If you’re a Real Housewives fan, then you know who Mary Cosby is. And if you don’t, you’re in for a wild ride.
Cosby is one of the stars of Bravo’s The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City, and while she didn’t get thrown in prison like Jen Shah, she’s remained a controversial cast member.
This is due to persistent allegations that the church she runs, Faith Temple, is a cult.
While the rumors have died down in newer seasons of RHOSLC, a bombshell documentary on HBO Max is thrusting them back into the spotlight.
Watch With Us breaks down why The Cult of the Real Housewife is a must-watch this January.
Mary Cosby Reacts to ‘Horrible’ TLC Docuseries Investigating Her Church
You Don’t Have to Know ‘Real Housewives’ to Enjoy It
If you think that you need to binge all of The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City first to watch The Cult of the Real Housewife, have no fear. Mary Cosby is such a fascinating character, separate from her stint on the popular Bravo series, that you can dive headfirst into this docuseries without being a Real Housewives head whatsoever. The Cult of the Real Housewife is simply a compelling true crime documentary about Mary, her church and the allegations against it that range from spying on church members to abusing congregants, to affairs and expecting members to work for free.
Still, those allegations don’t even cover everything that makes Mary such a polarizing figure — like the fact that she claims she “had” to marry her grandmother’s husband (we’ll get into that). Thus, if you’re looking for your next true crime binge, the three-part The Cult of the Real Housewife is definitely it. Plus, it may have the unintended effect of turning Real Housewives skeptics into new fans. Between a prison stint, an alleged cult, MLM schemes and, of course, “RealityVonTease,” RHOSLC is handily one of the more wild installments of the long-running Real Housewives franchise.
The Allegations Against Mary and Her Church Are Shocking
It’s hard to get into the full extent of the allegations against Faith Temple and Mary Cosby, but we’ll do our best to provide a brief summary. Ex-congregants of the church (who are interviewed for this documentary) claim they suffered religious abuse at the hands of Mary and her husband, Robert Sr., and that Mary positions herself as a God-like figure to be worshipped — or else. Ultimately, the documentary reveals a woman who is deeply manipulative and greedy, and who wields her status in the church over people like a cudgel.
Though cameras were also in use at the church before Mary’s takeover, Mary had a different use for them. Filmed confessions were allegedly used for public humiliation rituals, while there are claims that Mary had cameras elsewhere to spy on members while they were out of town. Other ex-congregants claim Mary exploited them for free labor, all while pressuring members to donate vast sums of money to the church. Then, there are the allegations that Robert Sr. abused male congregants with extreme military-style exercises, in addition to emotionally abusing female congregants and pursuing affairs with them.
‘The Cult of the Real Housewife’ Addresses the Elephant in the Room
It’s arguable that even more than the weirdness with her church, Mary’s marriage to Robert Sr. was actually the most contested aspect of her presence in The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City when the show first started back in 2020. Basically, Robert Sr. is Mary’s step-grandfather. He’s not related to her by blood, but he was married to her grandmother, Rosemary. Mary has claimed on the show that it was her grandmother’s dying wish to have Mary marry her husband and take over the church.
But The Cult of the Real Housewife paints a bit of a different story, one in which Mary was, at one point, “disfellowshipped” from the church due to behavior when she was younger, and grew closer to Robert Sr. after he took over the church. Plus, Mary’s mother, Rosalind, once staged a walkout at the church in protest of Mary and Robert Sr.’s marriage. Mary’s estranged sister, Denise Jefferson Odinaka, is interviewed for this documentary and even claims Robert Sr. was a father figure to the two of them when they were younger — making the whole situation a lot creepier.
Apparently, Robert Sr. claimed God “compelled him” to marry Mary sometime after he had taken Mary under his wing at Faith Temple. Though Mary claimed on RHOSLC that she never actually wanted to marry Robert Sr., she curiously divorced her first husband, Dana Harris, and married Robert Sr. only a few weeks later.
Stream The Cult of the Real Housewife now on HBO Max.
