With the dust settled from Dancing With the Stars’ season 34 finale episode, which saw Robert Irwin ascend to the winner’s throne, Whitney Leavitt can now walk with her head held high, no longer concerned about stepping on toes. In an open and candid conversation on Call Her Daddy’s November 26 episode, Whitney addressed her supposed beef with fellow Secret Lives of Mormon Wives costar Jen Affleck, specifically her claim that Whitney joined DWTS solely because it was Jen’s dream.
“That’s wild. I always wanted to be a part of this show. I believe everyone can share the same dream,” Whitney shared. “And I’m overjoyed that we both had the chance to do it.”
The feud rumors between Jen and Whitney, who were partnered with Jan Ravnik and Mark Ballas on DWTS respectively, ignited when Jen was eliminated on the October 28 episode. In the moment, Whitney was caught smiling and then quickly covering her mouth as the co-hosts announced the elimination. However, as Whitney explained, there was no excitement about Jen’s departure. Instead, her happiness stemmed from remaining on the ABC show.
“I thought I was getting eliminated every Tuesday. Every single Tuesday, I was mentally preparing myself,” she recalled. “So in that moment, I felt a dual emotion—one where I thought, ‘Oh my god, they didn’t call my name, but oh my god, now my friend’s going home.’” And while Whitney claimed she didn’t remember smiling at all, she noted, “If anything, it was a relief like, ‘Oh, they didn’t call my name. I get to do this one more week.’”
Despite not rejoicing over Jen’s exit, Whitney admitted there was tension behind the scenes with her fellow MomToker. In fact, Whitney confessed that it “sucked” to see Jen saying she wouldn’t be rooting for Whitney to win. “Jen understands what it’s like being in the public eye, being in the reality space, getting the hate. She’s experienced it,” Whitney shared. “It didn’t feel great that she fed into that, that she decided to go on a live and say, ‘Yeah, I’m not going to vote for her.’ I mean, she could have just said who she was voting for.”
As for the reason behind their feud in the first place? Whitney hinted that more would be revealed during season four of Secret Lives, which was filmed concurrently with their DWTS experience. “There was a lot that happened while we were doing Dancing With the Stars,” she said. “I just think feelings were hurt on both sides and there wasn’t a mutual understanding.”
The pair still haven’t mended fences, with Whitney noting, “The relationship’s not great. I don’t really even know if there is one right now.”
For her part, Jen has revealed how some of her issues with Whitney began. “It’s frustrating for me because since the day I met her, I told her I wanted to go on Dancing With the Stars—that is literally one of my dreams,” Jen said on their Hulu series’ third season. “The minute she sees there’s an opportunity, she’s like, ‘Oh wait, I’ve always wanted it.’” And as she told E! News earlier this month, they ended up butting heads while both competing on DWTS. “Because being on Dancing With the Stars was a dream of both of ours,” Jen told E!, “we—at least for me—just wanted to make that experience only positive and leave the drama for our other show.” Unfortunately, there were moments where it was hard [for it not] to bleed into Dancing With the Stars.”
