‘RHOSLC’ Star Heather Gay Exposes Real Secrets of Mormon Lives in New Bravo Series, ‘Surviving Mormonism’
From The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City to The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives to Sister Wives, Mormons are everywhere on TV these days. But what you see on your screen isn’t telling the whole story about people who live this unique faith.
Now, RHOSLC star Heather Gay is preparing to uncover the dark history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in the new Bravo docuseries Surviving Mormonism With Heather Gay.
Heather Gay was ‘shocked’ by revelations in new Bravo docuseries ‘Surviving Mormonism’
This three-part series “fractures the church’s seemingly perfect veneer to expose the secrets that have been kept behind closed doors,” according to Bravo. In each episode, Heather – the author of the best-selling memoir Bad Mormon – sits down with abuse survivors, ex-Mormons and former LDS church leaders. She’ll reflect on her own departure from the church, while also delving into outdated and controversial practices and empowering victims to share their experiences to bring awareness and enact change.
Episode 1 will focus on Heather’s own decision to leave the the LDS church. She’ll also meet with David Matheson, an ex-Mormon who previously advocated for conversion therapy but now lives as an out-and-proud gay man.
“I spent my life being someone I wasn’t,” he tells Heather in a teaser for Surviving Mormonism.
In subsequent episodes, she’ll talk with a man whose story of abuse leaves her shaken, a former LDS Bishop, and two sisters whose attempts to report their father’s ongoing abuse were ignored by high-ranking church leaders.
“The things we learned while filming this shocked me to my core,” Heather says in the teaser. “The real secret lives are much darker, deeper, and more tragic.”
The new series and Heather’s involvement in it drew praise from many.
“This is so brave and GREAT!” Bravo producer Andy Cohen commented on Instagram after the trailer dropped.
RHOSLC’s Mary Cosby also cheered Heather on, calling her new project “beautiful.”
“Proud to be your friend,” wrote Heather’s RHOSLC costar Angie Kastanevas. “You are multifaceted. Keep doing amazing things. Congratulations.”
Why did Heather Gay leave the Mormon church?
Heather’s own disillusionment with the Mormon church played out in the early episodes of RHOSLC. She grew up in an LDS family and attended Brigham Young University. Later, she married her husband Billy “not because he was the love of my live … but because he was Mormon.”
But when Heather’s marriage ended in divorce in 2014, she found herself and her daughters “ostracized” by their community. That began a slow process of walking away from the faith of her childhood.
“I grieve the life I wanted to have. … I never once said, ‘Don’t be Mormon.’ I just said, ‘I can’t be me and be Mormon,’ and it’s making me messed up,” she said in an episode of RHOSLC (via The Salt Lake Tribune). “I wish I could be who I am and still be a good Mormon.”
Surviving Mormonism premieres Tuesday, November 11 at 9:15 p.m. ET/PT on Bravo, right after a supersized episode of RHOSLC. All three episodes will be available to stream on Peacock on November 12.
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