Scott D. Pierce: Which ‘Real Housewife of SLC’ has ties to BYU’s basketball team?

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I’ve been asked if it’s true that one of “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” has ties to the Brigham Young University’s men’s basketball team. Because inquiring minds want to know, apparently.

And the answer is — yes. Through no fault of the Cougars.

Whitney Rose’s husband, Justin, is the younger brother of former BYU basketball coach Dave Rose, who retired in 2019. That probably shouldn’t surprise anyone. Justin looks a lot like Dave, who’s a decade older.

In addition, Whitney’s first husband, Sam Burgess, played for Dave Rose at BYU. Which means Whitney is also the former cousin-in-law of current Cougars assistant coach Chris Burgess.

Whitney Lesh married Sam Burgess in the summer of 2007, when she was 21 years old. Burgess, who played basketball, baseball and football at Lone Peak High School, spent a season playing hoops at Snow College before transferring to BYU. In Provo, he was both a co-captain and most inspirational player his senior year, 2007-08.

A year later, Whitney and Sam divorced. And Whitney hasn’t been shy about explaining why. “I own my life,” Whitney has said. “I’ve been very open about my family, my marriage, my past.”

In 2009, she went to work at Nu Skin Enterprises and met Justin Rose, who was then the president of the company. She was 23 and he was 41. Whitney was married to Sam. Justin was married to his first wife, Stasie, and they were the parents of three boys.

Whitney and Justin fell in love and began an affair. They both got divorced. Whitney got pregnant and married Justin.

And, she said, her in-laws weren’t thrilled when Justin married her. In a Season 1 episode of “RHOSLC,” Whitney said that Justin’s parents “made it very clear that I will never replace his ex-wife” by keeping a Justin-and-Stasie wedding picture hanging in their home for six or seven years after their divorce. And that when they finally hung one of Justin and Whitney’s wedding pictures, they also hung a picture of Stasie and her second husband.

“When you decide to take a different path that deviates from what your parents and siblings want from you, it’s hard,” Whitney told The Salt Lake Tribune last year. “I get it. I understand fully why they are not on board. But also, it hurt.”

Watch out! This week on TV.

Someday, when the history of the COVID-19 pandemic is written, “Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness” will merit a mention — as a symbol of how a lot of Americans lost their minds and watched the less-than-scintillating Netflix series during the early stages of the lockdown.

Will those viewers be interested in “Tiger King 2,” which starts streaming Wednesday? (Joe Exotic phones in from prison, where he’s serving time for ordering a hit on Carole Baskin.) Will anyone watch “Carole Baskin’s Cage Fight,” which starts streaming Saturday on Discovery+, to hear her side of the story? Geez, I hope not.

“Home Sweet Home Alone” (streaming Friday on Disney+) • Do we need a remake of “Home Alone”? Absolutely not.

“Mayor Pete” (streaming Friday on Amazon Prime) • It’s doubtful that many Republicans are going to watch this documentary about Pete Buttigieg’s 2020 presidential campaign, but it’s definitely worth checking out.

“Red Notice” (streaming Friday on Netflix) • Duane Johnson, Ryan Reynolds and Gal Godot were reportedly paid Really Big Bucks to star in this heist film … which is great to look at, but the plot is just dopey.

“The Shrink Next Door” (streaming Friday on AppleTV+) • This eight-part dark comedy about a psychiatrist (Paul Rudd) who manipulates his patient (Will Ferrell) is about seven parts too long. A little bit of Ferrell goes a long way, and there’s a lot of Ferrell in this.

“Adele: One Night Only” (Sunday, 7 p.m., CBS/Ch. 2) • Adele’s fans will enjoy this. Duh.

“Mayor of Kingstown” (streaming Sunday on Paramount+) • Jeremy Renner and Dianne Wiest star in this dark drama about a family that controls a troubled Michigan town where the only industry is a prison. The pilot is a bit murky, but this comes to us from “Yellowstone” creator/producer Taylor Sheridan, so I’m on board. (The first episode — and only the first episode — will air on cable’s Paramount Network on Sunday at 7:04 p.m.)

“Yellowjackets” (Sunday, 8 p.m., Showtime) • It’s “Lord of the Flies” with girls … sort of. A plane carrying a girls soccer team crashes in a remote area of Canada, and something terrible happens. We don’t know what, but, a couple of decades later, the survivors are acting weird and ominous. (The narrative bounces back and forth between immediately post-plane crash and the present.) It’s sort of intriguing, but it’s also sort of a confusing mess.

“Marvel’s Hit-Monkey “(starts streaming Wednesday, Nov. 17, on Hulu) • Animated series about a revenge-seeking Japanese snow monkey who’s mentored by the ghost of an American assassin. Really.

“The Sex Lives of College Girls” (starts streaming Thursday, Nov. 18, on HBO Max) • From Mindy Kaling, this series is sometimes really funny and often really dirty ... er, uh, adult.