‘Real Housewives of SLC’ recap: The women expel one of the group; Heather admits how she got that black eye

In the Season 4 finale of “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City,” viewers finally learn about a scene the show’s producers have been teasing since the season began — Heather Gay takes a phone call that leaves her upset and in tears. “I cannot believe it’s her. … I’m freaking the [expletive] out.”

(And Heather also finally reveals who gave her the black eye in Season 3.)

In a confessional, Heather says she “just got this devastating information” in that call. “What’s about to go down could change our friendships forever,” she says.

What’s the big deal? Heather receives information that Monica Garcia is behind an Instagram account that has been making the lives of the Housewives miserable, almost since the series began in late 2020.

At dinner on the fourth day of their “girls trip” to Bermuda, Heather confronts Monica for being someone who “wants to profit from our lives and our pain.” Flashback to earlier in the day, when Heather gathers Lisa Barlow, Meredith Marks and Whitney Rose to tell them that “Monica is not who she says she is. She’s not our friend. She’s someone that has schemed and worked to infiltrate our friend group.” Heather says she’s learned:

• Monica is behind the Instagram account Reality Von Tease, which was “dedicated to annihilating and exposing Jen Shah,” Heather says in a confessional. “But it quickly expanded to troll all of us — me, Whitney, Meredith, Lisa. These were character assassinations.” She learned this from her hairstylist, Tenesha, who “used to be Monica’s closest friend.”

• Heather says Monica’s behavior is “sinister. She uses information as a weapon. She relished in the dirty dark details in the scandal.”

• Heather says she went to her business, Beauty Lab + Laser, to get Monica a gift card “and discovered that we had three Monicas with three different last names with the same birthday.” She learned that one of those accounts owed Beauty Lab “a lot of money.”

(Beauty Lab later sued Monica for an unpaid $2,000 bill. Monica countersued, claiming that the treatment was “botched” and she owes nothing.)

• Heather adds that “something that Monica said kept coming back to me.” A day earlier, when Monica said she didn’t think any of the Housewives would be behind an Instagram troll account, she added, “I would do that [expletive].”

• Heather called Tanesha, who “had a crisis of conscience, and came clean,” telling her that Monica was Reality Von Tease. Tanesha “flooded” Heather’s phone with evidence — screenshots, text messages, audio recordings, videos, photos, DMs. She sent it all to someone (at a cybersecurity company?), who verified that Monica was behind the account. (That same someone is who made the call to Heather in the earlier clip when she was so shocked.)

The other women are furious. “That account has annihilated all of us.” Whitney says. The four of them agree to confront Monica at dinner that night. Heather starts out calmly, but soon she’s shrieking at Monica: “You are a[n expletive] bully and a[n expletive] troll and you do not deserve to be at this table or anywhere near any of us for the way you’ve treated us.”

When confronted, Monica at first denies she’s Reality Von Tease. Then she qualifies her answer: “That’s not true, entirely.” And it is “part true.” In a confessional, Monica says, “Von Tease was never just one person. It wasn’t just me. There were several other humans involved. But, bottom line, our mission was to take down Jen [Shah]. The other women were just collateral damage.” She acts as if this absolves her of any blame when it comes to the other women.

(Former cast member Jen Shah is serving a prison sentence after pleading guilty to federal fraud charges.)

Monica accuses Angie of being involved in the Von Tease account; her involvement seems to be limited to reacting to some posts in DMs with heart and laughing emojis. In a confessional, Monica says to the other women, “Don’t act like every single one of you wasn’t constantly watching and DMing that page. Like, you were our biggest fans.”

The other women are, at this point, even more furious with Monica. The arguing ramps up even more, with the women yelling, screaming and cursing at each other — and over each other.

Monica continues to argue that she’s not responsible for trolling anyone but Jen, and asserts that the Von Tease account belongs to Tanesha. She insists the only person she went after was Jen, “because that little whore is one of the worst humans I’ve ever met in my life.”

In a confessional, Monica says, “I don’t think Reality Von Tease was a bad thing. I think that scamming elderly people out of millions of dollars is a bad thing. But I think having a[n expletive] burner page on an Instagram account to expose someone in their abuse is not a bad thing. I think that’s just telling the truth.”

(And to hell with the other women, apparently.)

Heather tells Monica, “I don’t think you understand something about this group. … We are friends, and we have been through this [expletive] before with Jen. 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, Heather adds, Monica’s behavior was “strangely familiar.” Much like Jen’s behavior.

She then admits to a huge lie herself. Although Heather said repeatedly that she didn’t know how she got that black eye in Season 3, she knows exactly who gave it to her: Jen.

(There will be more on that in the three-part Season 4 reunion, which begins airing on Tuesday, Jan. 9.)

With the support of the other women, Heather tells Monica, “Pack your bags and go.” Monica gets up and leaves the table.

In a confessional, Monica says that she “knew that this information” about the Von Tease Instagram account “would come out” eventually. And she plays the victim: “There’s so much more I wanted to say, but I knew I wasn’t going to be heard at all.” She promised she’d have her say at the reunion. (The other women did not speak to Monica until gathering for the reunion, just before Thanksgiving.)

Also in the episode:

• Monica is caught in another lie. Earlier this season, she visited Meredith’s Park City jewelry store and said it was the first time she’d been there. But she’s seen on security footage with Jen and her friends when one of those friends stole a clutch. She wasn’t the thief, but she was definitely there.

• Whitney says her fight with Heather the previous night “pisses me off because I tried to go down to the beach and, like, have a moment with her.” (Perhaps Whitney has forgotten that she tried to make that happen by yelling at Heather in a parking lot.)

• According to Monica, she inquired as to Whitney’s whereabouts the previous night and Lisa said, “She’s probably somewhere being dramatic.” (Which she was.) Later, at dinner, Whitney accuses Lisa of being dramatic herself. Lisa admits she sometimes is dramatic. (That should have cut short the argument. But … it didn’t.)

• Whitney is still mad at Heather for what she wrote about her in her book, “Bad Mormon.” Whitney acknowledges that Heather read her the section about her, and that she edited out something Whitney didn’t like. Heather reads the passage to the camera, and it’s no big deal. But Whitney’s feelings are hurt and she feels “exploited.” (It makes no sense.)

• The women ride Vespa-ish scooters, and we learn that Meredith has “no idea” when she last drove anything. Like a car. She is not the worst driver, however. Monica is so bad the instructor is worried. When she says that she might die, he replies, “Yes, you will.”

• While shopping, both Heather and Angie forget their credit cards. Monica offers to use hers, but the first time the cashier runs it, it’s declined for the $725 charge. “It would be icing on my mother-[expletive] birthday cake if my freaking card right now in Bermuda in front of these women,” Monica says. (Turns out she forgot to go to the card’s website and click an OK for international purchases, which she does and all is well.)

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