These ‘Housewives’ aren’t model Mormons
Religion central to drama in way that’s unique for franchise
The stars of the latest series in the “Real Housewives” franchise are an assortment of over-the-top, attention-seeking personalities straight out of Bravo central casting.
There’s a tequila entrepreneur who picks up family dinner at Taco Bell in her Porsche. A baby-voiced blond who celebrates her wedding anniversary with a spin on the stripper pole. Oh yeah, and a woman married to her step-grandfather.
Like their counterparts elsewhere in the country, the affluent women of “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” thrive on petty drama, conspicuous consumption and regular visits to the plastic surgeon.
But one thing sets them apart: The majority of the cast members are — or once were — members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a religion known for promoting wholesome values rather than rosé-fueled catfights.
The location offers snowcapped mountains as a scenic backdrop and affords cast members plenty of opportunities to wear extravagant apresski fashion. But as the epicenter of the Mormon Church and a place where the LDS influence reverberates in everyday life, Salt Lake City provides rich anthropological terrain, particularly when it comes to the lives of women who don’t conform to church rules.
While the show includes the usual petty disputes, religion is central to the drama in a way that is unique within the “Housewives” universe, where goat yoga class is about as spiritual as it gets.
“It is really surprising how open they are about Mormonism and how it relates to their lives,” says “Real Housewives” executive producer Andy Cohen.
Excessive drinking, lewd talk, immodest dress and messy personal lives are virtual
prerequisites for aspiring housewives — but also contradict the church’s conservative strictures.
Needless to say, the women of “RHOSLC” aren’t exactly model Mormons: Lisa Barlow converted from Judaism, owns several liquor companies and describes herself as “Mormon 2.0” because of her lax attitude to church laws. Jen Shah was raised Mormon but converted to Islam when she learned about the church’s history of racial exclusion. Whitney Rose was excommunicated from the church after cheating on her first husband. And Heather
Gay, who is divorced, bristles at the constraints put on her as an unmarried woman. (Adding to the spiritual melange are remaining cast members Meredith Marks, a Jewish jewelry designer, and Mary Cosby, the couture-loving “first lady” of a Pentecostal church.)
For several of the women, the show is a continuation of their
spiritual journey. Gay, a mother of three whose ex-husband is from a wealthy Utah family, becomes increasingly disillusioned with the church over the course of the season.
When she divorced six years ago, Gay says, “I had no version of a future for myself. I didn’t know any single moms who weren’t destitute and depressed and coming to the church for financial assistance.”
She no longer adheres to the church’s modesty code, the law of chastity or the word of wisdom, the name for the commandment against substances such as alcohol and tobacco. And she’s critical of the church’s stance on LGBTQ rights and women’s equality.
“I go through that transition pretty publicly (in the series). While my faith still defines me in so many ways, I don’t practice it anymore,” she says. “It is an all-encompassing faith. That’s why it’s really traumatic to leave it. I still feel like it runs through
every single thought I have.”
Rose, the aforementioned pole-spinner, is a descendant of Shadrach Roundy, one of Joseph Smith’s bodyguards.
The pressure to conform to the feminine ideal is what drove her to get married at 19, despite doubts about her relationship. “One-hundred percent that was a consequence of me trying to be perfect. It’s the architecture from the day you’re born.”
She subsequently fell in love with a co-worker 18 years her senior and embarked on a passionate affair, which resulted in their excommunication and a second marriage that has lasted a decade and produced two children.
Rose says she and Gay “dive in deep” about their experiences in the church over the course of the season.
“The Real Housewives of
Salt Lake City” has what might be the most racially integrated cast in what has been a segregated franchise and part of what
drew Shah to the series was the opportunity to show a more diverse side of her community.
“I felt like I needed to represent that it’s not just Caucasian, blond-haired, blue-eyed women that run successful businesses here,” she says.
With popular shows set aboard luxury yachts in the Caribbean and in Hamptons beach houses, Bravo has been eyeing the majestic mountains of the West for years. “We’ve cast in Aspen about a million times,” says Cohen, who previously developed another show about modern Mormons that fell apart when participants dropped out.
“I think there’s a lot of mystery about the church, and people are intrigued by it,” says Cohen.
Some locals are already displeased. A review in the Deseret News, a churchowned newspaper based in
Salt Lake City, warned readers that the show is “full of digs at Utah culture (and) church members ... that will make any Utah diehard squirm or even surge with anger.” (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints declined to comment on the show.)
Bravo is not worried about potential blowback.
“I think there will be a lot of people who say this doesn’t represent Salt Lake City or the Mormon church,” says Cohen. “It’s not supposed to. It’s supposed to represent a certain group of friends in that area.”
Gay sees it differently — and hopes that people who feel like they don’t have a place in the church, whether because of their gender, sexuality or marital status, do too.
“For me to go on this show and speak openly about what I think and feel is a huge liability for the church,” she says. “What I really want to do is create a safe space for a lot of recovering Mormons throughout the world.”