Monica Garcia is not returning to The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City, and Heather Gay is happy about her departure.
On Tuesday’s episode of Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen, which followed part 3 of the RHOSLC reunion, Gay reacted to Garcia’s exit and credited her for inadvertently bringing the cast closer together during her first and only season on the show.
“What Monica never got was that it was a show about friendship. And she was not interested in being any of our friends,” Gay told Cohen. “I’m just looking forward to filming with Whitney [Rose] and Meredith [Marks] and Lisa [Barlow] and Angie [Katsanevas]. They’re my actual friends and we have a great time together.”
While on WWHL, Gay passionately shared her love for her RHOSLC co-stars, emphasizing the deep connection she feels with all of them, and highlighted the role of a “common enemy” in fostering unity among the cast members.
Gay reminisced about a pivotal moment on the beach when her fellow housewives stood by her side when she confronted Garcia.
“And they had my back on the beach,” she said of the moment she exposed Garcia. “They could have blown me off, they could have said a thousand things, but they said, ‘I have your back.’ It was a pivotal moment for all of us as friends.”
In the Jan. 2 season finale, the ladies — while on a trip to Bermuda for Garcia’s birthday — were faced with the realization that she may not have been upfront and honest about her role in the group and how she came to the show.
“Monica is not who she says she is,” Gay proclaimed to her longtime castmates and friends on the trip. “She’s not our friend. She’s someone who has schemed and worked to infiltrate our friend group, and the name that you all know her as — the woman whose birthday we celebrated, who we have been trying to champion and support and defend — is Reality Von Tease.”
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Reality Von Tease is a Real Housewives gossip blogger who had been posting supposed insider secrets about the RHOSLC cast members to the anonymous Instagram account over the course of multiple seasons.
The revelation led to a massive blow-out fight and many of the cast members declared they would not work with her again.
On Monday, Cohen, the Real Housewives reunion host and executive producer, spoke with ET about the show and reflected on what Garcia’s future might look like after the third and final installment of the RHOSLC reunion special aired on Tuesday.
“I think the question is how will Monica, or will Monica, find her way back into this group?” Cohen said. “Part 3 is a deep dive into Reality Von Tease and the black eye. And so at the end, I think you’ll have a sense of where we go next season.”
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Just before WWHL announced Garcia’s exit from RHOSLC, ET confirmed the news. “Monica is not currently scheduled to return to RHOSLC,” a source close to the situation said. “It’s too early to confirm her permanent departure, and there’s a possibility of her making a return in the future. The extent of her future involvement remains uncertain at this point.”
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