‘Real Housewives Of Salt Lake City’ Star Jen Shah Denies Heather Gay’s Claim That She Gave Her A Black Eye: “It’s Clear The Show Can’t Live Without Me”

The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City Season 4 finale, which aired on Tuesday night (Jan. 2), was chock-full of bombshell revelations, including who gave Heather Gay that mean black eye in Season 3.

The reality star’s big reveal came amid her confrontation with rookie cast member Monica Garcia, who was exposed for her involvement with the gossip Instagram account Reality Von Tease, which Gay said was “dedicated to annihilating and exposing” the now-incarcerated Jen Shah and other castmates.

“Listen to me: there’s something that you missed out on. We are friends, and we have been through this bullshit before with Jen,” Gay said. “For years, we were afraid. We’d wake up sick that a lie would be posted and told and spread and exposed and exploited, but we were in it with her. And we are the type of girls that ride or die, and each one of us, at different times, rode hard and we shut down feelings of doubt and things that didn’t fucking add up.”

Gay told Garcia that the way she “acted was strangely familiar,” referring to the betrayal she felt from Shah, who was once her close friend.

“The pain that we went through and the way that we were tormented and tortured? I ate shit every day for her,” Gay fumed. “I felt like I had to lie to protect her. I did whatever it took. I went on book tour and defended her, and took shit for the fact that she gave me a black eye.”

Meredith Marks and Lisa Barlow were left shocked by the reveal, especially since Gay previously claimed she was too drunk to remember how she got the black eye.

However, Shah, who is currently serving prison time for her involvement in a telemarketing scheme, took to her Instagram Story to deny her former co-star’s explosive allegation.

“BRAVO, if I punched Heather in her eye, you guys would have footage to prove it,” she wrote. “It’s clear the show can’t live without me since I was brought up at the beginning, middle and end of season 4.” 

Shah added, “Andy [Cohen] is still butt hurt that I turned down his 1:1 interview. Why would you sit down with someone who ‘gave’ another cast member a black eye? Next story.”

You can stream all four seasons of The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City on Peacock.