If you don’t keep up with what’s going on in the world of reality TV, we’ve got quite the update. I come to you today with news that will not be the least bit surprising if you’re even a casual fan of The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City.
However, if you are not a Bravoholic, I realize what I’m about to share with you will probably sound like this:
So with that in mind, here is some context. RHOSLC is currently in its fourth season, however, the central storyline of the previous three revolved around now-former Housewife Jen Shah, a complete nightmare human being. Whether she’s throwing barware and hitting other cast members in season 1, or getting arrested on federal charges of money laundering and wire fraud and subsequently preparing for trial in seasons 2 and 3, Shah left her mark on the show. Since we’re talking about a reality show, that means airing all her dirty laundry for the world to see. That also includes the feds coming to arrest her, on camera. When I tell you RHOSLC is a lot, please believe me.
Shah is no longer on the show because she is now in federal prison (and supposedly has made friends with Elizabeth Holmes, yes that Elizabeth Holmes, who is in the same prison in Texas). She was sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison after pleading guilty to her part in a scheme that defrauded vulnerable people and left them financially destitute. She is not a good person!
This leads us to season 4 of RHOSLC, and if you think the show might be suffering from the loss of its main storyline-driver, you’re sorely mistaken. The ladies are thriving in her absence! See, Shah was frequently shown surrounded by a multitude of staff she referred to as her “assistants” (one of whom has also pled guilty to the same scheme Shah is in prison for). One “assistant” was Monica Garcia, who joined the show basically to tell all the secrets Shah collected over the years to the other Housewives. When I tell you this show is firing on all cylinders as a result, it’s just the truth. Shah took up all the air in the room on that show, and now that she’s gone, the ladies are able to showcase their own nuttiness. It’s exquisite.
Garcia is the best kind of reality star because she seems to be enjoying airing her messiness out for all of the world to see. Bless her. She was recently a guest on Watch What Happens Live, where she dropped a bombshell. Per Page Six:
“How did you find out what she was doing, like, for real?” Andy Cohen asked Garcia on “Watch What Happens Live.”
“For real, she honestly told me,” she replied.
Cohen, 55, then asked for details on the conversation and whether Shah, 50, had actually told Garcia, 40, she was “ripping off elderly people.”
“She told me how her scheme works, and she asked me to be a part of it,” she claimed. “I said, ‘Absolutely not,’ and that’s when I reached out to my friend in the Secret Service.”
You can see the full clip here:
If you watch the show (and you really should be watching—this season is the best the entire Housewives franchise has to offer), you’ll know that Garcia was introduced as having a friend in the Secret Service, and it was implied that she may have had a hand in Shah’s arrest—something she adamantly denies in the clip above. Personally, I believe her. Shah’s indictment is unsealed, and if you read it, it truly does seem like law enforcement was building a case against her for a while.
The biggest bombshell Garcia dropped during her appearance is that Shah knew that what she was doing was wrong all along. On camera, after her arrest, Shah vehemently maintained her innocence, up until she pled guilty. She was fairly convincing if you hadn’t read anything about her case, merely because Shah is an emotional bully and never slows down for you to catch your breath and question the spectacle of it all.
This is all entertainment in its basest form, but you know what? The world is a dark, demented place sometimes. Let us enjoy our pretend-to-be-rich people getting drunk and crying over perceived slights at each other, mistaking waiters for security guards, and demanding people be thrown out of restaurants. It makes us happy, and Garcia is the gift that keeps on giving on RHOSLC. Frankly, I look forward to hearing whatever mess she wants to share next.
(featured image: Bravo TV)
