“It was this fourth child. I had to ask myself very hard questions like, ‘Is this the type of relationship I want this child to look up to?’ When I realized it was a no, that’s when I realized that I needed to make a change.” — Jen Affleck
Jen Affleck told her family she wanted a divorce after years of unhappiness with Zac, then left the conversation feeling unsupported. On Hulu’s The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives: Orange County, she said her relatives’ belief that a marriage could be worked out clashed with her decision to leave.
“I am gonna move forward with us doing a divorce,” Jen told them. “For me, I’ve been miserable most of our marriage. In fact, I want to say I’ve been miserable our whole marriage and that’s just the truth.”
In a confessional, Jen said Zac “hasn’t changed a lot of his behavior.” She connected her family’s response to their church membership: “They have the perspective of anyone can figure it out. But I don’t think they understand that the situation is a lot different and that I’ve given Zac way too many chances.” Afterward, she said, “I’m just feeling ashamed now for myself.”
Jen, 27, had hoped moving to California would help their marriage. Instead, she said, their problems grew.
She’d already questioned their future before the birth of their 3rd child, Penny, in July 2025, but had decided to try again. Her 4th pregnancy brought a different decision, and those words name it. She questioned whether she wanted another child to see their relationship as an example.
The spinoff also follows Jen’s account of discovering that Zac had secretly invested their money in Bitcoin and lost more than $100,000. She alleged that earlier losses had involved poker, sports betting and cryptocurrency.
After discovering the loss, she stayed with Bobbi Althoff. Zac, 30, doesn’t appear in the spinoff.
During a visit to a divorce attorney, Jen questioned whether she could manage life without Zac. “There’s a lot of fear but you should never base a decision off of fear,” she said. “So I’m doing everything that I can to remove the fear but I can’t help but be drowning in it right now.”
Jen filed for divorce in Utah on November 3, submitting a proposed parenting plan whose details remain private. She’s pregnant with their 4th child.