UPDATE: Lisa got in touch with Reality Tea to clarify: “Yes, I was the one that helped bring Housewives to Utah with an amazing producer – but I did not take credit for his creation; that takes a lot of people.” Original report follows…
Should we be thanking Lisa Barlow for coming up with the idea for Real Housewives of Salt Lake City? It probably depends on who you ask.
An executive at NBCUniversal previously said that Mary Cosby helped usher in the Utah addition to the franchise, even though she usually seems completely disinterested in participating in it. However, Lisa just shared her own RHOLSC origin story, and it seemingly contradicts what we previously thought to be true.
Was RHOSLC Lisa Barlow’s idea?
Strangely enough, Lisa made her claim about RHOSLC while going back and forth with a Mary fan account on Twitter/X, under the post of one of our favorite Starcasm writers, Reality By Ashley. The Mary fan and another viewer were exchanging opinions about the show’s cast. Mary’s fan was trying to make the point that the show wouldn’t be the same without everyone’s favorite Pentecostal first lady.
“You can’t forget about the woman who was the reason why we have a RHOSLC,” Mary’s fan page claimed.
Then, out of nowhere, Lisa entered the chat. She clapped back and said that the show was originally centered around her. Plot twist!
“Actually, it was me and Mary came through a mutual friend,” Lisa wrote, along with a heart emoji.
Mary’s fan page didn’t take that lightly. They cited the fact that a network executive said they built the show around Mary. Specifically, the Senior VP of Programming and Development at NBCUniversal said in an interview that Mary was the first person production discovered in the Salt Lake City area. According to Lisa, that exec misspoke.
“It was a mistake. Mary came through my friend Cameron,” Lisa claimed. “Mary knows too! They were going to do a separate thing with her after meeting her.”
They always say that there are two sides to every story and the truth lies somewhere in the middle. That’s probably the case here, but ultimately, the only person who should be taking credit for anything Housewives adjacent is Andy Cohen. If it weren’t for him and a few fancy women in Orange County, this whole franchise wouldn’t even be here.
The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City airs on Bravo, Wednesday nights at9/87c
TELL US – DO YOU THINK LISA IS RESPONSIBLE FOR RHOSLC? DO YOU THINK THE NBC EXECUTIVE MADE A MISTAKE WHEN THEY CREDITED MARY FOR THE SHOW’S INCEPTION?
