Now that the Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star Jen Shah has been sentenced to 6.5 years in federal prison for her role in defrauding the elderly, her former co-star, Heather Gay, reveals she’s learned a lot since their first meeting.
“I met her right before we started filming,” Heather told People. “I only knew her peripherally before that and I got swept up into it, much like the audience did.”
Heather wrote in her new book, Bad Morman, “Jen was a BeautyLabber, and she was fabulous. Full stop. Every time she came by, she would be dressed head to toe in Gucci silks and four-inch heels.” And thanks to the federal government, we now know those Gucci bags and red-bottom heels were all fake. Much like Jen.
“When she walks into a room, she leads with her charisma. She’s got smarts, grit, survival instinct, soul and loyalty. But perhaps the best part about Jen is that she is just like us: fallible and human,” Heather wrote. “She is messy and she is not afraid to own it. Queen bee may be debatable, but there is no doubt that in this cast, Jen is MVP.”
Heather’s words are surprising to fans of the show who witnessed Jen’s arrest and criminal proceedings play out for nearly two years. After maintaining her innocence in front of the world and her co-stars, Jen did the unthinkable. She changed her plea to guilty in the summer of 2022.
“I would love to rewrite the book and say that I’m smarter and wiser and was less duped than I was, but I bought into all of it,” Heather said. “As we know now, it was all a lie, and I think that it’s important to remember why we fall for these types of charismatic people, and that’s how the book is written.”
Throughout the third season of RHOSLC, Heather became one of Jen’s only allies. She even flew to New York City with their co-star, Meredith Marks, to support Jen before her trial was set to begin.
“Everything changed when she pled guilty,” Heather said. “This has been dragged out for so long. I’ve been anticipating her not being a part of it [the show] for a while.”
By the time Jen pleaded guilty, Heather’s book had already been written. But the Beauty Lab + Laser owner revealed she was close to making changes.
“Well, you have to consider I really was tempted to rewrite history, given the context of everything that’s come to light with Jen and her crimes,” she explained. “My goal when I wrote the book was to write it from my perspective as it occurred.”
TELL US – WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT WHAT HEATHER WROTE IN HER BOOK? DO YOU THINK SHE SHOULD’VE REWRITTEN THE SECTIONS ABOUT JEN? WILL YOU BE READING HER BOOK?
[Photo by: Greg Endries/Bravo via Getty Images]
