The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City returned for a third season on Sept. 28, and it kicked off with a lot of drama. To start, Jen Shah, who has since admitted to fraud, was seen bragging about making “millions”. In an interview conducted for Season 1 on Dec. 9, 2019, Jen, 48, said, “What I’ve done for the last 20 years is direct response marketing. I make millions. Hey, you’ve gotta do what you’ve gotta do for money. I’m like the Wizard of Oz.”
The first few minutes of the #RHOSLC are absolutely chilling. It’s going to be a great season! pic.twitter.com/ennEZlv9wD
— Queens of Bravo (@queensofbravo) September 28, 2022
The footage was used in the first two minutes of Wednesday’s episode, which showed the difference three years has made in the lives of the cast that also includes Meredith Marks, Lisa Barlow, Heather Gay and Whitney Rose.
Jen’s ongoing fraud case will obviously be featured in this new season of the show, as her husband, Sharrieff Shah Sr., told her (in 2022), “Our time is coming. I just can’t lie to you. This is a test for all of us.” And later in the episode, when Jen was busy planning her husband’s 51st birthday party, they talked about staying away from drama as her trail nears. Obviously, we now know that Jen forwent a trial by pleading guilty to her charges, but this episode was filmed before then, and in her private confessional, Jen said, “I’m not going to take a plea deal, when I’m not guilty. I’m innocent. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t scared. I’m not thinking about myself. I’m thinking about my family. I can’t imagine being away from them. It would literally kill me.”
She also complained about living in a house that’s “only” 4500 square feet with a “normal” sized closet, which made us cringe a bit, but at the end of the day, that’s just who Jen is. For those who haven’t been following along, Jen allegedly scammed hundreds of people — predominantly elderly people — out of money through a nationwide telemarketing scheme. Her March 2021 arrest was documented in Season 2 of the show, and in July 2022, she reversed her previous not guilty plea by pleading guilty in front of US District Judge Sidney Stein in Manhattan federal court. Jen currently faces up to 14 years in prison and restitution of up to $9.5 million, and she’s scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 28.
Later in the episode, Lisa apologized to Seth Marks for calling Meredith a “whore” last season. It all went down at Coach Shah’s party, where Lisa also told Meredith that she hoped to speak to her again in the future, but no one thought it was the best place to have such conversations. Lisa spent most of her conversation with Seth “making excuses” for her behavior, so he didn’t feel that her apology was genuine. And she was so overwhelmed by their chat that she left the party in tears, but Meredith and Jen didn’t even bat an eye. They know Lisa made her bed, and now she needs to lie in it.
Want more drama? New episodes of The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City air Wednesdays at 9pm on Bravo.