After one of the most bizarre — yet highly entertaining — seasons in Real Housewives history, the bombshells continued to drop during the second part of The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City’s Season 4 reunion.
Monica Garcia’s impact on the franchise needs to be studied because she helped the series rise like a phoenix after being burned to ashes following the Jen Shah scandal.
But the latest season of the Bravo hit could have looked very different.
While going back and forth with her co-stars Lisa Barlow, Heather Gay, Meredith Marks, Whitney Rose, and Angie Katsanevas about her contentious relationship with her mother, Linda Darnell, Garcia let slip a revelation unhinged as the Reality Von Tease reveal.
Monica’s co-stars struggled to comprehend Monica’s alleged actions of running a troll account that spread rumors about and ridiculed the cast, but they also believed her mother was going out of her way to impress them.
“She sat down at the table, and it felt like she wanted to be in Monica’s shoes,” Rose said as her co-stars agreed before host Andy Cohen drew his own conclusion.
Monica Garcia’s issues with her mother run deep
“I was just going to say, for someone who left her 12-year-old to pursue a career in television, do we think her mom was kind of auditioning to be a housewife a little bit?”
That statement hit a nerve with Garcia, who shared details of her final interview before learning she successfully snatched Jen Shah’s snowflake.
Garcia recalled visiting her mom and crying because she was uncertain she had made a big enough impact on the casting team. Side note: Monica is made for TV, so we can’t imagine a scenario in which producers would find a reason not to have her on the show.
“I totally effed up. I totally bombed it. I don’t feel myself,” Monica claimed she told her mom. In true RHOSLC fashion, things took a hard left turn.
What was supposed to be a tender moment between the mother and daughter became very different.
“My mom said, ‘Let’s say a prayer,'” Monica said.
Monica claims Linda Darnell wanted on the RHOSLC cast… with or without her daughter
“And then she prayed that she would get it instead,” Garcia explained.
“She literally said, “Lord, if it’s not Monica, let it be me. Somehow, just let it be me instead.'”
The ladies gasped in shock, but never one to stray from being a Monica hater, Gay voiced some concerns about the admission because Monica went on to shoot scenes for the show with her mom.
Monica claimed she had become “so used” to her mom’s bad behavior.
“It feels normal,” the Reality TV star offered before delving into other times she felt “sabotaged” by her mother.
Monica believes her mother tried to derail her relationship with Mike
Monica shared a story about when she first started dating Mike, whom she later married.
“I’m scared to hear this,” Andy said as Monica kicked off the latest bombshell.
Monica struggled to tell the story but recognized she had to let her co-stars know what things were like behind closed doors.
Monica claimed Linda banned Mike from the house and recalled her mother saying, “You will not take my daughter away from me. You are not welcome.”
Despite many differences with Monica over her part in the troll account, Rose offered some support, citing her strained relationship with her father, adding that it’s challenging to have a perspective on these things until you “see it from the outside looking in.”
Monica is in the hot seat during the RHOSLC reunion
The recent RHOSLC Season 4 finale revealed that Monica played a part in the Reality (Von) Tease account that has gone after the cast members for several years.
The reunion is Monica’s first chance to clear up her part in the situation, but beyond jabs here and there, the first two parts of the reunion haven’t featured anything of substance.
The good news? There’s only one part left, and we were left on a cliffhanger with Monica preparing to tell her version of events… something the RHOSLC cast is nervous about.
Will we learn anything new, or will this be another attempt from Monica to shift the blame? There’s so much we don’t know about this; somehow, it’s hard to believe we’ll be satisfied when we know the truth.
The aim, it seems, is for the other women to defrost Monica’s snowflake before the reunion is over so they don’t have to deal with her again when the cameras pick back up.
It certainly poses questions about whether the show would survive without Monica. She’s been outspoken and called out the ladies for everything, but has it all been an act to hide her part in the troll account?
Time will tell, but what we need is some facts.
The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on Bravo.