The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City don’t play around with their long-term friendships. Like most Bravo franchises, the ladies place a heavy burden on walking the straight and narrow when it comes to their relationships with the other women. Throughout the seasons, we’ve seen cousins Heather Gay and Whitney Rose tell fans about how the family is everything. Only to turn their back on one another. Viewers have also watched Meredith Marks flip-flop between hating Jen Shah and supporting her. So, it is clear that being a good friend isn’t strictly black and white.
Lisa Barlow isn’t playing games with Whitney Rose
Last week’s episode of the Real Housewives of Salt Lake City showed Lisa losing her cool with Whitney. It seems most of the cast feels as if Whitney is weaponizing her healing journey, and this is a no-no when it comes to friendship 101. While sitting down for lunch after the high ropes course, Lisa Barlow wasn’t afraid to tell Whitney, “All you do is talk in feelings. Start talking in facts and then we can have a good conversation.” The upset feelings started after Lisa shared that she wasn’t happy with Whitney’s podcast remarks. And even though Whit did eventually apologize their issues are long from over.
Lisa recognized that the apology was just the tip of the iceberg, sharing, “I appreciate the apology. It doesn’t take away from the fact that we still have issues.” When it comes to saying, “I’m sorry,” Whitney has become very good at semi-taking accountability. But if you want to stand out in this group as a good friend, you really have to be remorseful and almost bow down to the one you hurt to earn their forgiveness. However, not everyone has learned that trick. What usually happens is the meltdowns grow into a larger fight and result in multiple meltdowns, which solves nothing.
Whitney Rose teaches fans how to set boundaries
Even though some Real Housewives of Salt Lake City viewers are finding Whitney extremely annoying on her healing journey, the mother of two is still chugging along. Whitney has been extremely open about her therapy and coping tools and I’d argue some of it has probably helped viewers. Whitney is all about uplifting herself and knowing her worth. In a recent X post, she took a quote from Wicked, writing, “I’m through accepting limits cause someone says they’re so.” The character Elphaba is singing about embracing their true self, and that is exactly what Whitney is doing. Whitney is putting herself first and leaving some of the women behind while doing so.
During Season 4 and now Season 5, Whitney has been on quite the healing journey. She has opened up about her estranged father and her childhood trauma. While this type of conversation isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, Whitney’s ability to bear it all is something to be admired. She is now setting up clear boundary lines with the other women, whether she needs them or not. But she is showing fans that you don’t have to constantly be walked over. One thing is for sure: Whitney is a tough cookie and doesn’t back down when it comes to fighting for her friendships.
Meredith Marks just disengages when friends let her down
Meredith gave us one of the most perfect Real Housewives of Salt Lake City memes. But she has also taught viewers a valuable lesson about how to leave a friendship when it no longer serves you. When it comes to the jewelry designer, she doesn’t play around, but sometimes, she does pick the wrong horse to back. But that is okay because fans still get to learn a lesson on friendship. Meredith showed compassion when it came to Jen even though she “traumatized and terrified” Mere’s family for years. But after one too many Shah outbursts, Meredith just had to “disengage.”
Meredith chooses to walk away from confrontation because of the way she reacts in anger. While the mother is usually quite composed, there have been moments when her rage has taken over, causing her to yell, “You can leave.” More often than not, Meredith handles each of the women without even blinking her eyes. Viewers just watched as Angie Katsanevas came at her with a scroll of grievances, but Meredith just walked away. It takes a lot of strength to take the high ground but Meredith does it mostly with grace. Fans could absolutely learn a thing or two from these women, including protecting their happiness and making sure they all have respect.
Real Housewives of Salt Lake City is streaming on Peacock.
TELL US – DO YOU THINK THE RHOSLC WOMEN ARE GOOD FRIENDS TO HAVE?
