Heavy/Peacock/YouTube Monica Garcia and Heather Gay
“The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” season four finale caught many fans by surprise when they learned (along with cast member Heather Gay) that newcomer Monica Garcia was secretly running the Instagram troll account Reality Von Tease.
In a January 19 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, three members of the RHOSLC production team, NBCUniversal Television and Streaming Senior VP of Production Noah Samton, Shed Media Senior VP of Programming and Development Lisa Shannon, and Showrunner Lori Gordon, opened up about filming the show, how they learned about Reality Von Tease in real-time with Gay, and what happened to Garcia after she left the dinner table at the end of the tense finale.
RHOSLC Producers Share What Happened After ‘Bermuda Triangle’ Dinner
The RHOSLC finale ended with Garcia arguing with all five of her co-stars, Gay, Lisa Barlow, Meredith Marks, Whitney Rose, and Angie Katsanevas, and eventually leaving the table alone.
In their THR interview, the production team shared what happened after the dinner when the cameras stopped rolling. According to Gordon, “We kept the women separate. I just sat with Monica for an hour, in silence. Not even kidding, didn’t even talk. She just cried. I think it was a real wake-up call for her. She kept saying, ‘I’m so embarrassed.’ She flew out with me on a separate flight and some other of the crew the next morning.”
The producers opened up in the interview as well about when they discovered Garcia was behind Reality Von Tease, with Gordon saying, “The girls had no idea [about Monica]. I had no idea. Shed and Bravo, nobody had any idea. Heather had gotten that call that last day. She was really flustered and upset. And as she started to process that out loud with me privately, it became, well, then that’s how we’re going to tell this story and the viewers should really go along for the same ride as she did. Did we know that it was going to be huge? I think we knew that it was shocking to [the cast]. So because they were so shocked by it, it was almost inevitable that the viewers would be too, because it was just a ride. That last 24 hours was just crazy.”
Samton and Shannon were equally as surprised, only learning about it when Gordon called them from Bermuda to share what was happening.
A source from production already opened up about when they learned about Garcia’s secret account, telling Entertainment Tonight in January 2023, “While [the casting team and producers] were aware of her connection with Jen Shah, they were completely unaware of the information that Heather discovered in Bermuda. Heather’s revelation came as a surprise to the producers, much like the unexpected FBI visit at the Beauty Lab & Laser parking lot during season 2 involving Jen.”
Fans Think RHOSLC Should Win an Award for its 4th Season
While many viewers agree that the RHOSLC finale was one of the best in the franchise, some of the show’s famous fans are calling for the series to win an award.
At the 2024 Golden Globe Awards, Jennifer Lawrence said that the cast and crew deserved an Oscar for their finale performances, joking, “I’ll give them mine. I don’t care. They deserve it. I want a painting of the moment where they’re all on the beach [gasping]. The different looks, oh, it was amazing, they were like a little band of witches.”
A few weeks later at the 2024 Emmys, comedian and writer Joel Kim Booster opened up with E! News about how he had seen the finale three times. “Listen, if anyone should be getting an Emmy this year. It’s Heather Gay. That scene on the beach, she gathered those girls up, and she blew the roof off of that season,” Booster said.
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