Since season one of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, Whitney Leavitt has been branded as the show’s “villain.”
Throughout her time on the Hulu reality show, Leavitt has consistently started disagreements with the other members of MomTok — the group of moms at the center of the show — only for them to retaliate, resulting in Leavitt “quitting.” She would then return to the group if other, larger opportunities opened up for her to pursue — like an audition for Season 34 of Dancing With the Stars, for example — with the cycle repeating itself all over again.
Now, she appears to be claiming ownership of the role.
Leavitt’s Dancing with the Stars cast member, Andy Richter, opened up about her shocking elimination during Tuesday’s semifinals and shared his impressions of the SLOMW villain.
“When I found out she was the villain, I was like, ‘I hear you're the villain on that show.’ And all she said was, ‘Well, villains get paid,’” Richter told Entertainment Weekly.
“I need to tell you that Whitney was one of the sweetest, most positive loving people on that show,” he added. “Beyond anybody else, from the moment I met her, she was loving, and winning, and kind, and considerate, and incredibly positive towards me... She was one of the people that definitely made me feel that I was a valuable member of this team.”
During their time together on the show, Richter and Leavitt were only eliminated one week apart from each other, which the comedian was shocked to see, given her dancing ability and consistency atop the judges’ leaderboard.
“I think Whitney going home, to me it's absolutely insane. I mean, she's an amazing dancer. And if all the sticklers who were furious about me still being in it, who were demanding perfect technical dancing, I don't know why she would get sent home under that criterion,” Richter said.
“But there's a whole soap opera going on adjacent to this show online. It's a good way to sort of take the temperature of what the audience is feeling in terms of voting. I've seen forever, there's like people just like, ‘Whitney's gotta go,’ and I'm just like, ‘What? Why?’”
Many fans theorized Leavitt’s behavior on season three of SLOMW, which came out a few days before Tuesday’s DWTS episode, was to blame for the lack of fan votes to advance in the competition.
During the newest season, the reality star revealed she was only returning to film the show for the opportunity to audition for DWTS.
“After last season, I did decide to step away from the show, but I never quit MomTok,” she said in a confessional. “I was always in MomTok, still a part of that group. I just really needed a break, 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.”
Season three of SLOMW is now available to stream on Disney+ and Hulu. The season three reunion episode of SLOMW will drop December 4 on Hulu.
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