Heather Gay and Whitney Rose spill the tea on their sisterhood and The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City

Receipts! Proof! Timeline! Screenshots! Oh, how we love the drama of The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City.

After taking over the internet with many a compilation of viral, meme-worthy moments, fans have been itching for another trip back to Utah to catch up with the lavish lives of our favourite housewives.

Ahead of the release of Season 5, WHO sat down with housewives Heather Gay and Whitney Rose to get the inside scoop on the upcoming season.

Congratulations on another year of The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City! How excited were you to return for a fifth season?

Whitney: Thrilled, because Season 4 ended in such a dramatic way, but for us on a personal level, it ended in such a positive way, so I think we were chomping at the bit to get back for Season 5.

Heather: Any time you’re asked to come back, that’s a beautiful day. You never know what could happen, right? We don’t know until after the reunion if we’re going to be asked back, so it’s more exciting than being asked to the Met Gala!

The Real Housewives has so many iterations around the globe. What do you think it is about Salt Lake City that keeps fans coming back for more?

H: I think there’s such a homogenous culture and we have longevity in our relationship. There are layers of friendship and layers of conflict, and I think still waters run deep.

W: I think that what’s brilliant about our community is each year, we peel back another layer and in Season 5, we finally get to the depths of our friendships and find where the real issues lie. I think that it’s beautiful with friends to know that you can have conflicts, but have resolution.

The Real Housewives is not without its fair share of heated discussions. How do you bounce back from those conflicts? 

H: We’ve seen the damage that you can do when you give into the drama and forget the friendship part of it. I think that helps you remember where you want to end up.

W: I think in general, we dehumanise reality TV stars and forget that we’re actual people with feelings, and emotions, trying to live our best lives, being mothers, we own businesses. It’s a lot, and I think that’s what we’re finally learning is to remember we’re not just people on TV. Salt Lake City is a small city. We see each other all the time, we know each other’s families, we know each other’s friends. We have to be good to each other at the end of the day.

This season welcomes a few new faces to the group. How did the new housewives impact the group dynamic?

H: I think we’re all excited to have new faces in a way where it’s a fresh start, but also, I was really protective of the bonds we had and the strides we had made in Bermuda. I was so careful and I just felt fiercely protective of our relationships and of anyone trying to mess with that.

W: You have to really trust someone’s intentions when they come into the group. Can you imagine joining the group after year five? I have mad respect for the women who did join, but it’s always going to be what is the intention? How are they going to fit?

Heather, we have to talk about your iconic “Receipts, Proof, Timeline” moment that has gone viral. What was that conversation like during the dinner party? 

H: We heard it play back in an interview we did the other day, and it was just as powerful as it was that night. I was speaking for all of us against the trolls that have attacked and hurt all of us, and we were sitting with one, and I was able to release that.

W: One of the hardest things about being a housewife is the social media haters and the keyboard warriors, and to have one in our group and to expose it and find out, it’s the ability to tell them, ‘No more. We are not going to allow what you say about us to hurt us.’

It’s your first time in Australia. Have you watched any of the Australian seasons? Who do you think you’d get along with best? 

H: All of them! We love Australia. We just want to be accepted by you!