Jessi Draper Ngatikaura's rocky relationship has been a focus of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives for the past two seasons, and in the latest, she opens up about the difficulty she may have divorcing her husband, Jordan Ngatikaura.
Jessi, who decided to start going by Draper for professional reasons, is one of the wealthiest women on The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives. It was a point of contention in Season 2 with castmate Demi Engemann, and Draper's success became an issue in her marriage. It could also become a problem if she decides to leave her husband.
In the latest season of the Hulu reality show, Draper opens up to her dad about her marriage. While reviewing her extensive prenuptial agreement, Draper said that divorcing Ngatikaura would be difficult. Her dad agrees with her, and Draper tells him she needs to take some time to review the prenup. Then she gets a call from her attorney, who tells her the entire thing could be invalidated.
While Draper and Ngatikaura signed the prenup before they got married, they never had anyone witness it. Under Utah law, a prenuptial agreement doesn't need witnesses to be valid. It can be a completely legally binding agreement with just the two parties involved signing. However, without those witnesses' signatures, the prenuptial agreement is more likely to be challenged by either party. The parties could claim the signature was forged or that they were coerced into signing it, which could make it invalid.
"This information has really rattled me. I just don't know what this could mean for me, my business and the security of my family," Draper said on the show.
The realization was difficult for Draper to grapple with, and she got visibly upset telling her castmates about it. She noted that she's worth significantly more now than she was five years ago when they signed the prenup. When explaining it to Taylor Frankie Paul, who questioned what it meant in practical terms, the women said it means that Ngatikaura could potentially get half what Draper is worth and be entitled to a significant portion of her business.
"I've just been struggling with that because I don't know what my decision is but I feel like if I make that decision, I'm putting my business and my family in a terrible situation," Draper said. "I just don't know what will happen but I'll probably leave millions."
Draper's business, JZ Styles, is a family-run company. Her mom and dad both serve as executives, according to business filings reviewed by Newsweek. Draper noted on the show that her dad is her business partner and that she wasn't sure if Ngatikaura would try to take half but that he could be "entitled" to it.
"I would owe him child support and I would owe him alimony," Draper said.
Castmate Layla Taylor encouraged Draper not to stay in her marriage because of the potential financial fallout and told her she could make that money back. Taylor noted that Draper has a "multimillion-dollar business" because she's smart and a good businessperson.
Draper launched JZ Styles in 2016, according to business records, and has expanded her business from a single salon into a franchise, an extension brand, and a hair styling academy. While the exact financial situation of the business isn't publicly available, it has grown significantly over the years, and the women have repeatedly brought up how successful Draper is.
Draper's net worth isn't definitively known because her company is private, and there's uncertainty about how much she makes from the show and how her brand deals are structured. But there have been several clues in interviews and on the show about Draper's income and property records which put her net worth at a minimum of over $2 million.
In Season 2, when they discuss Engemann trying to get Draper cut from the show, she said Draper was sitting "on an empire of this hair business and does really well financially." Another woman joked about Draper being a millionaire, and Draper herself said her situation was a little different from the other women on the show because of owning a business completely independent of Secret Lives.
An appointment at the salon could cost up to $1,500, including extensions. The extensions alone could cost between $600 and $1,200. Draper also sells merchandise and hair care products including shampoo, conditioner and styling tools.
Tuition for the JZ Academy, an 8.5-month program, costs $18,000 according to the website. Of course, Draper isn't pocketing all of this money; there's a lot of overhead to the business. She has to pay employees, order products,pay for space and insurance,and handle so many other aspects of running a company.
But being able to charge those prices and having people willing to travel across the country for her services and the education the academy provides to stylists demonstrates the business's success.
Draper also co-owns a house with Ngatikaura. The house is estimated to be worth $2.4 million according to Zillow and was listed for sale in the fall of 2025.
Castmate Whitney Leavitt said the cast received the same amount of pay for the first two seasons. But she previously told Business Insider that it could change down the line. It’s unclear if or how that’s changed, but all of the main cast have been made executive producers for the fourth season. Usually, that comes with an additional per-episode payment on top of what they’re paid to be on the show.
Leavitt told E! News in 2024 that some years, they could get a huge six-month contract, and another year they don’t get one at all. During the first season, Leavitt said she got $20,000 to promote a sexy toy, and MaycI Neeley said she once got $75,000 for a yearlong brand deal.