where you felt like you wished that you had the support that Conner has given to Whitney as a husband and a partner?

I mean, I won’t go into specifics, but I think it’s just been a lot of our marriage. And I think it’s clear to the audience, you know, when he wasn’t being supportive.

Was one of those moments where you wished you had more support during Dancing With the Stars?

Yes, yes.

How do you look back on that experience now of Dancing With the Stars?

I just want to look back and be grateful. I really went in and gave it my all. I was eight weeks postpartum, and I think I was really hard on myself during that whole time. On top of everything that I was going through behind the scenes, I wish, looking back now, that I wasn’t so hard on myself.

Obviously this show is called The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives: Orange County. Where are you planning on living as you move forward; would you go back to Utah or plan to stay in California?

I’ve been going back and forth to Utah. All of my family and friends still live there, so there’s no question that I’ll still be visiting from time to time. I’m still on good terms with everyone in Utah, and so until someone kicks me out, I guess I’ll forever be a part of MomTok.

You filmed for season six of the original Secret Lives. Do you envision that potentially being your final appearance on the mainstay show? Or would you juggle doing both the main show and the Orange County spinoff?

No, I’m still debating, to be honest. Just because it is hard filming, and it’s hard having to travel and leave your kids. So, I don’t know. As of right now, being in California is my priority. Strengthening the friendships that I have here is something that’s important to me. I don’t actually know yet. (Laughs.) We’ll see.

You have mentioned that one of your goals is to be in Sports Illustrated. I know that you’re pregnant and you’re going to be having your baby soon, but moving forward with the rest of your career, what goals do you want to tackle?

You know what, my goal is to find myself. I need to find myself first and get aligned with Jen, and I think through doing that, then I’ll find the exact things that I want to accomplish (laughs).

Has anybody from Sports Illustrated reached out since you said that on the show?

No, no one has, and I’m sure it’s because I’m pregnant. Who wants a pregnant woman on (laughs) the cover of a magazine? As of right now, I’m like, who wants postpartum saggy tits on Sports Illustrated? But, we’ll see.

You have had such a massive journey over the past few years on both iterations of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives. What do you hope people take away from your story and what you open up about in this new chapter on Orange County season one?

In the past two years, there’s been a lot of talk of figuring out who I am. When I started season one, there was a combination of love and hate. I would say half of the people were wanting me to fight for my marriage, and the other half was wanting me to leave. Throughout my whole journey, I’ve been in a tough situation where I haven’t really been able to express the way that I’ve wanted to, and I think a lot of it has had to do with pleasing others.

[I want people to know that] we’re strong and capable of doing anything we set our mind to, and it can be scary. I’ve been in a lot of scary situations, especially going through my divorce, being pregnant, but things can get better. Sometimes it just takes making the hard decision and moving forward without fear.

Season one of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives: Orange County is available to stream on Hulu. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.