Bravo / YouTube Lisa Barlow and Jen Shah
“The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” has entered new territory in its fourth season, which premiered on Tuesday, September 5, 2023. This marks the first season without powerhouse personality Jen Shah in the main cast, as Shah is currently in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in 2022, however her name was brought up from her former co-stars throughout the season four premiere.
After the episode, Lisa Barlow appeared on the September fifth episode of “Watch What Happens Live” alongside “Real Housewives of Orange County” supporting cast member Taylor Armstrong, and host Andy Cohen asked Barlow about where she stood with Shah in the months leading up to her prison sentence.
See Barlow’s response below.
Lisa Barlow Says Her Relationship With Jen Shah Felt ‘Abusive’
“Jen was such a dominant personality that I have to imagine going into this maybe you guys wondered what it would be like without her. Maybe it was even a little freeing without her?” Cohen asked Barlow on the After Show of her WWHL appearance.
Barlow agreed with Cohen’s assessment, telling him, “It was absolutely freeing, and I closed the door with Jen when Heather [Gay] had her big cover reveal for her book [which was featured in the RHOSLC season three finale]. Jen and I had a long conversation and I’m like ‘I’m done’, ’cause it felt so one-sided and so abusive. So I was ready for that chapter to be closed, and we went a long time without talking or seeing each other. I haven’t talked to Jen since that day.”
Barlow went on to explain that her only contact with Shah since the book cover reveal was through “mean, mean, nasty things on social media”.
Despite this casting shift, Barlow said she has high hopes for season four, telling Cohen “I feel like this season is our best ever. I absolutely love this season. I think you get to know us all a little bit better, and the dynamics in the friend group. It’s nice to see Heather without Jen. I think that was my favorite thing without Jen, seeing Heather thrive and really get to see Heather.”
New Cast Member Monica Garcia Was a Witness in Jen Shah’s Trial
RHOSLC added two new full-time cast members for season four. Filling the space left by Shah’s departure are season three “friend of” Angie Katsanevas, who has been promoted to a main cast member, as well as newcomer Monica Garcia, who has a connection to some of her other snowflake-holders.
Garcia revealed in the season four premiere that not only is she friends with Katsanevas, she also served as a former assistant to Shah.
Garcia shared in a confessional, “Jen had fired her assistant and I stepped in to help her. And one night Jen asked me ‘Do you want to be rich? Do you want to make $600,000 a year? All you have to do is put this, this, and this in your name.’ I remember being so weirded out, it was very bizarre. And I have a friend in the Secret Service, and I called him, and he said ‘Get the f*** away from Jen Shah, she is going to prison.’ And she was arrested two months later.”
This eventually led, Garcia added, to her being called as a witness for the federal government in Shah’s 2022 trial.