Whitney Leavitt is finally sharing her true feelings about how she felt watching Jen Affleck get sent home from Dancing With the Stars.
**Spoiler alert: This article contains details from episodes of The Secret Lives of Mormons Season 5, now streaming on Hulu**
While competing on DWTS Season 34 alongside each other in 2025, Leavitt and Affleck experienced a rift that reared its ugly head in The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives Season 4, particularly in regards to Jen being eliminated first and Whitney — who was also on the chopping block the night Jen went home — smiling after Jen’s name was called. At the time, fans called out Whitney for looking happy at her Secret Lives co-star getting sent home, to which the Chicago the Musical star explained that she wasn’t happy about Jen’s elimination, but rather that her reaction was an involuntary response to not hearing her own name called. Now, it seems like she’s walking that back a bit.
After the entire MomTok group — including Taylor Frankie Paul, Layla Taylor, Mayci Neeley, Miranda Matthews, Miranda Hope, and Jessi Draper — flies to New York to see Whitney make her Broadway debut, Whitney and Jen finally get a moment to chat aside from the rest of the group, which is where Jen finally apologizes for sending her husband, Zac Affleck, to argue with Whitney about their issues. During the conversation, Jen seemingly acknowledges her own responsibility in the dissolution of their relationship, but Whitney refuses to accept it and says that she has no interest in pursuing a relationship further with the other member of MomTok.
After litigating her feelings and bringing up Whitney’s apparent pleasure in her elimination, Whitney finally explains her side of events and says that while she truly was just expressing relief at the idea of getting to dance another week on the show, a small part of her was “happy” it was Jen that was sent home.
“Let’s set the record straight, I, genuinely, to God, I don’t remember being like, ‘he he, ha ha, you’re going home,’” Whitney says, “that was not the intention. Of course I’m happy that my name isn’t called because I want to stay. I would have been relieved if it was anyone… but I was a little happy it was Jen.”
The moment seemingly marks one of Whitney’s final sentiments of her time in the Hulu reality series, as she later announced online her decision to leave the show after Season 5. Fans have all but expected an announcement like this as Whitney’s burgeoning career on screen and stage — she’s headed back to Broadway to star as Sandra Dee in Just In Time this December — has led to her being away from MomTok and Utah, where the show calls home base. Additionally, with the Taylor Frankie Paul drama that broke in late spring, many expected Whitney would want to step away from the mess and form a path of her own.
It appears that’s exactly what she’s doing and she’s onto bigger and better things. One thing is for sure, however, and that’s that Whitney will be back in the ballroom for DWTS this season as her husband, Conner, takes the dance floor as one of the 16 contestants vying for the Mirror Ball Trophy. We can’t wait to see how she channels Conner and what costumes she whips out week to week.
The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives Season 5 is now streaming. Dancing With the Stars Season 35 premieres on Tuesday, September 15.
If you’re new to Hulu, the basic (with ads) price is $11.99/month. If you want to upgrade to Hulu ad-free, it costs $18.99/month.
If you want to stream even more and save a few bucks a month while you’re at it, we recommend subscribing to one of the Disney+ Bundles, all of which include Hulu. These bundles start at $12.99/month for ad-supported Disney+ and Hulu and goes up to $32.99/month for Disney+, Hulu, and Max, all ad-free.