Jessi Ngatikaura is brushing off Demi Engemann’s claims that she “can’t do hair.”
Jessi, 33, playfully clapped back at Demi’s criticism of her hair salon, JZ Styles, which she opened in 2016, while taking to TikTok on Sunday, October 19.
In the clip, she danced around her salon while mouthing Taylor Swift’s hit “Father Figure” from the singer’s newest album, The Life of a Showgirl.
“Some say I can’t do hair… but this empire belongs to me 👀🫶🏼,” she captioned the post. Her friends and fans came to her defense in the comments section.
“The best in the business 🙌,” Jen Affleck wrote. Another fan commented, “Demi is so Actually Romantic 😍,” referencing another one of Swift’s songs, in which fans believe she sings about an alleged rift involving fellow pop star Charli XCX. Jessi liked the comment in agreement. A third follower commented, “LITERALLY knew who JZ Styles was well prior to secret lives 💅✨.”
Jessi’s TikTok comes two weeks after Demi, 30, took a lie detector test at a Cozy Earth event and was asked what she really thought about her costar’s hair salon.
@cozyearth guys this is literally my favorite show so I put it on the company card to fly the lie detector guy out 🫣 #bedrot #cozyearth #bedrot #bedrotting #challenges
“Do you think Jessi is good at color and extensions?” she was asked.
“No,” she replied, to which the test administrator said she was being truthful.
Demi was first exposed for not believing her friend was the best in the biz during season 2 of Secret Lives of Mormon Wives. At the time, she and Jessi were close friends.
At a devils and angels themed party, Taylor Frankie Paul told Jessi that Demi advised her against going to Jessi’s salon to get her hair done.
“She doesn’t think you’re good at hair,” Taylor, 31, said. “She told me not to go to you for hair and that’s why I went to a different salon because she doesn’t think you’re good at all.” Taylor then turned to Demi and added, “You don’t think she’s good at hair but you feel obligated to go to her.”
Demi then clarified that JZ Salon is “great at extensions” but didn’t know how good they were at “color.”
Jessi explained that she was hurt by Demi’s comments because she regularly gave her — as well as her other costars — free extensions and hair treatments.
After season 2 aired on Hulu, Jessi told Page Six that her relationship with Demi was permanently damaged.
“Yeah, it’s done,” she said, calling things that Demi did “unforgivable.”
“I’ll never be friends with her again,” she added. “And I’m a pretty forgiving person. So, it’s a lot for me to say that.”
Layla Taylor also agreed, sharing that she felt “very similar.”
Jessi noted that it was a “slow burn” when it came to the demise of their friendship.
During episode 6, Mayci Neeley claimed that Demi wanted Jessi to exit the show so that she could make more money.
Taylor also claimed that Demi was “talking mad s***” about Jessi behind her back.
That same month, Demi opened up about their friendship during a May 15 episode of “The Viall Files” podcast.
“It was just a couple of things that stacked up,” Demi shared about what led to their falling out. “Red flag.”
