I’m a ‘vanilla wife’ and glad my husband talks to his ex – some say I ‘don’t value myself’ and ‘could’ve done better’
WHEN a happy newlywed caught wind of a recent TikTok trend, she embraced it in an unexpected way.
Despite trolls who tried to bully her, the TikTok user has stood up for “healthy relationships,” no matter how “vanilla” they may seem.
Realtor and lifestyle content creator Willa Eigo (@Willaeigo) recently got married and became a stepmother of two.
When she saw the term “vanilla wife” trending on TikTok, Eigo breezily reclaimed the title in a now-viral video.
“As a second wife and stepmom, this whole ‘vanilla wife’ trend is funny,” she wrote in the video’s caption.
She referred to a TikTok trend in which women make fun of their exes’ boring “vanilla wives.”
Eigo explained that people use the trend to claim they’re the “freaky” ones that got away – but she doesn’t mind being vanilla.
As she filmed herself cooking, Eigo said she was proud her husband is still in close contact with his ex-wife.
“You mean to tell me your husband doesn’t still talk to his ex?” she wrote, tossing in a cheeky winking emoji.
In the video’s description, she declared: “That’s on healthy relationships and co-parenting.”
Lots of moms were happy to agree with Eigo right away.
“If my husband with kids from a past marriage DOESN’T maintain a relationship, I’d leave so fast, bro,” one wrote.
Another said she’d have “no issues” with an ex-wife who respected the relationship.
But she also made clear that it wasn’t the stepmom’s responsibility to set healthy boundaries.
“It is up to him to set it right,” she wrote, and lots of co-parents agreed.
One said that “vanilla” wasn’t necessarily a precise label, anyway.
“I don’t understand how they know if someone is vanilla or not anyway behind closed doors,” they wrote.
But Eigo faced her share of detractors.
“I valued myself too much to be with someone who already had kids and a family,” one commenter sniffed. “I’m first or none.”
Along with lots of red flag emojis from other viewers, the critic faced a response from Eigo herself.
“Imagine thinking stepmoms don’t value themselves,” Eigo laughed.
“They really don’t,” the disapproving commenter wrote. “You are beautiful too, you could have done better.”
Supporters were quick to defend Eigo. One responded to the troll with a brain emoji, writing, “Here, you dropped this.”
Several commenters even offered far-fetched hypotheticals to try and poke holes in Eigo’s ethos.
One demanded to know what course of action she’d take if she didn’t have stepchildren.
But Eigo offered a gentle rebuttal. “Bestie, I think you missed the point,” she wrote back.
She dismissed the critics – and the whole trend – in a concise comment.
“It’s this awful trend of girls putting down other girls,” Eigo said. “As if the girl who gets married isn’t fun.”