Right from the jump, it was abundantly clear why Bravo had chosen Salt Lake City as the latest dot on its map of Real Housewives installments across the country. Or, rather, why the six women tapped to join Andy Cohen‘s coterie had made the decision such a no-brainer.
When the first season of The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City premiered in November, no time was wasted building up to the dramatics. In the first few episodes we heard about “hospital smell” and “grandpa-f–ker.” We met a woman who’d converted to the Mormon faith but also launched a tequila company—two things that, according to LDS doctrine, run antithetical to one another. Then there was the one who’d agreed to marry her step-grandfather in order to inherit her grandmother’s church. (Hence the “grandpa-f–ker” taunt.) These ladies came to play.
As the season progressed, things only got more wild, delivering the drama that Bravoholics have come to expect from the beloved franchise. And through it all, an overwhelming fan-favorite has emerged.
We’re talking, of course, about Heather Gay.
Throughout the duration of her 13-episode inaugural season, the divorced mother of three has proven that one doesn’t need to do the glass throwing or drunken screaming to pull focus and endear herself to viewers. In fact, it’s her steady, yet never not humorous, resolve in the face of the theatrics unfolding around her that’s positioned her as the season’s MVP. Let’s break it down, shall we?