The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star Jessi Draper is reflecting on her now-viral kiss with costar Chase McWhorter.
“It was awful. I mean, it wasn’t an awful kiss, that sounded bad, but it was just an awful situation,” Draper, 33, said on the Thursday, May 14, episode of Hulu’s “Get Real” podcast, noting the kiss happened “one time” at a party. “The thing with Chase is we had a connection, and I was in a vulnerable state and he was really there for me after [my] divorce.”
She continued, “Honestly, it was kind of like MomTok was falling apart during that time. This was right when all the news was breaking, and none of the girls were really talking. I was leaning on him, which was the wrong idea. I had just left Jordan [Ngatikaura] and my emotions were so heightened. We were drunk.”
Us Weekly confirmed in March that Draper and McWhorter, 31, briefly kissed during a mutual friend’s party. Draper was newly separated from Ngatikaura, 28, at the time. Chase, meanwhile, was previously married to Draper’s Mormon Wives costar Miranda McWhorter.
“I screwed that up, and I’m Team Miranda, I just have to say,” Draper said on Thursday, revealing where she stands with Miranda, 28, after the incident. “We haven’t talked about [the kiss] really.”
According to Draper, both she and Chase instantly “regretted” locking lips.
“He’s really, really great,” Draper added of Chase, noting Miranda would likely say the same. “He’s a good guy. He is the best at giving advice, and I think I was just in the wrong place in time to feel vulnerable to that. It was both of us. We both regretted it, said sorry.”
Draper further stressed that she and Chase told Miranda about their antics “the next morning,” two weeks before sending her fellow MomTokker a floral arrangement apology.
“I completely understood why [Miranda and Kate Racker, Chase’s ex] were both mad,” Draper acknowledged of telling the truth. “I was like, ‘I get it.’ I screwed up, I’m so sorry, I’m not in the right headspace.”
During her Hulu podcast appearance, Draper shared another “public apology” for her actions.
“That was the stupidest thing and I feel so sorry,” the JZ Styles founder said. “My head has not been right since my divorce, so I’m making crazy decisions.”
Miranda, for her part, issued a statement after the kissing scandal.
“I knew there had been communication between Chase and Jessi but not to what extent,” she told Entertainment Tonight at the time. “Chase was upfront and told me that they were talking and that they kissed. Jessi reached out only after she knew Chase had told me something was going on with them.”
Miranda continued, “What I never want to get misconstrued is that there is not any emotional attachment to Chase. He is my coparent. Although I do feel disrespected by Chase, I feel slighted by my friend. Chase and I are no longer partners and while I have a high expectation of him as a coparent, I also hold my friends to a high standard and believe in girl code.”
