Heather Gay sitting with a black eye after a night out

‘Real Housewives of Salt Lake City’ Finally Gave Us the Heather Gay Answer We’ve Been Waiting For

Oh what a time to be caught up on The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City. Way back when in season 3, we watched as Heather Gay refused to tell the world what happened to her eye—even though we all kind of figured out what happened to it anyway. Now we know for sure.

Recommended Videos

In season 3, the girls were on a vacation together in San Diego when the next morning, Heather woke up with a black eye. It spawned a lot of rumors, and many of them were tied to her friendship with Jen Shah. The two were together before, during, and seemingly after the black eye incident, but Gay refused to name Shah. Now, she’s talking.

During the finale for season 4 of the show, there were many shocking reveals (all about Monica Garcia’s involvement in the Instagram account Reality Von Tease), and as a way of seemingly getting ahead of something, Gay finally admitted what happened to her back in season 3. When the truth was coming out, Gay admitted that while she stayed true to her friendship with Shah, it was her who caused the black eye.

“I went on book tour and defended her and took s— for the fact that she gave me a black eye. I had to ride hard for [Jen] and I had to lie for her. We’re not going to do it again with you,” she said before telling Garcia to “pack her bags and go.”

Shah has denied the allegations (from prison) by using her Instagram account, writing the following in her story: “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.” 

It’s nice to know you were right about someone all along

At the time of the black eye gate, I knew that it had to have been Shah. Seeing Gay admit that it was Jen Shah after all this time just proves she was covering for her friend and protecting her despite Shah clearly not doing the same for her. Their friendship is one that often put Gay at odds with the other housewives because she was loyal to her despite how Shah treated her.

Watching her stand up for herself (and for what was happening with Garcia and the Instagram account that was spreading information about the wives) and standing her ground is a new side to Gay that we’ve not seen on the show. Shah pushing back from prison and saying that she didn’t punch Gay? That’s not surprising because she clearly ignored the issue back in season 3 when she was still on the show, before her five-year prison sentence began.

Hopefully we’ll get more information about this in the reunion for the show on January 9, but for now, we have our answer to what happened to Heather Gay’s eye on The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City.

(featured image: Bravo)


The Mary Sue is supported by our audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn a small affiliate commission. Learn more about our Affiliate Policy
Author
Image of Rachel Leishman
Rachel Leishman
Rachel Leishman (She/Her) is an Assistant Editor at the Mary Sue. She's been a writer professionally since 2016 but was always obsessed with movies and television and writing about them growing up. A lover of Spider-Man and Wanda Maximoff's biggest defender, she has interests in all things nerdy and a cat named Benjamin Wyatt the cat. If you want to talk classic rock music or all things Harrison Ford, she's your girl but her interests span far and wide. Yes, she knows she looks like Florence Pugh. She has multiple podcasts, normally has opinions on any bit of pop culture, and can tell you can actors entire filmography off the top of her head. Her current obsession is Glen Powell's dog, Brisket. Her work at the Mary Sue often includes Star Wars, Marvel, DC, movie reviews, and interviews.