Jen Shah is opening up about her “real” friends amid her legal troubles and revealing it took a while for Lisa Barlow to reach out following her arrest before sharing how the ordeal has impacted her 27-year marriage to Sharrieff Shah.
When the Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star joined the Spilling Iced Tea special on Instagram Live on Wednesday, she was her chipper, over-the-top self while chatting with the host and Real Housewives of Potomac‘s, Gizelle Bryant. Right off the bat, Jen was asked to name the person who’s shown her the most support, and she didn’t have to think twice before naming Heather Gay.
“My girl Heather Gay was there for me from the jump,” she said on the Bravo TV special via Instagram. “Heather was there. She was like, ‘Hey girl, where you at, I’m coming, what do you need?'”
Jen shared that prior to being accused of running a yearslong telemarketing scheme, she was having a difficult time figuring out who her true friends were, so she asked God to show her. Apparently, her prayer was answered, but just not in the way she expected.
“Listen, I prayed to God and said, ‘God, please show me who my real friends are.’ And it was like BOOM… This happened!” she exclaimed. “I mean, you have to be careful what you pray for, right? But this whole journey and experience over the last year has really shown me who my real friends are.”
“Heather showed up for me without question. No questions asked,” she continued. “She was like, ‘where you at? I’ll come at two in the morning, three in the morning, five in the morning.’ And that’s been invaluable to me because I don’t have to wander and wade through all the bull.”
Gizelle then chimed in, stating she’s guessing Jen hasn’t received any support from Mary Cosby or Meredith Marks, but the Bravo’s Chat Room co-host said she’s going to save her judgment about Lisa’ until season two premieres. At that point, Jen admitted that Lisa didn’t exactly react to her situation the way she expected.
“I was very, very close with Lisa, and that’s honestly the one that I expected to pick up the phone on the first ring and be like, ‘Girl, where you at? I’m on my way.’ And it took a minute,” she revealed. “It took a minute for her to process and go through whatever emotion she was going through.”
Though some of the reality star’s co-stars have been supportive, the same can’t be said for other women within the franchise as Jen said housewives from other cities are seemingly keeping their distance for now.
“People have reached out and just sent emojis. So, if we were doing sign language…” she joked. “But I think everybody wants to play if safe right now. You know what I mean? That’s not me, obviously. That not what Jen Shah [would do].”
She added, “What people don’t understand is, here in America, you’re innocent until proven guilty. I’m innocent. And I believe this is not just my test, it’s everybody’s test that’s close to me and in my corner because God put this on me for a reason. It’s my test, but it’s everyone else’s test. Like, how are they gonna respond.”
As for how Coach Shah is dealing with her uphill legal battle, Jen said he’s been her rock throughout it all, claiming it’s actually made their marriage stronger.
“God literally sent an angel down on earth for me in the form of Coach Shah to deal with my crazy *ss,” Jen proclaimed.
“Throughout this entire ordeal, it has really brought us closer than ever, which it’s crazy to say that, but it really has,” she continued. “When you go through something this traumatic, this deep, people are either gonna leave you or they’re gonna stay by you. Coach Shah and I have had our ups and downs through our marriage when I thought he cared more about this than me or whatever. Now what we’ve gone through, there’s no question in my mind that coach Shah loves me more than anything or anybody in the world, and he’s just been so, so supportive of me.”
RHOSLC Live Viewing – This is also the live viewing thread for tonight’s The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City season 2 premiere, which airs at 9/8c on Bravo. As the episode airs, feel free to share your thoughts below.