Season 3 of The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City has not been an easy one for breakout star Heather Gay but in an EXCLUSIVE new interview with TV Deets, the Bad Mormon author dishes on that infamous black eye, the dramatic RHOSLC reunion, cast changes for Season 4 (hello, Mary Cosby!) and explains how she is moving past the drama and only looking forward.
Speaking with Heather at the glamorous Bisha Hotel in Toronto, Canada on Friday, January 27 prior to her Bad Mormon book reading with Hayu Canada and Thyrst Media, the RHOSLC star quickly proved why she quickly became a fan favourite when the series debuted back in 2020. Not only is she very sweet and kind but she is laugh-out-loud funny and thrilled to be a part of the crazy Bravo universe that is The Real Housewives franchise.
The TV Deets interview with RHOSLC’s Heather Gay, below…
We just watched Part 1 of the reunion. How are you feeling after watching the first episode and seeing the fan reaction?
HG: The truth is I do so poorly at reunions and there’s such fallout after every reunion that I do not watch them. So I received the episode like two days before it airs and I just started to watch it and it just stirred up so many horrible feelings that I just slammed it shut. So I have not seen it, but of course I know it happened because I was there.
You lived it, so that makes sense!
HG: Right. So I’m hoping that we gave a little more clarification on the horrific black eye situation and probably teased a lot of Jen Shah stuff, is what I would imagine happened. Am I close?
You’re pretty spot on. They spent a large portion of Part 1 talkinga bout your black eye so I did want to ask, do you feel like you got out everything you needed to that day in terms of explaining it to the other Housewives? You had Whitney Rose and Lisa Barlow looking for some answers.
HG: The truth was, I had been explaining the black eye since the day I got it as much as I could. You know, I woke up with the black eye, I had a theory that I hit it on the counter. And then I had everyone telling me that they would’ve had footage if that had happened and that the footage would reveal how it happened. I assumed that I was on television and that it would reveal itself. But it never did. [Laughs] I started to get really uncomfortable because it felt like they were creating a narrative that I was complicit in but I’ve had no memory. I was scared to say I have no memory because I thought they could say anything.
So I played coy and said I remember parts of it because I did have my theories and other people had their theories, but it just didn’t play out well on television, you know?
The next day when you were sitting on the couch with the rest of the Housewives, did you feel they were coming from a place of concern or was this more like “something happened, let’s put it out there.”
HG: I think “something happened,” this is scandalous, this is interesting… She’s not being revealing. Let’s talk about it as much as possible.
Maybe a little distraction tactic for some of the other women?
HG: I just think nobody wants the target on their back so when there’s something as obvious and as talkable as a black eye that’s, you know, TV fodder and that’s kind of the up and down side of reality television. I said what I said and I was party to all of it, but it didn’t play out well.
And it happened, and you’re moving on.
HG: I’ve healed, exactly.
With Mormonism being in the background of the show, what has the response been like in Salt Lake City? Do you as Housewives feel the love?
HG: Um, yeah, no. [Laughs]
Okay, interesting…
HG: Being a housewife, being famous for being famous or for being a Housewife, I should be specific, has zero value in my community. We don’t speak of it. They don’t congratulate me on it. They don’t acknowledge it. I can go to luncheons or family parties and they’ll just ask me about my kids, how they’re doing in school, and if I’m keeping myself busy and I’m welcome to say, “yeah, I wrote a book. I went on Below Deck, I went on Girls Trip, you know, I’ve been on Housewives,” but that would just be met with a blank stare.
So it’s this giant elephant in the room but it has really confirmed to me how invisible I was as an individual. I only had value as a wife and a mother. I felt that immediately when I got divorced and I felt that even more just trying to raise my kids as a single mom in the community.
Hopefully you’re feeling a little bit more love from the outside world and from the Bravo world.
HG: But now I’m stuck in Salt Lake. [Laughs]
That’s true but that’s why we have Girls Trip.
HG: Right! It really is that community of Housewives fans and other people that connects us all and has created kind of a safety net for me because I felt very isolated and alone just kind of floating out there and to know that other people resonated with my story, felt seen, felt represented… that gave me reason to live.
Switching gears to BravoCon. Who did you connect with most?
HG: I felt like I was in that like sorority fraternity! Just walking on stage and I was starstruck by every single person and there was no way around it. It was physical, it was emotional. I wanted to cry, I wanted to hug them… Kathy Hilton said hi to me. But I really feel like I bonded with Reza [Farahan]. I’ve always watched Shahs and been a huge, huge fan and he just showed up and he was so handsome and dressed to the nines and looked so good. Just chiseled and the cologne, and all designer… But he was still funny and relatable and gave me a hard time and I just enjoyed that banter a lot.
If he was going to do a second season of The Traitors over on Peacock, would you join him?
HG: Absolutely. I would do whatever I can to get on anything. [Laughs] Have you met me?
You appeared on Below Deck Adventure and I thought “this is the cold weather show… she must have wanted to do that.”
HG: Yes! That’s why I love Toronto, that’s why I Norway. [Laughs] I love, love the snow gear.
How did the crew do on Below Deck Adventure? This is a new boat and a new cast in a new location.
HG: They were wonderful. I didn’t really understand because I’m such a people pleaser…. I didn’t realize that I was supposed to be like a high demand guest. [Laughs] Captain Kerry was just handsome and then we had Faye as our chief stew and it was just so fun. We were helping them clear the dishes, we were trying to go to bed early so they could sleep. We just missed the point, I guess.
A dream charter guest.
HG: They felt like our friends and they are in fact our friends. They came to Utah to watch the premiere with us and we’re still in touch and talk and text all the time. So we missed the boat on being problematic guests. [Laughs] But we made friends for a lifetime for sure.
Would you do it again?
HG: Any Below Deck that I can wear a caftan and not a bikini. [Laughs] I would go at any time. I would suggest everyone try to go. The cameras heightened the experience and the crew is five star.
Switching back to the reunion, this year you’re seated next to Meredith Marks which is a bit different and you have become closer throughout the season. You touched on it during Part 1 but how is your relationship with Meredith now?
HG: I’m closest with Meredith on the whole cast. I knew Meredith from the same time I knew Lisa [Barlow] so we were collaborating and doing things well before the show started filming and our friendship just was never really given a chance. It wasn’t fleshed out that much because it was me and Whitney [Rose] and her and Lisa and that was enough for everybody. [Laughs]
Meredith and I are close and she’s great. She’s so smart and she’s so measured and she’s just a professional hobnobber. She’s hobnobbed with Jeffrey Bezos! She’s the kind of friend you wanna have and she’s the kind of friend you hang your hat off.
Meredith mentioned in a recent interview that she expects some newbies to come into the mix for Season 4 because you are a bit of a divided cast. What are your thoughts on adding new cast members?
HG: I always say more nuts in the trail mix. It makes it better for everybody and [the new cast members are] nobody I know. They have pillaged my friend list and we’re down to four so I am not contributing any of my immediate circle anymore. [Laughs]
I was going to suggest that we need a friend for you next season. Season 3 saw the introduction of Angie K., Angie H., and Danna. Would you keep those nuts in the trail mix or do some nuts have to be taken out?
HG: I’m not in charge of casting and I’m just grateful to be here, honestly but I love Angie Harrington. She and I go back peripherally and she’s just so fun on camera. She’s zany and funny and she’s my friend and so I’m always going to advocate for her. I would love to see her holding a snowflake.
Fingers crossed for a snowflake for Angie Harrington!
HG: Send your votes in. [Laughs]
This season we saw a lot of shifts in your relationship with Whitney. We had Bad Weather and that’s no longer a thing. Whitney called you out after Jen’s sentencing for following her back on Instagram again. Where do you stand with her now?
HG: I don’t follow Whitney on Instagram! I felt like that was kind of a petty, dumb thing for her to make a deal. I think Whitney really likes being a Housewife and she’s going to work really hard to be a Housewife. My friendship with her is not a priority so I wish her well at being a Housewife and I’m going to be myself and a Housewife alongside her.
She’s always wanted to be close with Lisa and now she’s sitting next to her at the reunion. Where do you see their relationship going?
HG: I hope they’re best of friends and I hope that they become their own Bad Weather and live their best life because if [Whitney] keeps Lisa busy then she’s not bugging me and that is a gift.
Have you spoken to Jen Shah since her sentencing?
HG: I spoke to her the night before she got sentenced. When she plead guilty, everything totally changed for our friendship and I think right now she’s not really reaching out to anybody. She’s focusing on her family and her sentence and I’m just waiting to see her make restitution for the victims and just to see that resolved because so much came out that was just so hard to hear. I can only think about the victims at this point and not really give it space.
We have Part 2 of the reunion coming up. What can we expect from this week?
HG: We talk a lot about my relationship with Whitney and we continue to talk about the Jen thing but also Meredith and Lisa will just never die. You’re going to see more of that.
Should we expect any revelations about their relationship?
HG: No, I think that everyone just kind of says to Lisa, you know, “you speak this way about all of us and you got caught speaking this way about Meredith, but this is who you are and how you think about this, so just own it and then stop trying to be our friends.” I think that was kind of the message.
Is there something Lisa Barlow could to to make up for the hot mic moment with the cast and then separately with viewers?
HG: Lisa and I don’t have any beef right now. We’re just coexisting. I think with Meredith, she needs to own that she felt that way and she said those things and that she was jealous and mad and just to say the real thing instead of say it was a tantrum and it was a one thing and it negated all of our friendships. Like it’s just the fact that [Lisa] felt that way negates her friendship [with Meredith].
Meredith is really smart and she’s really measured and I just think that she needs to hear more. She’s gotten an apology but I don’t think she’s felt an apology.
Have you spoken to Mary Cosby and is she in the mix for RHOSLC Season 4?
HG: I know she speaks to Meredith quite a bit and she’s Mary Cosby and she’s never not gonna be in the mix in Salt Lake City but I have not spoken to her.
So at this point, no real chance of a Mary Cosby comeback for RHOSLC Season 4?
HG: At this time I could not confirm or deny.
It sounds like Mary Cosby could be returning to RHOSLC for Season 4 while Heather clearly wants Angie Harrington to be holding a snowflake. With potential newbies in the mix, anything is possible and RHOSLC Season 4 is shaping up to be one to watch, with or without the infamous Mary Cosby.
Thank you to Hayu Canada and Thyrst Media for a fabulous event and to RHOSLC’s Heather Gay for opening up and sharing a chapter of her book Bad Mormon, available everywhere books are sold starting Tuesday, February 7th.
Part 2 of The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City reunion airs tomorrow, Wednesday, February 1 at 8pm ET/PT on Bravo.