Reality TV
Mormon Wives Stars React To Whitney Leavitt’s DWTS Exit
Fans theorize that the Secret Lives Season 3 drama might have played a role in her elimination.
Despite being a front-runner throughout Dancing with the Stars Season 34, Whitney Leavitt was ultimately eliminated during the show’s Prince-themed semi-finals on Nov. 18. But if the Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star didn’t win the Mirrorball trophy, she did take away something even better from dancing with partner Mark Ballas.
“I feel like we all have these dreams that we want to obtain,” she told Access Hollywood after the show. “And I’ve had these dreams that I didn’t feel like were obtainable — but experiencing being on this show, and doing these dances, dancing on this stage, like, I feel like those dreams are within reach now.”
And despite the drama going down in Utah, Whitney’s Mormon Wives castmates — well, most of them! — took to social media to send their love following her exit.
#MomTok Showed Their Support
While Taylor Frankie Paul is currently filming The Bachelorette, she did pre-record a message for Whitney with the help of Entertainment Tonight.
“Hi, I just wanted to say I’m so, so proud of you,” she said from Bachelor Mansion. “You’ve worked so hard. I know this was one of your dreams, and you literally did it. And congrats. I wish I could be there with you guys. I miss you, I love you, and we’ll see you soon.”
Several of Whitney’s Secret Lives co-stars sent supportive messages via Instagram stories. Layla Taylor said she was “devastated” about Whitney’s exit, adding: “You absolutely killed it and we couldn’t be more proud! Can’t wait to see what’s next for you, just the beginning <33.”
Jessi Draper couldn’t believe the elimination, either — writing that Whitney “should have made it to the finale.”
Earlier in the evening, Mayci Neeley encouraged her followers to vote for “dancing queen” Whitney. And Miranda McWhorter simply said Whitney was “robbed.”
Mikayla Matthews was left “feeling all the feelings” after Whitney’s elimination. “I’m soo proud of the hard work and dedication I’ve seen you put into this experience,” she said, adding that she was “grateful” for her friendship with Whitney.
And in a loving message, Demi Engemann said Whitney was a winner, anyway. “It was one of the highlights of my life getting to watch you live out this dream of yours,” she wrote, “and to do it as effortlessly and beautifully as you did is seriously the coolest thing in the world!”
Did Mormon Wives Drama Spill Over?
Several fans speculated that Mormon Wives Season 3 (which premiered on Nov. 13) might have played a role in viewers voting against Whitney. Following an absence in the latest batch of episodes, Whitney returned in Episode 5 with a candid — and brow-raising — confession. She originally planned to step away from the show, she explained before revealing: “But then I heard from my team Dancing with the Stars was going to cast someone from The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, and that’s a motivator. I’ll come back for that!”
Jen Affleck — who, as of writing, doesn’t seem to have posted a reaction to Whitney’s exit — was “conflicted” about Whitney in Season 3. While they were close at one point, she said on the show, “The minute I left MomTok, I never heard from her, and then she became best friends with Demi, the one person that was bullying me during that time.”
Jen further called Whitney’s friendships with the group “transactional,” and suggested she was only there for her own opportunities.
