In its nearly 20 years on air, Bravo’s Real Housewives franchise has been everywhere from the pristine coasts of Orange County to the glittering high-rises of Miami and the gilded penthouses of Manhattan. So when the juggernaut landed in Salt Lake City in 2020, the first question on many viewers’ minds was: Why? No shade to the Beehive State, but what could these landlocked Mormons possibly have on the former soap stars of Beverly Hills and the walking catchphrase factories of Atlanta? The answer, as it turns out, is everything.
From the moment in episode 1 when Mary Cosby said Jen Shah smelled “like hospital,” it was clear that The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City (Tuesdays at 8 p.m. on Bravo, streams next day on Peacock) was a different beast: a heady mix of drama, religion and federal crime that is unmatched in both hilarity and heart. For every moment of pure reality-TV id — Angie Katsanevas calling Meredith Marks a “trampoline with eyes,” for example — the women of the Mountain West have countered with tear-jerking scenes that are relatable even if you’ve never lost a $60,000 ring in an airport bathroom. “The snow, Mormonism and their unique history with each other make them their own universe,” Bravo bigwig and Housewife whisperer Andy Cohen tells Us. He calls the RHOSLC season 4 finale, in which Heather Gay unmasked erstwhile costar Monica Garcia as the mastermind behind gossip account Reality Von Tease, “one of the best single episodes of television in Bravo history.”
For our annual Reality Stars of the Year issue, we asked all seven current SLC stars — OGs Lisa Barlow, Cosby, Gay, Marks and Whitney Rose, plus newer additions Katsanevas and Bronwyn Newport — to do a sizzling parody of Vanity Fair‘s iconic 2005 Desperate Housewives cover and spoke to them about what it’s like to be part of the best Housewives iteration on offer. (Mary opted to wear a dress, explaining she has a “moral compass” that leads her and doesn’t want her “cheeks out,” as she needs to set an example for “younger girls” in her church.)
Giants Among Women
On a network full of characters, the ladies of SLC are in a class by themselves.
Mary Cosby: Salt Lake City is kind of just a place, but we put it on the map.
Lisa Barlow: We all have very strong personalities, and we’re all very different. I think we fill voids for each other in different ways. As ugly as things can get, we still, at the end of the day, remember we’re friends and want each other to win. We keep choosing each other, even when it’s ugly, even when it looks like you can’t recover.
Heather Gay: We go low, but we bounce back high, and we all have really good senses of humor and enjoy each other when we’re not fighting.
Whitney Rose: You may not always see it, but we really do love each other, and there’s a sisterhood that’s unexplained. Even when someone’s coming after you or you’re going after someone else, there is an indescribable bond.
Meredith Marks: We’ve been through so much together that even when I’m really angry at some of them, which happens a lot, I still care. If any of them called me, even at my worst point with them, and said, “I need help,” I would be there in two seconds. I think that’s true of all of us.
Meredith Marks Credits ‘RHOSLC’ With Saving Her Marriage to Husband Seth
Going the Distance
Not everyone has what it takes to make it multiple seasons, but SLC has had far less cast turnover than other cities. What’s the secret to their staying power?
Meredith: It’s really just mainly being true to yourself, whoever that may be, and having your own take on things, your own authenticity.
Heather: Someone who’s not afraid to show up, is exactly who they are and expresses their opinion and doesn’t cower when challenged, [who’s] able to represent what they think and believe in a group of really powerful women when the stakes are high and the tempers are heated.
Lisa: I just like to be myself 100 percent. I don’t like people telling me what to do, how to change. It’s what makes me a good Housewife, because I am not malleable to opinions and other things. If I do something, it’s authentic. If I have compassion, it’s authentic. If I am your friend, it’s authentic.
Angie Katsanevas: When the viewers are able to see your real, authentic self through the TV, when they can feel that and really know you, if it’s able to translate onto television, I think you’re winning.
Mary: It’s when you’re able to open up your door, your home, and invite people in and really tell people the truth of what you’re going through behind the scenes. When you offer that, I think it creates a bond.
Whitney: Well, since no one else is willing to say it, you have to be wild. You have to be fun. You have to be willing to drink maybe a little too much and have a sharp tongue. If you dish it, you better be able to take it. Money definitely helps, because designer stuff is very expensive.
Bronwyn Newport: I think you [need] the courage to show what you’re really going through, to face the things [you’ve said] that maybe you don’t always want to stand behind. It’s easy sometimes to talk about yourself or your life. It’s not as easy to weather everybody’s opinions about what you’ve shown.
Who’s on Your Wagon?
Shared traumatic experiences may be part of the reason this cast has stood the test of time.
Heather: There were big moments that bonded us. Like, being swarmed by a SWAT team was a big bonding moment. I think [the unmasking of Reality Von Tease] in Bermuda was bonding. We really felt for each other in that moment. We continually have those experiences where, instead of fighting with each other, there’s an outside force that we all join up against to fight.
Mary: Even in our early seasons, we went through a lot, and we all went through it together — we kind of suffered. We had a lot to endure to get to where we are. We think about our struggles, and I think it makes us stronger.
Meredith: Lisa’s friendship is a very important relationship for me. I say [my husband] Seth and I are on our second marriage — technically, no, we are not; we did not divorce and remarry, but emotionally we are. It’s a very different relationship. I see my friendship with Lisa in the same light. We went through some rough stuff, and we both recognize how that happened, and we’ve redefined how we interact and engage with each other and support each other. And it’s great.
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I’ll Be Your Villain
Every good reality show needs an antagonist, and these women are happy to take turns playing the role.
Meredith: We’re all villains.
Lisa: There doesn’t need to be a villain. I think we’re villainous [toward] each other at certain times based on what we’re going through and how we feel like we’re being received with our friends. That’s when there becomes a villain for the audience.
Mary: I personally think you need a villain, and I think you need a good one, like Lisa Barlow. She’s a good one.
Lisa: I’m getting all the titles. I’m a pot-stirrer, I’m a villain. [Heather, Mary and Whitney all declared Lisa the biggest pot-stirrer of the bunch.]
Mary: If you’re going to have one, they need to be a good, excellent villain.
Lisa: Oh, so I’m an excellent villain?
All: Yes.
Heather: The best of the best.
Women Supporting Women
Getting to hold the center snowflake in the title card is like being the starting quarterback — and for the past two seasons, that honor has gone to Angie.
Heather: I don’t think you can campaign; it’s just whoever has the most personal story and the most conflict. Center snowflake gives you an indication of what the season is going to be about and who it’s going to be around. That’s a fun thing for the viewers and fun for us too, to see who’s getting it this year.
Mary: We all find out who’s center together — like, we don’t know, because we don’t know what each other is filming. And then when you find out, it’s like, “Oh, OK, she went through something.”
Lisa: Bravo says it’s all off of height and hair color.
Angie: Our cast is just full of stars. We all had a great season. We all have a lot of heart.
Heather: Said the center snowflake.
Bronwyn: Two-time center snowflake Angie.
Angie: I feel like Meryl Streep [winning] her second Emmy. “I’d like to thank my supporting actresses!”
Bad Mormons
With three ex-Mormons in the cast — Heather, Whitney and Bronwyn — and one still practicing, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a perennially hot topic on the show.
Lisa: As someone who grew up in New York and converted into the faith, I think it creates different depth and dimension in relationships. And being an outsider moving here, I also saw how it impacted Whitney and Heather. That’s a different type of bond we have, because I’m still practicing, they’re not, but I understand them.
Whitney: Even though I’m no longer practicing LDS, one thing that I really value about the religion is the work ethic, and I think that’s what we all have in common. And Meredith can move here with zero experience of Mormonism, and the community of Mormonism is welcoming, and they look out for each other.
Heather: Part of reality television is getting a voyeuristic view into someone else’s life. And when you have a culture and a faith and a practice like Mormonism that’s so fascinating and so intimate and really secretive in a lot of ways, to pull back the curtain a little and have a show about that and women dealing with that in different ways is automatically interesting.
The Rumors, The Nastiness
It isn’t all Meredith Marks Caviar and Vida Tequila — every woman has hit a personal low point on the show.
Whitney: I really dislike watching when Heather and I fight in lingerie in Arizona [in season 3]. That was so hard. I was so intoxicated, I was so emotional. I’d just shared with the group that I was processing some trauma from my childhood, and my best friend and I got into a fight, and that was terrifying. It was the hardest season of my life, because Heather and I were at odds and I didn’t have my girl, and Lisa stepped up and filled that role for me because I didn’t have Heather. I was actually going to quit and send my email to Bravo, and [my husband] Justin literally pulled up next to me in the car and said, “I got fired [from my job],” so I couldn’t quit.
Lisa: I remember this in real time.
Whitney: I didn’t feel like I could emotionally, mentally do it with what I was processing in my life and the therapy I was going through. But I had to step up for my family and stay, and Lisa was actually the one that convinced me I could do this.
Lisa: My hot-mic moment [was my lowest point]. I cried [starts crying]. I felt horrible for Meredith, for her family, for my friend. That was pretty hard, but it was real.
Bronwyn: I really felt like I was connecting with the women in Puerto Vallarta when I was talking to them about issues that [my husband] Todd and I have had in the past. I don’t think they knew then — maybe some of them still don’t know — me sharing something is not natural for me. I have to really trust somebody. That was me really putting a lot of trust in them, and I wish it had gone differently.
Mary: Probably the worst, darkest part was being called a cult [leader], and [people] thinking that my church was a cult, my little baby church, with maybe 300 people in it. I didn’t understand that. I didn’t know why that came about, but I know where it stemmed from. It stems from Jen Shah: She put that out there, and people took it and ran with it. [Shah famously starred in the first three seasons of SLC before pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud as part of a telemarketing scheme. She was sentenced to six and a half years in federal prison.]
Families That Stay Together, Slay Together
It’s much easier for a Housewife to thrive when her spouse and kids are on board. Some like being supporting characters; others … not so much.
Bronwyn: My husband and daughter are always very critical of my choice to be on reality TV. It’s so hard for Todd to watch me argue with the women and let it go. Sometimes the husbands don’t rebound as quickly as we all do.
Heather: [My daughters] love the show. They’re in college now, so it’s fun. They have viewing parties. They love a little bit of the notoriety without a lot of the pressure, and I think it’s been fun for all of us.
Whitney: Any talk of Justin and I getting divorced is very sensitive to [my kids]. Can I share what my daughter said to me though? I asked her, “What do you say to kids at school when they ask you about your mom and dad painting each other on TV and getting physical?” And she goes, “Yeah, that’s my mom. Are you jealous?” So I mean, I’ve raised good kids. [Laughs.]
Meredith: I was pretty straightforward that I had some very significant problems [in my marriage], and we worked really hard to get to the place that we’re at. There’s been a multitude of times over the years since then, where a lot of the women have tried to decimate my marriage, and it’s sort of screwed up. Anything concerning my family — my kids, my husband — everybody knows that’s a trigger point for me.
Angie: My first season full-time, when the other women were starting rumors about my marriage and my business, that’s something I had never dealt with. [In season 4, rumors circulated that Angie’s husband, Shawn Trujillo, had cheated on her with men.] I have to hand it to Shawn — it didn’t offend him, because we’ve been friends and family of the LGBTQIA+ community for over 30 years. It’s like the low-hanging fruit, and it’s the easy target for a hairdresser. For him, he was more offended that people were questioning him being faithful to his wife.
Hilling — Er, Healing — Journeys
All seven cast members agree that reality TV has changed their lives for the better — and they believe it can be a force for good for viewers too.
Heather: It’s given me a new lens. It’s changed literally everything, because the way I see the world now, the way I live my life, is just through possibilities that were never available to me before. I never thought I’d have a big life, and being a Housewife of Salt Lake City, in many ways, is a very big life. Housewives is so far-reaching. You meet the celebrities you never thought you’d cross paths with. You have conversations you never [imagined], you travel, it just opens up an entire world.
Meredith: I do honestly credit Real Housewives, coupled with COVID, for saving my marriage. We were in a horrible place when we first started. And you know, it depends on how you embrace this show, but if you do it the way I did, which I think is the right way, you really learn a lot about yourself. And there’s a lot of self-reflection that goes in. You see how other people perceive the things you do and say, and a lot of times, like, “Wait, I didn’t mean it that way, or I misspoke,” and it can create a lot of problems. It teaches you how to communicate better. And then, of course, other people see problems you’re going through, and it helps them and makes them feel like they’re not alone. To me, those are the most rewarding parts.
Lisa: A lot of people will message me and say, “I have confidence in this situation because I watched you have confidence.” That’s when I feel like, “Oh, my gosh, good.” When I get messages like that, that means so much to me. With younger girls that watch the show, [if] things I do resonate with them and it helps them think, “I can do that too,” that’s a big deal for me.
Bronwyn: People have reached out to [me and my daughter Gwen] and said, “I grew up in a family that was like X or wasn’t this, or I didn’t know my actual biological parents till this time in my life.” And it’s been so great to feel like people resonate with our story or see themselves in parts of it. [In season 5, Gwen debated meeting her grandparents; her biological father died when she was a toddler.]
Mary: We’re not just women that are blessed and a little bit wealthy. We have real problems, like I do with my son. [Robert Jr.’s struggle with addiction has been documented since season 5.] It’s not about getting attention. It’s not for sympathy. It’s not for people to feel sorry for us. It’s to help someone.
Meredith: It’s meaning-of-life kind of stuff. We all have our stories, and for me, most often, it’s “I wish I had a mother who handled my sexual preferences the way you dealt with your son.” [Son Brooks, who now stars on Next Gen NYC, is gay.] My husband and I get this all the time, and that’s why we keep coming back, because it’s meaning of life. It’s a purpose. It’s a strong purpose.
