Mary Cosby Admits She Fast-Forwards Through Heather Gay’s ‘RHOSLC’ Scenes
Bravo fans will see a different side of Mary Cosby in The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City Season 7.
In February 2026, Mary’s only son, Robert Cosby Jr., died of a drug overdose at age 23, shortly after filming began on the new episodes. Producers immediately told Mary to take as much time off as she needed, assuring her that she would still have a place on the show if she understandably decided to sit out season 7. But Mary declined, instead opting to return to work a month later.
Mary Cosby returned to ‘RHOSLC’ because she needed to ‘distract’ herself after her son’s death
“When it first happened, Noah [Samton, senior vice-president of current production for Bravo and Peacock unscripted] told me I didn’t have to come back. He’s like, ‘You don’t have to worry about your job. You take a year off, you take a season off, you will have your job,’” Mary said in a new interview with Vulture ahead of Wednesday’s season 7 premiere. “And I thought, If I do that, then I’m gonna go darker into what I’m in. I’m gonna just sit at home, I’m gonna think about it. I’m gonna constantly be at ends: Why, what, how, when, what could I have done better, what could I have changed? I would have beat myself up. So I told Noah, ‘No, I want to work. I want to distract myself. I want to keep my mind on something positive.’”
With Mary’s grief front and and center, filming was different than it had been in the past.
“This year I had nothing to lose,” she said. “That was my mind-set all the way through. What can I do now that can completely go wrong? And the women were not allowed to go after me, so that was a blessing. I don’t have to rip anybody apart. I think that I needed to be dealt with fragilely. I don’t know what version would show up if they were to come at me.”
Mary Cosby thinks Heather Gay lacks ‘consistency’
Mary’s RHOSLC co-stars put aside whatever differences they have to support her following her loss. But in talking to Vulture, Mary proved she hasn’t lost her signature unfiltered honesty. When asked if she skips any of her fellow Housewives scenes, she admitted she had a finger on the fast-forward button for some.
“I’m going to be honest: I absolutely do. Mainly Heather [Gay]’s,” she said. “I like things to stay consistent, and her consistency kind of falls off, so it doesn’t hold my interest.”
May is more impressed with some of her other castmates.
“I think Bronwyn [Newport]’s scenes are interesting. I think Lisa [Barlow]’s scenes are good,” Mary said. “I mean, when she’s arguing and fighting. When she’s being Lisa and Lisa-ing, I will watch it.”
The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City Season 7 premieres Wednesday, September 16 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Bravo. Episodes stream the next day on Peacock.
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