The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City

The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City, (abbreviated as RHOSLC), is an American reality television series originally developed and cast by Los Angeles based production company InventTV and then Shed Media. It is broadcast on Bravo. The Salt Lake City series is the tenth installment of The Real Housewives franchise, and it follows the personal and professional lives of women who live in or near Salt Lake City, Utah. It has aired four seasons in total; with the first season having premiered on November 11, 2020, and the most recent season, fourth season, premiered on September 5, 2023.

The first season consisted of original cast members: Lisa Barlow, Mary Cosby, Heather Gay, Meredith Marks, Whitney Rose and Jen Shah. The show's current cast includes Barlow, Gay, Marks, Rose and Angie Katsanevas, with Cosby appearing as a friend of the housewives. Previous housewives include Shah, Jennie Nguyen and Monica Garcia.

Commercially, season two had the highest average viewership of 0.71 million, while season four had the lowest at 0.53 million. The controversial season four finale is the highest-viewed episode in the series, averaging over two million viewers across all platforms.

Seasons 1–3
The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City was announced at the BravoCon fan convention in New York City on November 16, 2019. The first season was created, cast, and produced by InventTV. Lisa Barlow, Mary Cosby, Heather Gay, Meredith Marks, Whitney Rose and Jen Shah were announced as the cast members for the show's debut season on September 9, 2020. According to a executive producer of the show, Noah Samton, the first season revolved around Cosby's life and featured cast members with connections to her. The season premiered on November 11, 2020 and concluded on February 24, 2021.

In February 2021, Bravo renewed the show for a second season. For the second season, all six original cast members returned, along with additional housewife Jennie Nguyen (who had connections through Barlow). Angie Harrington, a friend of Barlow's, was originally cast in a recurring role but ended up appearing as a guest throughout the season. The second season premiered on September 12 of the same year and ended on March 13, 2022. Cosby did not attend the season's reunion special, and it was confirmed by Bravo producer and host Andy Cohen that she had left the show due to harassment from fellow cast members. Prior to the show's reunion, Bravo fired Nguyen after discovering insensitive posts on her Facebook account criticising the Black Lives Matter movement. Nguyen had denied the allegations and blamed her social media team.

Bravo renewed the show for a third season, bringing back all five remaining cast members. Harrington returned and was promoted to a recurring role as Gay's friend. Additionally, two new housewives joined the cast: Danna Bui-Negrete as Gay's friend, and Angie Katsanevas as Shah's friend (Katsanevas was later referred to as Shah's former friend throughout the season). The third season premiered on September 28, 2022, and ended on February 1, 2023. Shah did not attend the season's reunion because of ongoing legal issues, and she was later fired after being sentenced to prison.

Seasons 4–present
Bravo renewed the show for a fourth season in March 2023, giving Peacock additional distribution rights. The four remaining cast members (Barlow, Gay, Marks and Rose) returned to the series. Katsanevas was promoted to a full-time role, while Bui-Negrete appeared as a guest throughout the season. Harrington was offered to return for season four, but she declined in order to focus on her family. Monica Garcia was announced as a new cast member, with connections to Katsanevas and former cast member Jen Shah. Additionally, original housewife Mary Cosby returned as a recurring member due to her connections with Marks.

The fourth season premiered on September 5, 2023 Despite low live viewership, season four had high ratings, averaging 1.9 million total viewers and 1.1 million demo viewers among adults 18-49 across all platforms, a 20% increase over the previous season. The season finale reached new highs of 2.0 million viewers across all platforms.

Several publications noted season four as one of the show's standout seasons, with some critics hailing it as one of the best seasons in the show's franchise. Critics praised that the season's success was due to Garcia’s involvement and controversies throughout the season.

In January 2024, the show was renewed for a fifth season by Bravo, but Garcia was confirmed to not be returning. The five remaining cast members are set to return. Production on the new season began on February 5.

Felony conviction
During filming of the second season, Shah was arrested on March 30, 2021, for wire fraud and money laundering via running a nationwide telemarketing scheme that targeted the elderly and vulnerable working-class people. On July 11, 2022, Shah pled guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and was sentenced to 6.5 years in prison on January 6, 2023. She began her prison sentence on February 17 of the same year.