From swinging scandals to Tinder drama, there were certainly plenty of shocking moments in The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives. But one of the most jaw-dropping revelations was one wife’s connection to Ben Affleck.
Jen Affleck introduces herself in the second episode, titled “The Book of Belonging,” as the 24-year-old #MomTok creator who is married to 27-year-old medical school student Zac Affleck.
“Zac is gonna kill me for this one, but Ben Affleck is his second cousin. I’m definitely the first Jen Affleck,” she says in her confessional, cheekily referring to Jennifer Lopez, who also happens to share the same middle name as her.
Jen quips, “I don’t know, maybe we can convert them to the church.”
Since The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints bans its members from drinking coffee, we’re going to have to assume the actor, who is the unofficial face of Dunkin’ Donuts, likely won’t be converting any time soon. Plus, he has another divorce on his hands with Lopez officially filing to end their marriage last month — two years after tying the knot.
Jen, for her part, said she’s never met the actor — but she’s hoping her show can help connect them.
“He’s my husband’s dad’s second cousin. So he’s pretty far removed,” Jen told DECIDER. “But his dad met him, like, once when he was little at a family reunion. So it’s always been, like, a known thing — like, they’re related to Ben Affleck. But I’m hoping to meet him one day, and hopefully this connection can help for sure.”
Lopez and Ben aren’t the only Afflecks with marital issues. While Jen’s TikTok shows that of a loving marriage, The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives presents a different story.
Jen and Zac — who consider themselves “conservative Mormons” — hit a snag in their relationship when she unknowingly gets dragged to a Chippendales show during a girl’s trip to Las Vegas. When she tells Zac where she is, he brutally threatens to end their marriage and take their children away from her, thus forcing her to leave the show altogether.
After a night of arguing, they seemingly work things out — and Jen revealed to DECIDER that they immediately started “hardcore” therapy after they wrapped filming.
“No marriage is perfect,” she added. “There are a lot of times where I’m going to fall short and he’s going to have to pick up the rest of the pieces. And there are moments where he’s going to fall short and I’m going to have to pick up those pieces.”
The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives is currently streaming on Hulu.