Marciano Brunette had plenty to say about the future of Jessi Draper and Jordan Ngatikaura’s marriage just months before their split.
“Jordan is a good person that cares about his family,” Brunette, 33, who had an emotional affair with Draper, also 33, during her marriage to Ngatikaura, 28, exclusively told Us Weekly at The Vanderpump Dog Foundation Gala in December.
“I try not to judge people off of what I’ve only heard. I judge them off of how they treat me and Jordan’s always treated me really, really well,” Brunette responded when asked about the alleged emotional abuse Draper claimed she endured from Ngatikaura. “It’s unfortunate to see what has happened in their marriage. I think he would love to do things differently.”
Brunette expressed hope that The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives stars would work things out.
“It looks like he’s making those steps forward to be a better husband, a better man, and I wish the best for him and Jessi,” he told Us. “So I’m hoping that going forward, it’ll work out for them.”
Brunette said he had “regret” over the emotional affair with Draper in 2024.
“I think the main thing for me was that as long as I can make amends with these people and they can forgive me, I will feel better about the regret and trying to move forward and do better, like, move on, do better, do the right thing going forward, and I will at least not try and beat myself up and not live in that regret,” the reality star explained.
Brunette also shared that Draper and Ngatikaura showed him grace despite him metalling in their marriage.
“I have no ill will towards Jessi whatsoever. I am extremely appreciative of everything she’s been doing lately, even Jordan lately. They’ve been very, very, very good to me, and I’m very appreciative of them,” he said at the time.
Three months later, Ngatikaura filed for divorce from Draper after five years of marriage.
Draper joined Alex Cooper on Call Her Daddy in March, claiming she had initially planned to file for divorce before her ex beat her to the punch. (The former couple share two children: son Jagger, 5, and daughter Jovi, 3).
Rumors quickly began to swirl that the Mormon Wives star had rekindled her romance with Brunette in the wake of her divorce and podcast appearance.
“Listen, I know what everyone is thinking. I’ve seen all of the comments,” Brunette said in an Instagram video of Draper’s interview on March 26. “But I want everyone to know that now that Jessi is single, I have no plan to …”
Romance speculation continued this week after TMZ posted photos of Draper and Brunette looking cozy in Nashville, with one image showing him kissing her cheek.
“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 fan captioned the images.
While Draper did not shut down the rumors, she did make one thing clear.
“Jessi Draper*,” she wrote, noting her recent return to her maiden name.
“Tell em queen,” one person replied. “Omgggg ur so iconic im so happy ur free girl!!!! Be single and keep having fun,” shared another.
Draper and Brunette began their emotional fling after meeting in Italy to film Vanderpump Villa with the cast of Mormon Wives. Brunette works at the villa as a server.
Fans watched the fallout of Draper’s marriage to Ngatikaura over her connection to Brunette play out on Mormon Wives. She later addressed the toll the emotional affair took on her.
“[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,” Draper alleged 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.’”
