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Who Is ‘RHOSLC’ Star Heather Gay’s ‘Mormon Royalty’ Ex-Husband? Everything to Know About Bill
Heather Gay is one of the two single Salt Lake City Housewives, but the Bad Mormon is no stranger to marriage. The reality star reflected on her past relationship with ex-husband Bill Gay on the show and in her New York Times best selling book – and it seems like she lucked out in the divorcée jackpot.
Who Is Heather Gay’s Ex-Husband?
Bill, who was born Frank William “Billy” Gay III, comes from a wealthy family. It’s unclear what his job is exactly, but he seemingly inherited a lavish life.
Heather opened up about her former hubby during her reality debut in 2020. During the RHOSLC season 1 premiere, she revealed that Bill’s grandfather Frank William Gay worked as billionaire Howard Hughes’ “henchman.” However, her former in-law worked his way up his employer’s businesses making him “worth millions” of dollars.
“Howard Hughes comes in, hires my grandfather-in-law as his driver and henchman,” the Beauty Lab + Laser founder told Distractify. “Howard Hughes loved the Mormons, and when he passed, the Gay family inherited a huge portion of his estate. The Gay family is worth billions, so I basically married into Mormon royalty.”
Why Did Heather Gay and Ex-Husband Bill Divorce?
“I am a purebred, pedigreed, pioneer Mormon,” the Bravo star said during the series premiere. “I married a Mormon man, I had three Mormon daughters, every descendant in our line is Mormon.”
The pair got married in July 2000 at Laie Hawaii Temple and later welcomed daughters Ashley, Georgia and Annabell. They called it quits after 11 years of marriage and got a divorce three years later. “It all came crashing down when we got divorced five years ago. In the Mormon church, divorce is not an option,” she shared on the show.
Bill made an appearance on RHOSLC during season 1 when he dropped off Valentine’s Day goodies to his daughters at Heather’s house. During a confessional, Heather admitted that her ex’s social status intrigued her and prompted her to accept his proposal after three months of dating.
“All the things that enticed me to marry him evaporated when we had to live life together – and it became immediately apparent that we were absolutely not compatible,” Heather laughed to the camera.
Though Heather and Bill’s divorce was shunned by the church, their split was more than amicable and they split their parenting duties in their own way. “Our co-parenting is I do the work, and he pays the bills,” the family matriarch explained to Bustle in November 2020. “A lot of people say that is very amicable, and it works; we get along fine.”
That being said, Heather hit a low point when she and Bill first decided to separate. In her book, Bad Mormon, the Bravolebrity revealed that she got a DUI in 2012 while driving home from a friend’s birthday party. Heather hid her run-in with the law from her family and friends until the release of her book in 2023.
“I never told a soul. Not a single soul,” she told Us Weekly at the time. “That’ll be a complete shock to [my family]. But it’ll probably be par for the course, because we really believe that if you do not follow all of the rules, your life will fall apart and you have no promise.”
