Meredith Marks went through what she says were “a lot of changes” during filming on the recently-premiered third season of The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City.
While discussing the group dynamics of the new season and seemingly explaining her newfound friendship with Jen Shah, Meredith denied Lisa Barlow‘s season two outburst against her was a “hot mic moment” and slammed her former friend as a liar.
“There are definitely… a lot of changes in the group dynamic and there’s a lot of drama, chaos,” Meredith revealed during a September 27 interview with eTalk. “It’s very very intense.”
One particular change in dynamic occurred between Meredith and Jen, who feuded with one another throughout RHOSLC season two but surprised fans earlier this year when they established a friendship amid production on season three. And while Meredith didn’t name Jen specifically when discussing the evolving relationships of the cast, she appeared to explain why the two of them were able to move past last year’s drama.
“Changes in friendships come about because of communication and understanding. If I’m able to understand your behaviors that I don’t like or that I feel are not okay towards me and I understand where they’re coming from, are you coming from a place of pain, are you coming from a place of jealousy? Whatever it may be, if I can understand it I can kind of accept it and be able to move forward,” Meredith shared.
But on the opposite side of that, Meredith continued, “When you can’t understand it, it’s like, ‘Okay, well I can forgive. That’s for me. But there’s nowhere to go because I don’t want to subject myself to being hurt by you again.'”
Although she didn’t name names, Meredith may have been referring to her relationship with Lisa, who was caught berating her at the end of season two.
“I would prefer to call it a childish tantrum. It was really not a hot mic moment… The mic actually has to be hot… She was mic’d,” Meredith clarified. “We all saw her rip it off.”
According to Meredith, she and her family were taken aback by Lisa’s tirade and lies, which included claims of infidelity, especially due to the fact that she had previously made it seem that they were much closer than they actually were.
“I think all of us were just really surprised that someone who has carried on that we’ve been friends for much longer than we really have… Somebody who’s exaggerating that and calling me their sister and best friend and this, that, and the other, we were all just like, ‘Okay, I guess you just don’t tell the truth all the way around,’” she revealed.
Although Meredith said that she, like anyone, would never want to throw away a long-term friendship, she and Lisa may not be able to move forward, explaining, “We all have expectations of how we feel we deserve to be treated in our relationships and if we can’t get affirmation of that happening, then there’s nowhere to go.”
As for Jen’s sudden change of plea from not guilty to guilty, Meredith made it clear she did not feel a sense of guilt while noting that it is the court’s job to judge Jen’s behavior and alleged crimes.
“[If] I really had all this information and nothing was being done and people were being harmed and whatever else, yes, you could talk about my obligation to deal with that or not deal with that,” she said, “but the reality of it is there was an indictment and a trial coming and none of us are the judge none of us are the jury.”
Also during the interview, Meredith admitted that while RHOSLC cast trips are “a little more exacerbated” than normal girls’ trips, they are the “same thing at the end of the day.”
“If you wanna do it and have the fun part you have to deal with the drama too and with a bunch of women under one roof, you know that’s just going to happen,” she shared.
The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City season three airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on Bravo.