Monica Garcia at ‘Watch What Happens Live’ with Andy Cohen.Photo:Charles Sykes/Bravo via Getty
Charles Sykes/Bravo via Getty
Monica Garciawill not be returning toThe Real Housewives of Salt Lake Cityfor its upcoming fifth season, PEOPLE reported exclusively on Tuesday.
Despite a breakout debut on season 4 of the Bravo series, the sassy standout, 40, will not be joining costarsHeather Gay,Meredith Marks,Lisa Barlow,Whitney RoseandAngie Katsanevaswhen cameras pick back up next month, multiple sources said.
Bravo typically does not discuss casting, but executive producers confirmed the news Tuesday evening in an interview withVariety, saying the cast needed time to regroup.Andy Cohenlater, onWatch What Happens Live, suggested Garcia’s exit might be “a break.”
Garcia has not commented on the exit, and did not respond to PEOPLE’s inquiry.
News of Garcia’s exit comes hours before the airing of the third and final part of theRHOSLCreunion, in which she is expected to confront the revelation that she is behind RealityVonTease, an Instagram troll account that’s had a history ofposting negative things about theRHOSLCstars.
Additionally, Garcia has also insisted she only participated in RealityVonTease to expose former friend andRHOSLCalumJen Shah, who is currently serving afive-year prison sentencefor her role in a long-running telemarketing scheme. “I didn’t say s— about anyone else other than Jen and I will own that to the grave,” she shouted at the women, adding she didn’t see RealityVonTease as a “bad thing” and was “just telling the truth.”
Gay’s costars agreed with her outrage. “You f—ing deceived all of us,” Barlow, 49, shouted, while Marks, 52, yelled, “You’ve sat here with us for three months and not told us the truth.”
Monica Garcia in the season 4 finale of ‘The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City’.Peacock/Youtube
Peacock/Youtube
In the previous two installments of the reunion, Garcia has been on the defense while questions about her past have surfaced. Her costars have essentially written her off as a fan who infiltrated “their friend group” (i.e. the show) and pretend to be their ally while secretly talking about them behind their backs.
That very behavior — and Garcia’s overall unapologetic messiness — is precisely what viewers have embraced about theRHOSLCnewcomer. But it’s also what ultimately put her fate on the show in jeopardy.
“I think the question is how will Monica, or will Monica, find her way back into this group?” reunion host and Bravo executiveAndy Cohenteased toEntertainment Tonighton Monday.
Monica Garcia.Gizelle Hernandez/Bravo via Getty
Gizelle Hernandez/Bravo via Getty
Those discussions — according to producers Noah Samton (Senior VP of Production at NBCUniversal Television and Streaming) and Lisa Shannon (Senior VP Programming and Development at Shed Media) — were ongoing as of Jan. 19.
“[We’ve] had about 7,000 conversations about that subject. We probably have another few hundred ahead of us still,” Samton toldThe Hollywood Reporteron Jan. 19, noting that showrunner Lori Gordon was involved in the conversation as well.
“[Monica’s] a great cast member. She’s open and vulnerable and she represents a different kind of person in Salt Lake than we have on the show. She comes from a different background and there’s a lot about her that the audience can relate to in a way that’s different from the other women. But at the same time, there’s the deception, there’s the relationship with the other cast members. It’s a really complicated puzzle,” he continued. “From a rating standpoint, you would want to find a way for her to come back. But it’s really challenging in this situation. We’re just trying to figure it out.”
Shannon added, “It’s a situation we’ve never been in before. … This is a different beast than I think any of us have dealt with. So we’re kind of moving our way through it.”
The season 4 cast of ‘The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City’ with Andy Cohen: Whitney Rose, Meredith Marks, Monica Garcia, Heather Gay, Lisa Barlow and Angie Katsanevas.Clifton Prescod/Bravo via Getty Images
Clifton Prescod/Bravo via Getty Images
At least one person has been definitive about Garcia, though — Gay.
TheRHOSLCOG — who is alsosuing Garciaover an alleged missed payment at her Beauty Lab + Laser med spa and defending herself from Garcia’s countersuit claims that the procedure was “botched and negligently performed" — has long been insistent that she will not step in front of a camera with Garcia again.
“I don’t think I ever will, ever,” she toldVarietyin November. “It’s pretty definitive for myself. I can’t speak for my other cast members but for me, it’s pretty clear.”
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The Real Housewives of Salt Lake Cityreunion concludes on Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET on Bravo. All episodes are streaming on Peacock.
source: people.com
