“The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” has been popular in season 6, with each episode topping the finale and making the series a must-watch show for live viewing. The “Bravo” show has been going on for years, something you rarely see on television. And arguably, that role was crystallized (metaphorically mixed) in the show’s Season 4 finale, when star Heather Gaye exposed castmate Monica Garcia as an internet troll who had been harassing women for years, provided “receipts! Evidence! Timeline! Screenshots” to eliminate Garcia, and simultaneously inducted “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” into the Bravo Hall of Fame.
BravoCon attendees treated the women like royalty, and during Andy Cohen’s taping of “Days of Our Wives” on Nov. 13 (veteran cast members from each city gathered on stage at Planet Hollywood), the cast of “Salt Lake City” received the biggest cheers from the crowd. “It was incredible to feel that,” said Gay, a Bravo observer and star of the station.
Gay has written two best-selling books, 2023’s “Bad Mormon” and the following year’s “Good Time Girl,” in which she continues to publicly identify as having been raised in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Her latest effort in this field is Bravo’s three-part documentary “Survival Mormonism,” which premiered on Bravo and Peacock on November 11th. In it, Gay uses Leah Remini’s template from “Scientology and the Aftermath” to expose abusive and corrupt practices within the Mormon Church. She gets emotional when she does it. It’s personal to her. And finally, she expresses the realization that she was raised in a cult.
Feel light! In a recent episode, Gaye and her castmates joined the Below Deck: Down Under crew for a yacht trip that was out of this world in every sense of the word. However, the trip culminated in episode 9 (“The Unicorn Overboard”) with a bizarre incident in which Meredith Marks had something unusual happen off-camera on her flight home. It all started when Brittany Bateman accused Seth Marks of having a mistress (was she on TikTok?) and claimed he was doing it for his own benefit, which understandably angered Marks. good! Marks apparently didn’t like it, so he began berating Bateman at the airport and didn’t stop until he returned to Salt Lake City hours later. According to all members of the cast except Marks, Bateman was so upset, even devastated, that he had to be carried off the plane. Where the camera was and why no one took out their phones (as far as we know) is a long-standing mystery.
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Below, from the BravoCon press room, Gay answers that question, delves into how difficult it was for her to call “surviving Mormonism” and LDS a cult, and talks about why her new career in novel writing is a logical extension for her because as a Mormon, “you’re living in fiction.”
We have to start with the latest episode of “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City.” You need to know everything. This is our Watergate.
Yes, absolutely. got it.
We need to get to the bottom of it! In your own words, what happened?
I mean, what happened is everything I said in my confessional or on the show. And you will see the aftermath of all events. But nothing more or less happened than what we reported.
Will he be able to play the rest of the season?
It’s definitely been discussed and resolved, but it’s not resolved! That will definitely be addressed in future episodes. And although I haven’t seen them, I’ve lived it and I know what’s coming.
And why didn’t anyone film it? Or do you want to record it?
I mean, no one thought of doing it.
Even Brittany, who was pointlessly recording last season?
Brittany thought that might be the case. And maybe she did!
Sigh.
Maybe someone recorded it. I don’t understand. There are still many things to see.
Do you know but can’t say it?
I don’t know for sure. To be honest, I don’t know for sure.
I think someone recorded it!
I think the rest of the season is going to be really interesting.
I understand, I understand. What was it like seeing and hearing about Meredith in that state?
I mean, she was upset. Seeing your friend upset, I’ve never seen her so upset before. And it felt alarming, intense and dramatic. And it was, you know, even more enhanced than anything we’ve seen before.
So your view is that Lisa was seducing her?
I think Lisa was doing what she said she would do. She was trying to support her friend and you can’t support a friend who is harassing someone. you know what i mean? I understand that, but it was a no-win situation for Lisa and it could have gone much better.
Different topic! I loved “Surviving Mormonism.” How did it come about?
When I wrote Bad Mormon and saw the outpouring of support and resonance this book had and the community that loved it so much and rallied around me, I wanted to build on that experience and reach more people. I was really inspired by Leah Remini and her Scientology stuff. I thought maybe I could use this pop culture platform in a way that was really meaningful and important to me.
Reality TV is often trivialized. But the platform and reach are not. So it felt like an incredibly timely opportunity for me to use my platform in a way that changes lives and creates space for people who I love dearly but have never had the opportunity to share their stories or have them heard.
At the end of the third episode, you come to the conclusion that you were raised in a cult. Can you tell us about how you got there?
I talk about how these words carry so much weight and are so powerful. Even if it wasn’t, it’s very easy for me to say so. Because what I did in the temple and as a Mormon convinced me that it was a cult. And that’s very, very difficult for me to say. And that’s something I’m still working on and working on and redefining every day.
That’s why I hate that word. Even though it’s a lightning rod for defense, it feels aggressive and I don’t like it. But in reality, they are just words. And by definition, we should be able to use a word if it applies to the situation.
Have you ever wondered whether you should come to that conclusion?
Yeah. I’m still confused.
Yes, I can actually see it as you speak.
That is still very important to me. It is also the culture I live in, my history, my life, my stories, my identity. I don’t want to downplay who I am and what I’ve become. But when you say that, I feel the same way.
“The Real Housewives Salt Lake City” is getting all kinds of accolades, including the cover of Us Weekly. I’m sure you noticed that last night, at the taping of Watch What Happens Live with the entire cast in every city, we got more applause than any other show.
I mean, it was incredible to feel it — and they were chanting Mary’s name. It was incredible, yes.
Why do you think that is?
I think it’s because we have it in each other and we’re in it together. And I think we have a lot of fun together. And we have a lot of natural conflict, which creates magic.
In other shows, there have been cases where cast members got into violent fights and ended up not being able to be in the room together, resulting in the show falling apart. Like for real, that’s the end of the show. How do you face up to someone who said something horrible to you, or someone you said something to, and move on? Let’s have a boat fight with Lisa Barlow…
We give each other many blessings, and we grow and learn together. It may sound trite, but we push it to the limit. I don’t want to get philosophical, but many of us are like women who were never allowed to push our limits. And we can do that with each other in this space. We make a lot of mistakes and push ourselves too hard. But because of that, I think we give each other the grace to withdraw, heal, and become better.
Where are you and Lisa now?
I consider Lisa a friend. absolutely. That doesn’t mean you aren’t willing to continue having difficult conversations. We’re not perfect friends. I’m not perfect, I’m also a terrible friend!
I mean, she’s getting a villain edit this season.
If you want to go in a different direction, you need to act differently. It’s very simple. There’s a lot of range out there. She can pivot.
Speaking of villain editing, Jen Shah will be released from prison someday. Will she be allowed to return to the show?
I mean, Andy told her he never wanted to see her again, and he kind of answered that for all of us.
thank god! So what else are you doing in terms of leveraging your platform effectively?
I currently have a four-novel deal with Podium Entertainment that will go straight into audiobooks. They are all fiction. It’s about 30,000 words in total. and i love it. I’m currently working on a romantic thriller with Simon & Schuster. I’m currently doing a sports program on NBC Football. And I’m working on a scripted version of “Bad Mormon.”
Have you always been writing novels?
No, but I was a Mormon, and you live in fiction. you know? It’s like building a life around Harry Potter. And I really think that by fictionalizing that, you can break down a lot of the internal barriers that keep you from becoming the writer you want to be. Because I don’t want to be vulgar, I don’t want to be vulgar, I don’t want to be too sexual, I don’t want to be too dirty. It will be an experiment.
But I like writing, and that’s what I want to do.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
