Aspyn Ovard‘s revelations about her divorce from Parker Ferris and their daughter’s terminal cancer diagnosis were almost not featured on The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives: Orange County.
“Initially, I wasn’t going to share a lot of things that are going on in my life,” Aspyn, 30, exclusively told Us. “Including my relationship [with Briana Davis and Billy Davis].”
Aspyn preferred keeping certain information out of the spotlight, saying, “I’ve been very private for the last few years so I was thinking that maybe I could get away with doing this and still staying private. But I think that this is definitely just a different experience than me sharing my life through my own content. It was kind of like going big or going home in a way.”
The reality star thanked the show crew for their support.
“I had a lot of reassurance from production that they would be very respectful of my life and my story,” she continued. “I got to have a hand in crafting my story and the way that they put everything together. So they made me feel very comfortable and OK with sharing everything that I did.”
During season 1, which premiered on Thursday, November 12, Aspyn revealed that one of her and Parker’s daughters was diagnosed with a terminal disease.
“Everything happened so out of nowhere. One day she was OK and then the next day, she wasn’t,” Aspyn, who shares three daughters with Parker, 31, said while getting emotional. “You can’t fathom that they’re actually gonna tell you that your baby has cancer and that it’s terminal and she can be gone in a month.”
Aspyn also confirmed that Parker’s secret drinking was the “10-year secret” she previously teased about the dissolution of their marriage.
“When we got married, I thought we were on the same page about where we stood with drinking and smoking,” she recalled. “My dad struggled with alcoholism so the only version of him that I knew was some level of intoxicated. Whenever he would come home, just the sound of his work boots was a dark cloud over the house.”
Aspyn continued: “Finding out that Parker had been drinking behind my back for years, it was literally earth-shattering. He went through so much to hide it from me and the fact that my husband — who was supposed to be the safest person — would do that to me. For him to know what alcoholism did to my family — to find all of this out two months after my dad died from alcoholism — hurt so bad.”
While speaking to Us, Aspyn acknowledged that there were viewers who were waiting to find out more details about her personal life, saying, “I feel like I’m really good at just disconnecting from it. As much as I’m chronically online, when there are things that are going viral or whatever is happening online, I almost can’t make the connection of myself being perceived in that way. I feel like it’s kind of easy for me to just not pay attention to things like that that are being said. It’s just not really relevant to me even if it’s about me.”
The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives: Orange County is streaming now on Hulu.
