Credit: Bravo
Real Housewives of Salt Lake City alum Jen Shah was released from prison in December 2025. Now, she has finally broken her silence and addressed a breadth of topics.
One of the things she opened up about was Bravo head honcho Andy Cohen claiming he never wanted to see her again.
In a conversation with PEOPLE, Jen shared that Andy “has a right to his opinion.”
“And without me being able to talk to him or without me being able to even speak at the time at all, people rightly so made their own judgments and had their own comments,” she shared.
“With the legal process, between pleading and sentencing, you have to do a lot of work, so I was directed by counsel to not give any interviews. That was hard because I wanted to talk and address the false narratives that were taking on a life of their own about me,” she added. “But I was being advised it wasn’t the right time.”
Jen also claimed she doesn’t “take a lot” of what Andy has said to heart.
“Andy has been very professional to me and to my team — I know my team has spoken to him while I’ve been gone,” she continued. “So I just base my opinions on what my own interaction has been with him.”
Jen also addressed the infamous “black eye” that co-star Heather Gay said Jen gave her during a cast trip in season three.
“We do need to talk about that black eye,” Jen said. “The alleged black eye… I need to talk to her about that. You know what? I need to call her. I need to call her about that. I do need to get on that. That’s on the top of my list, actually.”
In terms of her other co-stars, Jen detailed that Meredith Marks “has been somebody that has been consistent throughout this whole journey.”
“While I was gone,” she continued, “she and Seth would reach out to Coach and just check in and send their love.”
She also said she reached out to Mary Cosby after her son passed away, regardless of their past issues, as she felt it was the “respectful thing to do.”
“So I mailed her a card and just told her how deeply sorry that I was to hear about the passing of Robert Jr., and that she’s in my family’s prayers every day,” she said.
She also hasn’t talked to Lisa Barlow, but she is hopeful to rekindle their relationship.
“Gosh, it’s so funny when you go through something like this that puts things in perspective,” she noted. “I don’t even remember where we ended or the fights or whatever. Lisa Barlow is somebody that I’m sure I could pick up where I left off with her and talk to her.”
Jen, who is currently on home confinement, also opened up about how that’s going.
“I’m on home confinement until August, or possibly a little bit before that,” Jen stated. “You still get to go out; you can request to go out for employment reasons, for work, religious – whatever you need to do based on your security level. But everything you do has to be approved.”
“I can go to Target. It’s called hygiene passes,” she added. “You get to go to the store and Target or different places like that to do your shopping and take care of things.”
Jen also discussed how she’s making money currently, explaining she’s working on many different projects and “looking at different opportunities in the media and entertainment industry.”
“I still have a lot to say, so whether that’s in a book, on a podcast – there’s lots of options,” she elaborated. “And I really want to create a fictional musical about life in a woman’s prison. I think it would be a great Broadway show.”