Before leaving the fourth season of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, Demi Engemann had just one scene — and it was all she needed. The on-and-off MomTok member went to a recording studio with her husband, Brett, to perform a duet of Cyndi Lauper’s 1986 hit “True Colors” for no apparent reason.
In a season full of mayhem, like Taylor Frankie Paul hooking up with her toxic ex while preparing for The Bachelorette (now canceled) and Whitney Leavitt and Jen Affleck’s Dancing With the Stars feud, Demi’s scene in the recording studio was the comedic highlight. Social media and her co-stars are still creating memes of the moment weeks later, which brings me to the following point: Demi should become a pop star.
No, I’m not talking about a true pop star à la Beyoncé or Taylor Swift (no one could ever). But every great reality show has at least one cast member who thinks she can sing, regardless of their technical ability, and tries to make a music career out of their new platform. This is exactly what Mormon Wives is missing.
Bravo has perfected this art form. Just think of Melissa Gorga on The Real Housewives of New Jersey, who is forever in the network’s history books thanks to “On Display,” a song about dealing with fame that she recorded before actually becoming famous. It’s hilarious, yes, but also an undeniably catchy bop that still gets referenced regularly in the Bravoverse.
Vanderpump Rules has Scheana Shay, who performs the iconic “Good As Gold” every chance she gets, while The Real Housewives of Miami has Adriana de Moura, whose “Feel the Rush” is literally the show’s theme song. Perhaps the biggest success story is Countess Luann, who mastered the art of elegant yet frivolous pop bops with “Money Can’t Buy You Class” on the New York franchise, and has parlayed her music endeavors into a full-blown cabaret career.
Mormon Wives might have an Emmy nomination, but it doesn’t yet have an aspiring pop star or signature trashy pop song. Demi has the ambition, ego, and diva attitude (complimentary) to pull it off, and if you don’t think she has the talent to do it, well, that doesn’t really matter.
Demi’s status within MomTok may be in question, but going back to Mormon Wives and chasing after the pop-star fantasy would be a much better use of her time than a random game show with Taylor’s ex.
