The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star Heather Gay is getting real about the price of fame — literally.
“The pursuit of perfection is never fully possible, just like it’s not possible to be fully hair-free,” Gay, 51, told Bustle in an interview published on Thursday, November 13. “Counting all of the things I’ve had done, I’m probably $200,000 into my physical appearance — and it was worth every penny.”
Gay explained that once she “had the money and the time,” she started investing in her appearance.
“I always said that I’d be so much cuter if I were richer,” she quipped. “I’m richer now — and I’m so much cuter because of it.”
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The Bravo star is famously the owner of Beauty Lab + Laser (that iconic season 2 scene will never let you forget it), so she has become the “guinea pig for any new service,” but also created a system that allows women to get Botox without telling anyone.
“I was married to a husband who was fairly frugal, and you just can’t justify preventative Botox for thousands of dollars when it’s your husband’s money,” she explained. “When I started Beauty Lab, we actually built our business around that exact problem. It’s really hard to get your husband to pay for Botox and filler because he thinks it’s not natural.”
Gay was married to Frank William “Billy” Gay III for 11 years. They separated in 2011 and their divorce was finalized in 2014.
“Even if you’re wealthy, it’s considered an unnecessary expense because you’re just supposed to look beautiful as a woman and have it be effortless,” Gay explained. “But we started letting women use their ‘Costco cash’ — so you get $200 cash back when you do the groceries, then in a month or two, you’ve got enough for your Botox treatment. Nobody needs to know.”
Gay shared that she goes in “quarterly” for her Botox treatments — but this can change if she’s filming the show. As for her lip filler, Gay only goes “once or twice a year — if that.”
“I also get filler, facials, and laser hair removal,” Gay said. “Another treatment I get is Sculptra, which is a collagen stimulator, with big long needles on your face. It’s pretty intense, but it’s not an actual filler; it’s just a filler stimulant.”
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She estimated Botox at $1,000 per treatment with hair removal costing $580 for a package of eight treatments. The Sculptra was estimated at $4,000 per treatment. Her lip treatments cost around $600. Gay speculated that her bill at Beauty Lab specifically would be about $11,912 for the year with these treatments alone.
Gay said she previously had two nose jobs before appearing on RHOSLC and revealed that she got a “mommy makeover,” including “a tummy tuck and a boob job,” during her marriage. Gay noted that’s why she “looked so good on the cover of Us Weekly magazine in a swimsuit,” noting that the “foundations” had been “surgically implanted” previously.)
“My ex-husband wanted me to get it, and he paid for it. I think the tummy tuck was probably 18 to 20 grand, and the boob job was 8 to 12 grand,” she recalled. “But the prices have gone way up — it’s now around 40 grand for a mommy makeover.”
Gay also spoke candidly about how she had a “glow-up” ahead of RHOSLC season 4, and what changed after.
“I didn’t realize the currency of beauty, or how I was perceived. I think that I was more self-deprecating and less threatening beforehand,” she said. “My jokes didn’t seem as harsh. My reads didn’t seem as mean. I just didn’t see the difference — because I had never looked like this.”
