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Lisa Barlow claims Meredith Marks was setting out to hurt her and her family when she mentioned alleged rumors regarding the supposed favors she was doing to get her Vida Tequila brand in stores.
While promoting the just-premiered third season of Real Housewives of Salt Lake City, Lisa suspected “retaliation” as she revealed how the rumors impacted her marriage, spoke of Jen Shah‘s guilty plea, offered an update on her relationship with former co-star Mary Cosby, and more.
“I said something hyperbolically that everybody else had said, but only I’m getting punished for it so it kinda sucks,” Lisa admitted to Us Weekly on September 27. “Vida Tequila is amazing and I don’t need to sleep with people to sell it. It sells on its own because it’s a highly-rated, highly-regarded, beautiful product.”
According to Lisa, she “didn’t expect” to be faced with such a hurtful situation from Meredith despite the hot mic rant she went on against her amid season two.
“Her intention was to hurt me and my family. Mine was letting out hurt, and her intention is to hurt me,” Lisa explained. “And it’s disappointing. It’s pretty much everything she’s against. So what she’s been saying, ‘Don’t talk about my family. Don’t talk about my kids,’ she’s doing everything she said she wouldn’t do or doesn’t do.“
Luckily, despite being targeted with cheating rumors amid RHOSLC season three, Lisa’s marriage to husband John Barlow wasn’t impacted.
“It didn’t [affect it]… The only thing that was really awkward is like, I came home and I was like telling our children, I’m like, ‘Hey, there’s ridiculous rumors and it includes people we care about,'” she recalled. “[But] I was upset because once you put something like that out there, 50 percent of people are gonna believe it or wanna believe it.”
“We’ve gone through a lot together and we work really hard at our marriage every single day, like, if you’re married this long, especially in this world that we live in, I come from divorce. My parents are divorced. All my sisters are divorced. Out of six kids, it’s just me and my brother that are actually still married. So you fight for your marriage,” Lisa added.
Also during her interview with Us Weekly, Lisa noted that when it came to Jen pleading guilty to fraud in July, she “believed [her] friend Jen, that she was innocent,” and she feels that her decision to accept the charges is “her business and her and her husband [Sharrieff “Coach” Shah]’s business.”
“I have been saying all along is if Jen is guilty I will 100 percent side with the victims but that doesn’t take away from the fact that Jen’s still a person,” she noted. “I think that she made a decision based on what she was… [She] had hired counsel guiding her on doing.”
At the time that Jen entered her new plea, she and Lisa ‘weren’t speaking.” However, as Lisa confirmed, their estrangement had nothing to do with Jen’s indictment. Instead, it was the result of Jen not reciprocating her friendship.
“I have been a great friend to Jen and I know I have been a great friend to Jen. I was here for her when no one else was. And I think I’m learning that in certain friendships, I’m more willing to be a better friend than others are to me,” she shared. “It was impossible to continue a friendship where it’s one-sided where I’m being her friend and it’s not being reciprocated.”
Moving on to the new cast members, including Danna Bui-Negrete and Angie Katsanevas, Lisa said Danna is “amazing,” “young and feisty,” and “super hard-working” with a “huge personality,” and she described Angie as a longtime friend who she has a lot in common with.
“They both have strong opinions, backbones, and are super feisty,” she added.
As for where she stands with Mary, Lisa hasn’t spoken to her since she filmed the season two reunion.
“Mary sent me one text prior to the reunion,” Lisa revealed. “I don’t have a problem with Mary. I don’t think Mary has a problem with me. We just parted ways… I wish Mary well.”
Real Housewives of Salt Lake City Live Viewing – This is also the live viewing thread for tonight’s new RHOSLC episode, which airs on Bravo at 9/8c. Feel free to share your thoughts in our chat below as the episode airs.