This week we see one of my favorite Bravo shows return: The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City. Since this installment of the franchise premiered in 2020, it has taken the reality TV world by storm. Not only do we have the ever-fascinating presence of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (AKA: Mormonism), but we all got a mid-season arrest of a character who turned out to be far worse than anyone could have imagined. These women are delusional, dramatic, and all-together incredible reality TV stars.
This show was my first exposure to the world of real housewives and therefore may end up being my favorite of all the installments. These women are a special brand of crazy that uniquely fills my life with joy and frustration. I have dabbled in other installments since this induction, but Salt Lake City will always have a special place in my heart. As we prepare for the show’s fifth season, I took a trip down memory lane to rank the nine full-time cast members the show has had up to this point.
#9 – Jennie Nguyen
Unfortunately, there was no world where Jennie was going to be anything other than last on this list. She was only on this show for one season, but beyond that she also turned out to be a terrible person. And not the kind of terrible person that makes you great on reality TV.
#8 – Mary Cosby
At her best, Mary Cosby has all the trappings of a dynamite reality TV star. At her worst, this woman scares the living daylights out of me. She is out of touch, insensitive, and just downright cruel. Plus she rivals Ramona Singer for the most perturbing eyes on Bravo – her wide-eyed stare haunts me.
It is a fine line between reveling in the wonder of her unhinged moments and being terrified that Mary Cosby might just be a full-blown cult leader.
#7 – Jen Shah
The Jen Shah experience was a rollercoaster to say the least. By the time her time on the show came to an end I was exhausted. It was almost a relief to find out she was a criminal since she was downright intolerable during the majority of her time on the show. Outbursts, confusing rationalizations, crocodile tears, unintelligible fashion choices, broken glasses at birthday parties, security footage…this woman was a straight up maniac from start to finish.
All this said, I don’t know if anyone made me laugh – intentionally or unintentionally – more than any of the other housewives on this show. While often times her outlandish behavior was annoying or caused me to clutch my pearls, there were some occasions where it made me burst out cackling. She also deserves huge props for her unwavering commitment to bringing the drama. She wasn’t even on the show in season four and she managed to provide one of the most shocking moments of the season’s finale.
You might not like her, but you can’t deny that Jen Shah was a force of a housewife.
#6 – Monica Garcia
Monica may have been a one season wonder, but she is higher on this list due simply to the iconography of her final episode and the role she played in one of my favorite reality TV confrontations of all time.
Monica strayed from the pack by being a single mother who didn’t have the wealth and prosperity of the other housewives. Regardless of the stark differences from her other cast members, she brought it all onto the screen including her toxic relationship with her mother. She managed to make me care about her with these moments of transparency into her not-so-perfect life. Unlike a lot of housewives, she wasn’t busy trying to prove that things were perfect for her. Her life was messy and she didn’t try to sweep it all under a rug and defend it within an inch of her life.
She completely won me over with this vulnerability paired with some of the entertaining relationships she made with the women – provoking Lisa and managing to befriend Mary? We stan! She wasn’t on for long, but she entertained me and made me care about her. It’s an impressive feat and it was short-lived.
In the moment the revelation that Monica was Reality Von Tease (or is she? I am still a little foggy on the details of this) is a bit obvious. So too is her transparent desire to be a housewife. Her drama seems manufactured, her allegiances seem pre-planned, and her whole personality seems meticulously planned out. It’s a real bummer, but it was a hell of a ride.
It’s a real shame we only got one season of Monica, but she certainly played her part in making this one of the most talked about shows on Bravo. Thank you for your service, Monica!
#5 – Angie Katsanevas
This woman is pure comedy.
Angie K is not your simple one trick pony, she has a lot going for her. At first it might seem like all she has going for her is that fact that she is Greek, which to be fair the producers really leaned on during her first season as a full-time housewife. Thankfully Angie also leaned hard into her Greek heritage and made sure to give it her all, yielding hilarious results. She is also a huge fan of loud outfits and even louder sunglasses. No shades are too big for this Greek icon. Then you have the fact that there are rumors about her husband’s sexuality floating all around Salt Lake City. Speculation that your husband is gay is a storyline that will never fail to have me firmly sat-at-attention during a Housewives show.
We ask for a lot when it comes to our housewives and it’s hard to make the jump from “friend of” to regular on one of these shows with the full support of the fans. Angie K did it quite easily and has been an amazing addition to this cast. If she has one fan, it’s me.
#4 – Meredith Marks
There is something remarkable about Mrs. Meredith Marks, until recently I wasn’t quite about to put my finger on exactly what that thing is. Turns out, it is a multitude of things spelt out nearly perfectly by this tweet by @ilovemygfsarah on X:
Now I don’t think Meredith is one of the best housewives ever, I actually find her to be mildly terrifying as a human being, but I cannot deny how iconic she is. Her melodrama has created some of the most iconic moments of the show thus far and her not-to-be-made-fun-of love of baths have taken on a life of it’s own. Whether she is “disengaging” or spreading “rumors and nastiness” she is constantly delivering her strange energy. That strange energy veers a bit too close to that of a cult leader for my liking. No matter how many iconic moments she has produced for this show and how inherently hilarious her humanity is, there is something about this woman that makes my skin crawl.
#3 – Heather Gay
Heather was by and far my favorite of the SLC housewives for the first two seasons. Her story about her struggles being a single mother in the Mormon church were fascinating and empowering. She was someone trying to break free of a lifetime of indoctrination all while appealling to my love for an underdog. Aces across the board!
Then something shifted and now I harbor nothing but annoyance toward Heather. Perhaps it was the unwavering loyalty to Jen Shah or the way her once interesting plot line has grown stagnant over four seasons. Maybe it was the black-eye situation or the holier-than-thou attitude she has gotten after being such a fan favorite early on. Whether it was one of those things or a combination of them, my liking for Heather has certainly wavered over the years. This doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy her on my screen, it just changes things.
In the end she is number three on this list because no matter what goes down, I am a Heather Gay apologist. Leave this woman alone!
#2 – Lisa Barlow
My relationship with Lisa Barlow has followed the opposite trajectory that my relationship with Heather has over the show’s four seasons. When RHOSLC debuted, I couldn’t stand this woman. Everything from her lifeless hair to her undecorated home repulsed me. I thought there was no way I could ever find myself rooting for her. As it turns out, it took one simple moment to soften me. That’s right, the famous hot-mic moment from season two. This moment was the perfect intersection of a variety of factors that led me stomping over to Lisa’s camp:
- She went after Meredith Marks, who at this point in the show, was driving me up a fucking wall. She needed to be taken down about 30 pegs and Lisa managed to take her down more than 60 with that tirade. Not to mention the fact that they had been besties up to this point, the low blows from those you love hit even lower.
- The shade of it all! In this short span of time Lisa hurls accusations we had heard of, but also brought new “rumors and nastiness” about Meredith and her family to light.
- Unhinged housewives are some of the best housewives. Part of my issue with a lot of the Salt Lake City housewives is that they are so icky as real people – read: Jen, Jennie, Mary, and Meredith – that it’s not fun to watch them on TV. Lisa is the perfect example of how being a bad person can be enjoyable reality tv. This woman is so self-centered, self-important, delusional, and unhinged without being that morally corrupt a person. I absolute live for her and all the chaos she brings to the table.
Just like all the best reality TV stars, Lisa hasn’t learned a thing from her time on the show. She is still just as messy as she was on season one and is perhaps the easiest of the housewives – now that Jen is gone – to provoke. May she never leave this show!
#1 – Whitney Rose
It might be a hot take to have Ms. Whitney Rose at the top of my Real Housewives of Salt Lake City rankings. Maybe I am delulu, but I love this girl and she has consistently been my favorite of this bunch.
Whitney is a classic housewives in a lot of ways. She has a shrill voice, an older husband, a seemingly unending variety of hairstyles (a la Dorit Kelsmey), a slew of questionably successful business ventures, an attention-grabbing sense of style, a messy family, and a knack for having no idea what is going on. Every franchise needs their dumb blonde who provides unintentionally comedic, cringey moments for us to enjoy and discuss each season. Enter: Whitney. In a sea of problematic, unhinged, and demented women – I say that with love – Whitney is a stable and reliable housewife.
Sure…Lisa might be more fun, Heather might be easier to root for, Meredith might be more delusional, Monica might be more dramatic, Jen might provide more shock-and-awe, Jennie might have a husband who wants sister wives, and Mary might be an absolute nut case…but I still find myself having the best time watching this show when my girl Whitney is on the screen.
Just One Girl's Opinion 
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