“The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” is thriving in its sixth season, with each episode leading the last – the series has become must-watch live-action. The Bravo show has been running for years, rarely seen on television. And arguably, that role was crystallized (to mix metaphors) in the series’ Season 4 finale, in which star Heather Gay unmasked her colleague Monica Garcia as an Internet troll who had been harassing women for years, providing the “Receipts! Proof! Timeline! Screenshots” that got them both rid of Garcia, while also putting “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” in the Bravo Hall of Fame.
BravoCon attendees treated the women like royalty, and during Andy Cohen’s Nov. 13 taping of “Days of Our Wives” — during which veteran cast members from each city gathered on the Planet Hollywood stage — the cast of “Salt Lake City” received the biggest roar from the crowd. Gay, who is both a Bravo watcher and star of the network, says, “It was amazing to feel that.”
Gay wrote two bestselling books, 2023’s “Bad Mormon” and the following year’s “Good Time Girl,” in which she continued to publicly address growing up in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Its latest effort in this space is Bravo’s three-part documentary series “Surviving Mormonism,” premiering on Bravo and Peacock on November 11. In it, Gay uses the Leah Remini model from “Scientology and the Aftermath” to expose abusive and corrupt practices within the Mormon church. She is emotional while doing it; it’s personal for her. And at the end, she expresses her realization that she grew up in a cult.
On a lighter note! In recent episodes, Gay and his comrades merged with the crew of “Below Deck: Down Under” for a yacht trip that is out of this world in every sense of the word. But the trip culminated with a bizarre incident in Episode 9 (“Unicorn Overboard”) when Meredith Marks had some sort of off-camera freakout during the plane ride home. What led to this was that Marks was understandably angry that Britani Bateman accused Seth Marks of having a mistress (did she see a TikTok?) and then claimed she was doing it for Marks’ sake. GOOD! This didn’t sit well with Marks, who allegedly began raging at Bateman at the airport and didn’t stop until they returned to Salt Lake City several hours later. Bateman was so upset – even destroyed – according to the entire cast, except Marks, that she had to be carried off the plane. Where the cameras were and why no one took out their phones (as far as we know) remains an eternal mystery.
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Below, from the BravoCon press room, Gay addresses this question, weighs in on “Surviving Mormonism” and how difficult it is for her to call LDS a cult — and explains why her new career in fiction writing is a logical extension for her because as a Mormon, “you live in fiction.”
I have to start with the most recent episode of “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City.” I need to know everything. This is our Watergate.
Yes, absolutely. I understand.
We have to get to the bottom of things! In your words, what happened?
I mean, what happened was everything I said in the confessionals and on the show. And you’re going to see the consequences of all of this unfold. But nothing more or less happened than what we all reported.
Will this play out over the rest of the season?
It’s definitely debated and settled — not it worked! It’s definitely treated with for the next episodes. And I haven’t seen them, but I’ve lived it and I know what’s going to happen.
And why didn’t anyone film it? Or save it?
I mean, none of us thought about doing it.
Even Britani, who was recording things for no reason last season?
I thought maybe Britani did it. And maybe she did!
Eh.
Maybe someone recorded it. We don’t know. There is still a lot to see.
Do you know it, and you can’t say it?
I don’t know definitively. Honestly, I don’t know for sure.
You think someone recorded it!
I think the rest of the season is going to be really interesting.
Very good, very good. Seeing, or I guess hearing, Meredith in that state, what was that like?
Well, I mean, she was upset. Seeing your friend upset – I’ve never seen her so upset before. And it felt like it was disturbing and intense and dramatic. And it was, you know… increase from what we’ve seen before.
And you think Lisa encouraged him?
I think Lisa was doing what she said: she was trying to support her friend, but you can’t support a friend when they’re bullying someone! You know what I mean? I understand that, but it was a no-win situation for Lisa, and it could have gone better.
Another subject! I loved “Surviving Mormonism.” How did this happen?
When I wrote “Bad Mormon” and saw the outpouring of support – and the resonance that the book had, and the community that really loved the book and rallied around me – I just wanted to deepen that experience and reach more people. I was really inspired by Leah Remini and her articles on Scientology. I thought I could use this pop culture platform in a way that was really meaningful and important to me.
Very often, reality TV is trivialized, you know? But platform and reach are not. So this seemed like an incredibly timely opportunity to use the platform in a way that would change lives and create space for people I love dearly who haven’t had the opportunity to share their stories or be heard.
By 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’m talking about how the word is so fraught and loaded. And if that weren’t the case, it would be very easy for me to say that, because yes: the things that I have done in the Temple and as a Mormon have confirmed to me that it is a cult. And it’s very, very difficult for me to say. And it’s something I’m still grappling with, working on, and redefining every day.
And so I hate the word. I hate that it’s a lightning rod for defense and makes me feel so offensive. But the truth is, it’s just a word. And if the word applies, by definition, to the situation, we should be able to use that word.
Did you hesitate to reach this conclusion?
Yeah. I’m still hesitant at the moment.
Yes, I can actually see that when you talk about it.
It is still very dear to me. It is also the culture in which I live, my history, my life, my history and my identity. I don’t want to diminish who I am and what I have become. But saying that feels like it is.
Since the cover of Us Weekly, “The Real Housewives Salt Lake City” has been receiving all the praise. I’m sure you noticed during the taping of “Watch What Happens Live” last night, with all the casts from all cities, that you received more applause than any other show.
I mean, it was amazing to feel that – and they were chanting Mary’s name. It was amazing, yeah.
Why do you think this is the case?
I think because we are all each other and we are in this together. And I think we have a lot of fun together. And we have a lot of natural conflict, and that creates magic.
Other shows have collapsed because the actors fight so badly that they end up not being able to be in a room together. Like, for real – and that’s the end of the show. How to look someone in the face who says – or that you have said terrible things to them, and move on? Let’s take the boat fight with Lisa Barlow….
We give each other a lot of grace, and we grow and learn together. And as cheesy as it sounds, we push it to the limit. And I don’t mean to get philosophical, but like many of us, we are women who have never been allowed to push Nothing to the limit. And so, in this space, with each other, we can. We make a lot of mistakes and we go too far. But I think through this we give ourselves the grace to retract and heal and be better.
Where are you and Lisa now?
I consider Lisa a friend. Absolutely. And that doesn’t mean we won’t pursue difficult conversations. We are not Perfect friends. I’m not perfect, I’m also a shitty friend!
I mean, she gets the bad guy edit this season.
If she wants things to be different, she can act differently. It’s pretty simple, you know? There’s a lot of range there. It can rotate.
Speaking of the villain setup: Jen Shah will be released from prison at some point. Would she ever be allowed to return to the show?
I mean, Andy said he never wanted to see her again, so he kind of answered that for all of us.
Thank God! So, when it comes to putting your platform to good use, what else do you have to do?
I currently have a four novel deal with Podium Entertainment, and I’m moving straight into audiobooks. They are all fiction. They’re all around 30,000 words. And I love it. I’m currently working on a romantic thriller with Simon & Schuster; I currently watch soccer on NBC. And I’m working on a scripted version of “Bad Mormon.”
Have you always written fiction?
No, but I was Mormon and you live in fiction. You know? It’s like building your life around Harry Potter. And I really think that by fictionalizing it, I can break down a lot of these internal barriers that prevent me from being the writer that I want to be. Because I don’t want to be vulgar, I don’t want to be crude, I don’t want to be too sexual, I don’t want to be too dirty. It will be an experience.
But I love writing and that’s what I want to do.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
