HowRHOSLC'Completely Changed' Heather Gay: 'I’ve Unburden Myself from a Lot of Heavy Baggage' (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Heather Gay on ‘Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen’.Photo:Charles Sykes/Bravo via Getty

Charles Sykes/Bravo via Getty

Heather Gaysays she is not the same personReal Housewives of Salt Lake Cityviewers first met when the show premiered in November 2020.

Nearly four years after her Bravo debut, the reality star reflects on how the series has transformed her life in a wide-ranging chat with PEOPLE.

“Oh, I’ve completely changed,” Gay, 50, says, noting that living her life out loud on television — and then watching it back — has ultimately been therapeutic. “I’ve unburdened myself from a lot of heavy baggage I’d been carrying for years, from my life before. And it’s allowed me to really evolve, not just as a woman, but also as a mother.”

Heather Gay on ‘The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City’.Koury Angelo/Bravo

Koury Angelo/Bravo

Gay — who is mom to daughters Annabelle, 21, Georgia, 18, and Ashley, 17 — spent four-and-a-half decades as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints before walking away in 2019, the same yearBravo announced they launch ofRHOSLC.

“I never imagined the show would take off like it did. When we filmed our sizzle reel, I thought it was going to be for a local production,” she recalls. “I just didn’t think it had legs to go this far, and never dared to hope that it would go beyond what was just right in front of me.”

But the show did take off and over the years, so too has Gay. Her business,Beauty Lab + Laser, is thriving. Her confidence, especially in her friendship circle, is stronger than ever. She’s had a recent glow-up, including a 25-lb. weight loss (“Thanks, Ozempic!” she laughs). And in December, Gay’s second memoir —Good Time Girl— will be published, the release following herNew York Timesbest seller,Bad Mormon.

“It’s an exciting time,” Gay tells PEOPLE. “And I’m no fool; I know none of this would have been possible if it weren’t forHousewives.”

Heather Gay on ‘The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City’.Fred Hayes/Bravo via Getty

Fred Hayes/Bravo via Getty

“I feel really empowered now,” she says. “When I first started Housewives, feminism and girl power used to make me uncomfortable because I was just from such a deeply patriarchal culture. I feel like, now, I’m totally a feminist.”

Heather Gay and her daughters.Heather Gay/Instagram

Heather Gay/Instagram

That’s also helped Gay become a better mother, she says.

The kids feel it, too. “We’ll all four be together, the three girls and I, just enjoying each other, out loud expressing gratitude for how happy we are and how much we love our life,” says Gay. “And in those moments, I just feel like it’s all worth it.”

Heather Gay visits ‘Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen’.Charles Sykes/Bravo via Getty

But Gay, overall, sees the big picture. “I feel like the happiest girl on earth,” she says. “All of my dreams have come true, and shattered this glass ceiling I had about where my happiness could be.”

“Who could have ever expectedHousewivesto bring me that?”

The Real Housewives of Salt Lake Cityairs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET on Bravo.

source: people.com