Jordan McClanahan Explains Her Mormon Wives: Orange County Cast Shake-Up

Fans knew to expect drama from the Secret Lives of Mormon Wives: Orange County cast, but they might not have expected one of the show’s most puzzling twists to happen before it even premiered.

When the spinoff of Hulu’s hugely successful Mormon Wives series was announced in April, Chandler Higginson was among the cast. However, when the show dropped a cast teaser in September, Higginson was conspicuously absent. And a different star, Jordan McClanahan, had been quietly added to the lineup.

Following the series’ Nov. 12 premiere, viewers finally have a little context on the cast shake-up — but still not the full picture.

The show introduces McClanahan as McCall DaPron’s lifelong best friend in Episode 3, after a heated conversation on a group trip to Palm Springs leaves DaPron feeling like the odd woman out. “Jordan will 100% have my back if anything comes up, so I’m really hoping that she can join this group,” she tells the camera.

McClanahan brings a unique perspective to the cast as a member who converted to Mormonism well into adulthood — with an assist from her bestie, who says she has a “McCalling” to bring people to the church. And it seems the newcomer brought a welcoming energy to the cast, despite a few conflicts. As Bobbi Althoff tells Bustle, “Once we met Jordan ... even when I didn’t like her, I was like, Bring her in!”

But why wasn’t Jordan part of the cast from Day 1? “I just think it’s a timing thing,” McClanahan says. “I actually had just had a newborn baby, and the timing was right, and it was a very natural, seamless fit for me to film.”

As DaPron jokes, “I was about ready to be out, so I had to bring in some reinforcement.”

McClanahan agrees that her delayed entrance was “really natural,” and it doesn’t seem to have displaced Higginson from the group. In fact, the erstwhile lead still briefly appears throughout the show as a “Friend of the Mormons.”

However, viewers may still wonder why Higginson is no longer listed as part of the core cast. She’s poked fun at the question herself, like in one post where she depicted herself as a “fly on the wall” hovering above the Orange County cast.

Higginson also posted a dreamy travel video, where she reflected: “Me on vacation realizing I won’t be spending the next month anxious about the world knowing my dirty laundry I aired out on reality TV because I was cut from the main cast.”

She elaborated in the caption that her experience “feels like a fever dream,” but that she’s “sending good vibes to the ladies.” She also liked supportive comments that suggested being cut was ultimately a “blessing” and “God’s protection.”