Demi Engemann Breaks Down in Tears as She Reflects on How Marciano Brunette Allegations Have Ruined Her Reputation

Demi Engemann was overwhelmed with emotions during the Secret Lives of Mormon Wives reunion.

Throughout the season, the 31-year-old has claimed that Vanderpump Villa star Marciano Brunette engaged in “inappropriate touch,” grabbing her twice without her consent while the cast visited Italy to appear on Vanderpump Villa.

In a statement shared with PEOPLE last month, Marciano denied Demi’s claims against him. “I want to be absolutely clear: I am taking this matter extremely seriously,” he shared in a statement, via his rep.

“This is the most difficult situation I have ever faced, and the allegations against me are not only entirely false but profoundly damaging. I remain committed to addressing this issue fully and transparently.”

As the conversation at the reunion turned to sexual assault, with both Mikayla Matthews and Conner Leavitt speaking on their experiences and Jessi Ngatikaura sharing a previously undisclosed incident from her own past, Demi appeared tearful as she listened.

When host Stassi Schroeder asked Demi if she was OK, the influencer replied, “I think just like deep, deep wounds and things for me that I haven’t fully uncovered and things I know I’ve been through that I blocked out as well.”

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Demi said it made her “so sad” that so many people in the room had been impacted by sexual assault in some capacity.

“And then, with everything I went through the past year, not to compare because what I went through was not even close to what almost everyone has gone through, but it triggered a lot of really horrible things that have happened in my life. So to not be believed and be questioned and called a liar, it was horrible,” she added.

To her castmates, she continued, “I’m touched to hear the way you guys are talking about it. Conner, when you talk about it, it’s like my little younger self is getting the hug that I needed.”

Throughout the season, Demi stayed friendly with Marciano, leading many of the women to question what happened between them.

Asked by Stassi why she made that decision, Demi shared, “Why I did that just boils down to a trauma response and having a lack of boundaries and feeling like I needed to make excuses for what happened and also to keep what happened quiet.”

Zac Affleck pointed out that while he didn’t want to call Demi a liar, Marciano continues to “double down” on a kiss between them. This led to a heated debate between Jen, Zac, Demi and Bret as they all slung accusations back and forth about what may or may not have happened and how it was handled.

Jen maintained throughout season 3 that she believes something did transpire between Demi and Marciano, and hinted during the reunion that it was “off camera.”

“I just don’t appreciate the lies. The lies piss me off so bad because it’s affected my life for the past year in a very negative way, and Jen’s off living her merry life on Dancing With The Stars and raking in the dollar bills, and I’m a lying villain,” Demi said.

Jen then accused Demi of “bullying” her last season, noting that it also affected her emotionally. “Then you expected me to have this wave of empathy for you because you were having a hard time,” Jen added.

As the ladies are asked to leave the stage for the next special guest to come out, Demi could be seen breaking down backstage.

“Our experiences are valid and it’s like muddied because of this stupid f—— a—— that lied and sorry, but Jen, who has lied and put all these things in your head that never happened,” Demi said.

Jessi comes to Jen’s defense, noting that Jen was just sharing what she saw, which the other women on the trip also saw.

“I will never put myself in a situation like that again, and that sucks, especially when you’ve been in that situation and it brings up old stuff,” Demi cried. “Then you start really blaming yourself for like what they did. It’s more painful to not believed and to say it and have to go over it and over and over and feel the pain of bad things than to just say ‘F—, yeah, we kissed. F—, yeah, this happened.'”

“I’d rather something f—— happened at this point. It’s excruciating, and it’s ruining my reputation,” Demi continued.

Afterwards, Demi runs off from the group and sobs to a producer, “I want to go home,” before going outside with Bret to recollect herself.

When he asked if she’s sure about going back, she replied, “I feel like I have to for me… Every part of me wants to run and it’s like no, you’re going to stay. You deserve to be here and you’re not going to let them win.”