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In her own words, Jen Affleck’s fourth pregnancy has been a “crazy ride.”
The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star is already a wife and mom of three, a full-time content creator and, now, one of the familiar faces stepping into a new era with The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives: Orange County. But behind the cameras and social media posts, Affleck says the past few months have taken a toll on her physically and mentally.
“I feel like I haven't gotten a break, whether it's what I'm experiencing physically, mentally, or emotionally,” Affleck told iHeartRadio. “It's one thing after another because I feel like I've gotten every cold.”
Still, she says she’s beginning to see “the light at the end of the tunnel.” And part of that has a lot to do with her putting the damn phone down and logging off.
While she makes a living by living online, Affleck said, “I swear it's these damn phones that are ruining all of our mental health.” And not to be all insert-brand-here, but there is one other thing helping Affleck get through pregnancy: snacks, specifically Quest Dill Pickle Chips.
“I’ve been craving pickles this pregnancy. I don't know why, and if you've ever been pregnant, you know when the cravings come, they just come,” Affleck, who partnered with Quest Nutrition, said. “That's been my go-to.”
So, pregnancy cravings, she’s got covered. Everything else? Well, she's handling it one day at a time.
Affleck still has a lot ahead of her as she prepares for baby No. 4 and a new chapter on reality TV. And she says viewers are about to meet a version of her they haven't quite seen before: “authentic Jen.”
Keep scrolling to read my full Q&A with MomTok OG Jen Affleck.
First of all, congrats on baby #4! How are you doing?
Thank you so much. It's been a crazy, crazy ride. I feel like I haven't gotten a break, whether it's what I'm experiencing physically, mentally, or emotionally. It's one thing after another because I feel like I've gotten every cold. It's been a lot on me physically. I think my body's still trying to recover, as you can see.
But I do feel like I'm seeing the light at the end of the tunnel when it comes to how I'm feeling mentally. I feel like this year has been a little rough for me, but I just feel like that's how life works, though, right? When it rains, it pours, and that's just how it is. But there's always the rainbow, so right now I'm like, I think the rainbow's coming! Hopefully!
It is. It has to. Well, I'm speaking a great pregnancy over you after you get through this sickness, and great mental health. Speaking of, I love how open you are about your life: the good, the bad. It's just so refreshing. And so I'd love to know how you are taking care of yourself, or at least trying to take care of yourself this pregnancy.
Honestly, one of the best things for me during this pregnancy has been staying offline. Which is so hard to do when it's literally your job. I used to post however many times a day because it is my job, and I do feel like there is this need, especially [because] it is kind of the way that I provide right now.
Honestly, it's been one of the best things for my mental health because I'm telling you, I swear it's these damn phones that are ruining all of our mental health. I don't think it's normal to go online and see so many of these comments about yourself.
I've had to take a step back for my mental health to just remind myself, okay, I do think criticism is important. I think there is a time and place to look in the mirror and say, "Hey, I do need to fix these things," and I'm grateful that people have pointed it out. But then it can go the other way around where, you know, mental illness is real. Suicide ideation is real. There's thoughts that come in, especially being in a very vulnerable place while being pregnant.
And so, for me, it's just really been one of the best things to take a step back [and] focus on living real day-to-day, real time. And what you'll see is, during the OC show, you are seeing my real day-to-day, just seeing my life unfold. And that's everything that I'm sharing while someone else is filming my life.
But there's a reason why I didn't post during the past couple months, and you'll just see how that unfolds.
I'm excited to watch the OC. I feel like you're bridging the original Mormon Wives with this new Orange County world. So, what does Jen look like in the OC compared to Utah Jen?
I feel like OC Jen is the Jen that — I think it's just authentic Jen. There's a lot you will see on the OC show. I feel like OG MomTok, being a part of their group and being a part of the first couple of seasons of that show, you're seeing me navigate trying to figure out who I am and who I want to be. And it's the beginning.
So, through that, I'm navigating my relationship, my faith crisis. I'm being introduced to things that I never even have been introduced to, or having a paradigm shift when it comes to just how I view life. And I feel like there's been a lot of good and bad with that. There's also been a lot of ugliness through that, and through that, you're gonna see my flaws.
And I feel like there's also been a lot of people-pleasing and just trying to keep people happy. And I feel like because of that, we've seen Jen struggling, trying to figure out who the hell she is. She doesn't even know. And with [the] OC show, I feel like this is the first time people are actually starting to see Jen figure out who she is and what it is she wants. And she's finally considering her happiness and her life and just figuring [it] out.
I think it's the frontal lobe being finally developed. It's like, oh, we're starting to see things, and we're starting to get things, and we're realizing how we acted in the past or things that we needed to change. And I feel like this is now the beginning of that new chapter. I'm really excited for people to see that. I feel like I've navigated a lot, and that doesn't change that I'm still human, and I'm still going to mess up, and we're still trying to figure out a lot of things. But I do think this is the first time where I feel like I showed up every single day feeling like myself.
Now, can you tell me one thing about this upcoming season of OC that means absolutely nothing to me right now, but it's gonna mean something to me after I watch?
Divide.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.