So far, Jessi Draper is the only Mormon Wives star to directly and publicly tackle the leaked domestic video, the pause in production on season five of the Hulu show and the cancellation of Taylor’s Bachelorette season. The businesswoman appeared on Alex Cooper’s Call Her Daddy podcast on Wednesday, March 25, of which she was initially booked to speak about her divorce.
At the top of the interview, Alex clarified that they filmed the episode on Friday, March 20, a day after ABC pulled The Bachelorette. Jessi started by noting that the cast knew of the video published by TMZ, but they had not seen it.
“I don’t like to judge someone in their darkest moment. I don’t want to judge the person, I’ll judge the mistake,” she said. “And Taylor really has made a lot of changes, and that’s what’s so hard for me, is this is my real friend, and she does have a really good heart and I love her so much.”
Of seeing the TMZ video, Jessi said it was “so hard.” She continued, “I tell her this all the time, that it’s not who Taylor is. She got caught in a really bad cycle, and just seeing that video, and yes, the child being involved is awful; everyone involved is really hard. But Taylor’s such a good person and she’s made some mistakes, so has Dakota, and I’m not saying any of it’s right, but I know Taylor as a person.”
“I’ve seen Taylor in her darkest moments, holding her, crying, I’ve been there for her, so I know what goes on behind-the-scenes,” Draper continued. “I want this to be maybe a wake up call for them, and let’s get them healthy and happy and move forward, and I believe people can come back from things like this. I just want the kids to be safe and happy and healthy.”
Jessi said she “wasn’t super surprised” when ABC pulled Taylor’s Bachelorette season, but that it made her “so sad” because she saw her while filming for the dating show, “and she was a different person.” She also revealed that right after the news broke, Taylor called her.
The Mormon Wives star also spoke about the filming pause, clarifying that there were two breaks in production on season five. Draper explained that the first pause came from production “when we found out he filed a police report. So this was before it broke,” referring to news that a second domestic assault investigation was initiated by the Draper City Police Department following a February incident involving Taylor and Dakota. (The police told People that “allegations have been made in both directions” and “contact was made with involved parties on [Feb.] 24th and 25th.”)
Jessi said a second pause in production came from the Mormon Wives cast. “A little bit before news broke, but we knew it probably was going to, us girls decided. We went to production and the network and they were all so supportive,” she said.
She admitted she does not know what the current controversy surrounding Taylor and the show at large means for the future of Mormon Wives, but that she would potentially feel comfortable to pick up cameras since the information is now public.
