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RHOSLC’s Heather Gay Reveals Jen Shah Gave Her Black Eye 1 Year After Injury: ‘I Had to Lie For Her’
Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star Heather Gay revealed that her former costar Jen Shah was responsible for giving her a black eye.
Heather, 49, famously got a black eye during season 3, though kept the details about the shiner a secret until the season 4 finale on Tuesday, January 2. She dropped the bombshell while confronting Monica Garcia about her alleged involvement with Reality Von Tease, an Instagram troll account.
While talking to Monica, 40, with Lisa Barlow, Meredith Marks and Whitney Rose, Heather said that Monica’s behavior was similar to Jen, 50. While fans got to know Jen as an original star on the reality show, she is currently serving time in prison after she was found guilty of her involvement in a telemarketing scheme.
“We are friends, and we have been through this bulls–t before with Jen,” she said, noting that they previously “shut down feelings of doubt” with the mother of two when she was on the show. “I went on a book tour and defended her and took s–t for the fact that she gave me a black eye.”
The bombshell wasn’t just a shock to viewers, as both Lisa, 49, and Meredith, 52, were visibly surprised.
“I had to ride hard for [Jen] and I had to lie for her. We’re not going to do it again with you,” Heather told Monica. She then encouraged the Bravo newcomer to “pack [her] bags and go.”
While Heather finally revealed that Jen gave her the black eye, she didn’t share details about how she actually obtained the injury.
Back in season 3, Heather ended up with a black eye on the left side of her face following a night of partying with Jen and Meredith. The incident wasn’t captured on camera, and Heather didn’t share insight on what happened. However, the black eye was a popular topic throughout the remainder of the season.
Heather called the injury “humiliating” during the season 3 reunion in January 2023, though insisted she didn’t know what happened. However, she also hinted that she was aware of how she got the black eye when she told Whitney, “I think we all know what happened, I just think we don’t want to talk about it.”
“I don’t know how I got the black eye,” the Bad Mormon author stated during season 3’s reunion. “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.”
Fans previously speculated that Jen was responsible because she was with Heather the night it happened. Heather reacted to the rumors during the season 3 reunion, noting that she “trusted” Jen and even recruited her to come up with “a cover story” as she figured out how she got hurt.
“If I knew Jen did that, I would cover it up, but that was not my intention,” the reality star said at the time. “I was blacked out. Anything could’ve happened. I still don’t know how it happened.”
