On Tuesday, 2 January 2024, Bravo aired the season 4 finale episode of The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City. The housewives had some thoughtful conversations before the season ended, in which Heather Gay finally admitted, stunning everyone, that Jen Shah gave her the infamous black eye during the previous season.
In response to Heather Gay’s assertion that the mystery injury was caused by her 50-year-old former co-star, Shah took to her Instagram Story on 3 January 2024 to dispute the accusation.
After a night of partying in San Diego with co-stars Shah and Marks during season 3, Gay sustained a bruise on her left eye.
Bravo cameras weren’t filming at the moment, so it wasn’t immediately evident how the 49-year-old American television personality and businesswoman was hurt.
The next morning, in front of Shah, Gay revealed her black eye to Marks and said, “I don’t know how this happened. I don’t recall.”
Afterward, she said to Rose, her cast mate and cousin, “I think we all know what happened. I just think we don’t want to talk about it.”
But Gay reiterated her injury claim during the reunion of the previous season in January 2023, saying, “I don’t know how I got the black eye. I blacked out. I don’t know what happened … I cannot speak to anything other than I walked to my room, and I blacked out, and I woke up with a black eye.”
Since Shah and Gay were out partying late that night and she was the first person Gay phoned the following morning, many fans started to believe that Shah was to blame for the incident.
The Grand Reveal Happening
The sudden reveal happened as the group pointed out newbie Monica Garcia’s participation with the Instagram account Reality Von (Tea), and during those confrontation rounds, Heather revealed this jaw-dropping information.
Monica was questioned by the housewives due to her affiliation with a social media account that criticizes the cast members, particularly the incarcerated Jen Shah, who is presently serving a term. Heather, who was deeply hurt by betrayal in previous seasons, opened up about the lengths she went to keep Jen safe.
“I don’t think you understand something about this group. Listen to me: there’s something that you missed out on,” Heather said to Monica.
She further added, “We are friends, and we have been through this bulls**t before with Jen. For years, we were afraid. We’d wake up sick that a lie would be posted and told and spread and exposed and exploited, but we were in it with her.”
We are the type of girls that ride or die, and each one of us, at different times, rode hard, and we shut down feelings of doubt and things that didn’t f**king add up. The way you acted was strangely familiar, but who you are made no sense,” Heather said, expressing her displeasure with Monica’s actions.
The grand reveal was made from her following statement: “And the pain that we went through and the way that we were tormented and tortured? I ate s**t every day for her. I felt like I had to lie to protect her. I did whatever it took. I went on a book tour and defended her and took s**t for the fact that she gave me a black eye”.
Monica was unfazed by Heather’s admission, even though she felt betrayed. “I’m glad you finally told the truth for once. So, good for you,” she remarked cynically.
Shah’s Response on Instagram
Jen Shah took to Instagram to respond to these allegations, writing: “BRAVO, if I punched Heather in her eye, you guys would have footage to prove it. It’s clear the show can’t live without me since I was brought up at the beginning, middle, and end of season 4.”
The mother of two, who is presently imprisoned for five years for her involvement in an extensive telemarketing fraud, went on, saying, “Andy [Cohen] is still butt hurt that I turned down his 1:1 interview. Why would you sit down with someone who ‘gave’ another cast member a black eye? Next story.”
