On Sunday, Feb. 27, fans of the Real Housewives of Salt Lake City will finally see the cast come face-to-face after months since filming wrapped on Season 2. With everything that went down this past season — arrests, cheating allegations, cult leader rumors, hot mic moments — the Season 2 reunion will be explosive, to say the least.
Article continues below advertisement
Although we have yet to see how Jen Shah reacts to the latest updates in her fraud case, or whether Lisa Barlow feels remorse for her tirade against Meredith Marks, Salt Lake City is already in the midst of filming for Season 3.
It’s not often that a Real Housewives series is shooting the upcoming season while the reunion airs, but SLC has broken the mold in more ways than one. Of course, fans can’t wait to see how the drama continues to unfold… and perhaps more importantly, who will be doing the unfolding.
Given the chaos of Season 2 (and quite frankly, the contempt between some of the castmates), who can we actually expect to see return for Season 3? From what we know, the show might look a bit different.
Article continues below advertisement
Source: Bravo
The ‘RHOSLC’ Season 3 cast will not include Mary Cosby.
Mary Cosby came under fire for a lot of things during her time on the show, and apparently, she didn’t want to hear it anymore. While fans have known for a while that Mary chose not to show up to the reunion back in January, it came as a shock to the rest of the cast at the time. Sitting down to begin taping, host Andy Cohen explained to the women why Mary wasn’t there.
Article continues below advertisement
“I spoke to her the other day. She was pretty upset about everyone speaking behind her back about her church, and I encouraged her to come and defend her church,” he said. “She was very upset that [Whitney] called her a predator.”
Fans will, of course, remember that several co-stars have accused Mary and her husband, Robert Cosby, Sr., of running a cult at their church and draining members of their money. (The question of how Mary and Robert seem to be so wealthy has never been fully answered.)
Mary also took heat for making racist remarks. She previously said she won’t go inside a convenience store if she sees Black people standing outside, compared Jen Shah to a “Mexican thug,” and made comments about Jennie Nguyen’s “slanted eyes.”
Article continues below advertisement
Source: Bravo
As many know, missing a Housewives reunion is a pretty good indicator that a castmate won’t be returning for the next season. In 2013, Adrienne Maloof didn’t attend the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills Season 3 reunion, and was fired as a full-time cast member not long after. Fellow alum Lisa Vanderpump skipped out of the Season 9 reunion after deciding to leave the franchise.
Article continues below advertisement
Unsurprisingly, Mary’s absence led many to believe that she wouldn’t be returning to SLC. But when Page Six reported that Mary had exited the show, the star took to Twitter to deny her departure. “This story is not true! This is a complete fabrication, a complete lie!” she wrote on Feb. 4.
However, Andy Cohen himself claimed that Mary made the decision to leave. On his SiriusXM radio channel, Andy said, “I got the sense that she was not finding gratitude in being on the show anymore.” He added that while her decision to leave the show was fine, he “would’ve liked for her to come back to the reunion, have her say, and leave with her head held high.”
On the Jan. 30 episode of Watch What Happens Live, Meredith Marks also commented that Mary was “no longer on the show,” which Andy didn’t deny.
Article continues below advertisement
Source: Bravo
Will Meredith Marks return for ‘RHOSLC’ Season 3?
There have also been rumors that Mary’s pal, Meredith, might step down from Salt Lake City as well. After a rough second season filled with allegations of setting up Jen’s arrest, lying about her father’s memorial, and sleeping with “half of New York,” it could be hard to blame her if she decided to leave. Especially now that her decade-long friendship with Lisa Barlow has seemingly come an end after Lisa’s hot mic moment, there doesn’t seem to be a lot keeping Meredith on the show.
Article continues below advertisement
While neither Meredith nor Bravo have made an official statement about her return, Meredith has addressed fans’ questions online. On Jan. 24, one viewer tweeted, “Why are you still on the show? It seems like you hate it.”
Meredith replied by saying, “Good question. I should quit since most of the women enjoy spreading lies about me and my family.”
Jennie Nguyen was fired from the cast of ‘Real Housewives of Salt Lake City.’
While we don’t know for sure about Meredith, we do know the fate of newest SLC castmate Jennie Nguyen. On Jan. 25, Bravo announced that they had fired Jennie after several racist Facebook posts from 2020 were resurfaced online. At the height of nationwide protests following the death of George Floyd, Jennie shared posts that called Black Lives Matter advocates “thugs” and mocked the deaths of Black people at the hands of police.
Article continues below advertisement
Despite Jennie issuing a public apology, Bravo terminated their relationship with the Housewife after a single season. In a post shared on Instagram, the network announced that Jennie “will no longer be a cast member of The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City,” adding that they’ll “work to improve our processes to ensure we make better informed and more thoughtful casting decisions.”
What about the rest of the cast?
As for Heather Gay, Whitney Rose, Lisa Barlow, and Jen Shah, there’s no reason to believe they’re going anywhere. The fraud case against Jen Shah was the primary reason why Bravo began filming the next season as soon as they did, and it’s sure to be one of the main storylines of Season 3.
Stayed tuned for more updates on Season 3 of the Real Housewives of Salt Lake City. In the meantime, catch the three-part Season 2 reunion beginning on Sunday, Feb. 27 at 9 p.m. EST on Bravo.
