“Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” reunion host Stassi Schroeder defended Whitney Leavitt against former host Nick Viall’s remarks regarding Leavitt’s upcoming ventures.
“Dancing with the Stars” contestant Leavitt recently announced her upcoming Broadway debut as Roxie Hart in “Chicago,” prompting Viall and his wife, Natalie Joy, to question her career decisions as a mother in an episode of their “Viall Files” podcast.
Schroeder Defends a Fellow Working Mom
“I don’t want to make it worse for them, but like you guys, that was weird,” Schroeder said in response to co-host Lauren French’s question, “What’s up with Nick Viall?” on the December 10 episode of her “Stassi” podcast.
“It bothered me because that is an insecurity of mine that I have that I work too much and I’m like, ‘Am I a good enough mom?'” Schroeder said.
The “Vanderpump Rules” alum shares daughter Hartford, 4, and son Messer, 2, with her husband Beau Clark. As a working mother herself, she pushed back on comments the Vialls made insinuating that Leavitt wasn’t making her children a priority.
“That’s constantly in the back of my head all the time, especially right now with everything that’s going on,” she added. “Hartford’s like, ‘Why do you work so much?’ Hartford’s asking me that all the time now. And I’m just like, ‘Because I love it and because I want to take care of you and because you said you wanted a bigger house.'”
“Whatever anyone chooses to do for their family and what works for their family is fine. Everyone’s situation is different, we can’t be out there judging other families for what clearly works for them,” said Schroeder, who added that this wouldn’t be happening, “if she [Leavitt] was a man.”
Nick & Natalie Question Leavitt’s Career Decisions
“I am curious because, obviously, we had Taylor Frankie Paul being ‘The Bachelorette,’ and she received a lot of criticism for leaving her children and prioritizing her and her career and finding love. I am curious how Whitney is managing both,” Joy said in the episode.
She continued, “she just did ‘Dancing With the Stars’ for three or four months. She has kids on a school level — maybe they are homeschooled. I don’t know. To shift to Chicago in New York, that takes so much of her time. How is she managing being a mom?”
Schroeder Praises Leavitt’s ‘Supportive’ Husband
“How crazy that they have a stay at home dad who’s awesome and present and there and supportive of his wife. How wild. Like that should be the norm,” Schroeder said of Leavitt’s husband, Conner.
“He is pumping her up. During ‘Dancing With The Stars,’ he was coming over to me and Beau on every commercial break, asking us what we thought and pumping Whitney up and being like, ‘You thought that dance was good? Just wait to her next one,'” Schroeder said.
Leavitt, who shares daughter Sedona, 6, and sons Liam, 4, and Billy, 1, with her husband, reposted a TikTok of him that seemed to be responding to the remarks made by the Vialls.
“We can’t wait to go watch mommy perform on Broadway,” he captioned the adorable video which showed him dancing and being silly with their children as the song “We Both Reached for the Gun” from “Chicago” played in the background.
“Teamwork looks different for everyone,” he continued, “This is how we do ours ❤️ couldn’t be more proud of @Whitney Leavitt.”
I don’t understand why everyone is criticizing every move that Whitney makes! She has a husband who is supportive and takes care of the kids and it’s not like she won’t see them at all while she’s in New York! For anyone to question her ability as a mom is ridiculous, and they should be ashamed of themselves. How would they feel if someone was questioning their parenting skills? People need to stop the hate and spread love instead, this whole thing with bullying online is enough.