{"id":258351,"date":"2026-08-19T02:11:04","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T02:11:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/19\/why-jen-affleck-almost-didnt-film-secret-lives-of-mormon-wives-orange-county\/"},"modified":"2026-08-19T02:11:04","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T02:11:04","slug":"why-jen-affleck-almost-didnt-film-secret-lives-of-mormon-wives-orange-county","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/19\/why-jen-affleck-almost-didnt-film-secret-lives-of-mormon-wives-orange-county\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Jen Affleck Almost Didn\u2019t Film \u2019Secret Lives of Mormon Wives: Orange County\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Jen Affleck<\/strong><\/a> wasn\u2019t so sure that agreeing to film The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives: Orange County<\/em> was great for her mental health.<\/p>\n

\u201cI almost wasn\u2019t even part of the OC show just because it got so bad. I was like, \u2018You know what? Maybe I need to take a step back,\u2019\u201d Jen, 27, exclusively told Us<\/em> of her mental wellbeing at the time. \u201cBut I felt honestly within me that I needed to share this time because with season 2 \u2014 when I did go through that \u2014 I think it was the right thing at the time to exit and focus on my mental health.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Jen rose to fame through MomTok and The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives<\/em>, she\u2019s now embracing a new chapter as part of the Hulu spinoff in Orange County<\/a>. The reality TV star felt this time around that it was \u201cimportant\u201d for her to show viewers \u201cwhat happens and how hard it is\u201d to experience postpartum or prenatal depression.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI hope that anyone who\u2019s gone through any form of depression watching the show can relate [to] me and can kind of feel seen because it was hard showing up,\u201d she said, while promoting her Quest Nutrition partnership. \u201cIt was hard sharing and it\u2019s also really vulnerable having to share the darkest seasons of your life. But I think in doing so, as long as it\u2019s helping someone, that\u2019s all I care about.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n Related: <\/span>\u2018The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives\u2018 Family Guide: Meet the Stars\u2018 24 Kids<\/span><\/a>
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\n\t\t\tThe Secret Lives of Mormon Wives centers around Utah\u2019s most famous #MomTok crew \u2014 but just how many kids do they all have? When the Hulu series premiered in September 2024, it starred soft swinger Taylor Frankie Paul and her TikTok mom frenemies Demi Engemann, Mayci Neeley, Mikayla Matthews, Jen Affleck, Whitney Leavitt, Jessi Ngatikaura [\u2026]\t\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Since Jen and husband Zac Affleck<\/strong> shared in June that they are expecting their fourth child<\/a>, the former Dancing With the Stars<\/em> contestant has been candid about experiencing prenatal depression \u2014 but said she\u2019s \u201cfeeling way better\u201d today. (The couple, who tied the knot in 2018, previously welcomed daughters Nora and Penny and son Lucas in 2021, 2025 and 2023, respectively.)<\/p>\n

\u201cDefinitely seeing more of the light at the end of the tunnel now that I\u2019m not deathly ill and sick and on bed rest,\u201d she said. \u201cI have always struggled, specifically the first trimester of every pregnancy. It\u2019s interesting because I never was a person to really struggle with depression throughout my life. But when I became a mom, it was a different story. Like my body was just going through things that I just didn\u2019t know how to navigate, and I, unfortunately, with this being the fourth pregnancy, this was the hardest pregnancy out of all of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Jen shared that she\u2019s been feeling hopeful because she knows she has \u201cgotten through this before\u201d and \u201ccan go through this again.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only difference between this pregnancy and other pregnancies was I had a really hard time reaching out, really hard time talking about it and asking for help,\u201d she said. \u201cI think, especially as a mom, I think it\u2019s hard to ask for help because you\u2019re constantly serving your children and thinking of your children, and it\u2019s hard to think of yourself. But I think through asking for support has been the biggest game changer, and it\u2019s given me the strength to be able to show up for other people. I hope through sharing my story, it\u2019s been able to help other people, or at least bring awareness.\u201d<\/p>\n

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