Jessi

Escorts. Surveillance. Blackmail. Sex parties?

Jessi Draper of “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” is accusing her estranged second husband, Jordan Ngatikaura, of being involved in pretty much all of the above.

Ngatikaura filed for divorce Thursday in Utah after five years of marriage to Draper. Though that was far from the start of their marital problems, she told Alex Cooper during Wednesday’s episode of “Call Her Daddy” — which was taped Friday — that the dissolution filing was something they had agreed to do together. Then he changed his mind, she said, and she got the news via TMZ.

“I’m the one who ended it. I told him on Friday the 13th, so not that long ago, and I just said I want a divorce. He definitely didn’t want it. And now he’s the one rushing to do it, which is a little strange,” Draper told Cooper.

Also strange, in her view, was his choice to state on the documents that she had had an affair, though they had agreed previously that the reason would be the tried-and-true and totally non-gossipy “irreconcilable differences.” Plus Draper had only kissed another man twice, she said. She never had a physical affair with Marciano Brunette of “Vanderpump Villa,” though their emotional affair was a big part of the third season of “Mormon Wives.” Also, Utah is a no-fault state when it comes to divorce.

The Times was unable to contact Ngatikaura on Wednesday for comment on Draper’s allegations.

During the chat, Draper called her estranged husband “calculated” and “emotionally abusive” and said he told her he had been advised by someone to file on his own. She also admitted to Cooper that their marriage most likely was what it was because she went too quickly from divorcing her first husband to starting a relationship with her second.

That said, Draper said that right before Season 1 of “Mormon Wives” dropped on Hulu in September 2024, she was given “proof” that Ngatikaura had been using an escort service in Texas. At the time, she presented her evidence to him, she said, only to have him say it had probably been generated by AI.

Draper also said she had heard rumors of “sex parties” that he allegedly attended, though her sourcing on that allegation was definitely of the friend-of-a-friend-who-was-there variety. She further claimed that Ngatikaura had listened in on her personal conversations via cameras in her house — cameras she said he unplugged when he moved back into the house and she moved to a hotel — and had blackmailed her, threatening to post texts between her and Brunette online.

“Any time he was mad at me, he’s like, ‘I’m going to post them. I’m going to ruin your life,’” Draper told Cooper.

One day, she said, Ngatikaura told her he believed in traditional gender roles and that he should be in his masculine and she in her feminine, and therefore she should do Pilates every day. That led to a fight, during which he threatened to post the texts he had been keeping in a draft in his phone. Nobody knew yet what had happened between her and Brunette, and she worried that exposing everything would hurt her business, where she employs dozens of people.

“I went to go grab his phone. I was like, ‘Jordan, no … This could ruin everything.’ And he goes, ‘OK.’ And I’m freaking out. So, I’m trying to get his phone. I’m kind of chasing him, trying to get it. He pulls out his phone, starts recording me, and he’s like, ‘What are you going to do? What are you going to do? Are you going to be like, “Taylor, should I call the cops?”’ (referring to her embattled co-star and best friend, Taylor Frankie Paul, whose season of “The Bachelorette” was nixed before it aired).

“I was like, ‘Whoa,’ ‘cause he’s friends with Dakota [Mortenson, Paul’s on-and-off boyfriend], so he’s like hearing things like that, obviously, and he’s baiting me and he’s trying to be like, ‘Oh, oh, what are you doing?’ And that was the moment where, for me, I was like, ‘What am I doing? I am chasing around my husband trying to get his phone so he doesn’t blackmail me. This is not healthy.’ And I literally left him the next day,” she said.

“I was like, this can’t happen anymore.”

NHL reporter Jessi Pierce and her three children were killed in a weekend house fire in Minnesota, the league announced Sunday.

Pierce, 37, covered the Minnesota Wild as the correspondent for NHL.com for the last decade.

“The entire NHL.com team is devastated and heartbroken by the loss of Jessi and her children,” said Bill Price, vice president and editor in chief of NHL.com, in a statement. “Jessi’s love of her family and hockey was evident in the energy and passion she brought to her work for us. She was an absolute joy to talk to and work with. She will be deeply missed.”

Firefighters responded to a house fire Saturday morning in White Bear Lake, Minn. Neighbors called 911 and reported seeing flames coming through the roof. Fire crews located an adult, three children and a dog inside the house, all deceased, the White Bear Lake Fire Department said. The department did not release the names of the victims in its statement Saturday.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

“Out hearts ache for those involved in this tragedy. We ask for the opportunity to allow our community to come together and support one another during this difficult time,” Fire Chief Greg Peterson said in the statement.

The Minnesota Wild mourned her loss on social media Sunday. “Jessi was a kind, compassionate person that cared deeply about her family and those around her. She served as an ambassador for the game of hockey during her time covering the Wild and the NHL,” the post said.

Minnesota is known as the “State of Hockey,” and the Wild have had one of the biggest fan bases since their inception in 2000. The Minnesota North Stars moved to Dallas to become the Stars in the early 1990s.

Hill writes for the Associated Press. AP writer Stephen Whyno in New York contributed to this report.

In a week rife with drama involving “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” cast, two stars of the hit reality series appear to be going their separate ways officially.

Jessi Draper and Jordan Ngatikaura’s marriage is coming to an end after five years, with the latter filing for divorce in Utah, according to TMZ, which cited court documents. The estranged pair married in October 2020 and share two children. Ngatikaura is also the father to a teenage daughter from a previous relationship.

A representative for Draper did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday. Ngatikaura, who also did not respond to The Times’ request for comment, issued a statement about his filing to TMZ and People.

He told the outlets his decision to divorce Draper “comes with a heavy heart” and said he is grateful for their time together. Ngatikaura plans to prioritize his children, “ensuring they feel loved, supported, and protected through this transition,” according to People. He said in his statement that he is seeking privacy for his family.

Before Ngatikaura’s divorce filing, the pair’s marital struggles had become public. In November, Draper broke her silence on allegations she had cheated on Ngatikaura and admitted to having an “emotional affair” with “Vanderpump Villa” star Marciano Brunette. At the time, Draper spoke to People about the “emotional abuse” she said she faced from her husband — he took “full accountability for the pain I caused Jessi” — and said, “We both made mistakes for sure.”

The spouses had agreed to a 90-day separation and to work things out together in therapy, People reported last year.

News of the “Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” divorce comes as the franchise reckons with star Taylor Frankie Paul, who faces new allegations of domestic abuse against her on-again, off-again partner Dakota Mortensen. Paul, who was arrested and charged in 2023 for a separate dispute involving Mortensen, was tapped to lead the latest season of “The Bachelorette” set to premiere Sunday, but that all came to a screeching halt earlier this week.

As Utah’s Draper City Police Department confirmed it was investigating alleged incidents of domestic violence involving Paul and Mortensen, TMZ published video Thursday of Paul kicking and throwing chairs at Mortensen in a 2023 dispute while one of her children was in the same room. ABC, home network of “The Bachelor” and “The Bachelorette,” acted swiftly and pulled the plug on Paul’s upcoming season.

“In light of the newly released video just surfaced today, we have made the decision to not move forward with the new season of ‘The Bachelorette’ at this time, and our focus is on supporting the family,” Disney said in a statement Thursday.

“Taylor is very grateful for ABC’s support as she prioritizes her family’s safety and security,” read a portion of a statement provided by a representative for Paul. The statement went on to say Paul had suffered “extensive mental and physical abuse as well as threats of retaliation.”

Amid the fresh allegations, Paul has seen brand deals fall to the wayside and production on “Mormon Wives” pause pending a decision on her status as a cast member, according to a person briefed on the situation.

Times staff writer Yvonne Villarreal contributed to this report.