5 Shocking Revelations From TLC’s Mary Cosby Documentary 

There’s a dark side to Bravo personality Mary Cosby, according to an explosive new docuseries from TLC. 

The Cult of the Real Housewife, which premieres January 1, explores the strange backstory of The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star, including her eyebrow-raising marriage to her former step-grandfather and allegations that the church she and her husband run is actually a cult. 

The three-episode series features interviews with both experts and people who knew Mary before her reality TV career, including her own family members. It paints a picture of a woman who is manipulative, greedy, and a bully. (Cosby did not participate in the documentary and has denied that she’s running a cult). 

Keep reading for more details on some of the shocking accusations against the Bravo star and her husband, Robert Cosby Sr. 

Mary’s husband was a ‘father figure’ to her and her older sister

Mary’s controversial marriage to Robert, who was previously married to her grandmother, is no secret. She’s discussed her unusual relationship on RHOSLC, noting that they are not related by blood and claiming that they tied the knot on the wishes of her late grandmother, who founded Faith Temple Pentecostal Church.

The truth is a little murkier – and a little creepier – according to Mary’s estranged sister Denise Jefferson Odinaka. She claims that Robert Sr. was like a father to her and Mary growing up, putting the couple’s eventual marriage in a much more unsettling light. 

“My dad left when I was five,” Denise explained. “And gramps, he was just the father figure that Mary and I never really had. We had to revisit what we were to each other once he married my sister. That’s a different kind of person. The reality set in that I lost him.”

Mary allegedly had an affair with a now-deceased parishioner

RHOSLC fans may remember the name Cameron Williams. He spoke to Lisa Barlow during a 2021 episode of the show, telling her he mortgaged his house in order to make contributions to Mary and her church. Williams died in 2021, but he speaks out in The Cult of the Real Housewive via never-before-heard audio. In the recording, he speaks about his relationship with Mary. Meanwhile, Mary’s cousin Dan Cosby alleges that Williams told him that he and Mary had an affair. The relationship began when Williams visited Mary’s house and she came on to him. 

“According to Cameron, he put his hand in her vagina,” Dan recalled. “I said, ‘What?’”

Mary’s husband Robert Cosby Sr. was abusive

While most of The Cult of the Real Housewife focuses on Mary’s alleged misdeeds, her husband Robert Sr. also comes in for criticism. One former church members says that while Robert was still married to Mary’s grandmother Rosemary, he would put young male church members through rigorous and abusive military-style training exercises. 

Mary spied on congregants

Once Mary and Robert took over Faith Temple from Rosemary in 1998, the culture of the church began to change, according to interviewees. There were aggressive pleas for money, and people who did not donate were shamed. Confessions were exposed to other members, leading to “public humiliation” and contributing to a lack of trust among the members. The couple also kept a very close eye on what was going on at Faith Temple, even when they weren’t there physically. The Cosbys allegedly installed cameras in the church so they could monitor members when they were out of town. 

“The put a camera right in the middle of the church,” former member Michael Enoch said. 

“Mary would watch people in the service … People would get phone calls based on what she witnessed,” Kim Cosby added. 

Faith Temple members were expected to work for free

The Cult of the Real Housewife also includes claims that Robert and Mary pressured some members of their church to provide free labor at their home. Pat Tunson spent years working for the couple and often endured their abuse, Mary’s sister Denise said. 

“Pat would take insults. Pat was called a liar and a thief,” Denise – who also worked for free for Mary and Robert – recalled. “But this almost 80-year-old woman still believed what Robert and Mary had embedded in her.” 

Church members who questioned Robert and Mary faced serious consequences. When Pat’s sister Susie Tunson objected to their behavior, she was kicked out of Faith Temple. And when her sister died, she was banned from the funeral. 

“Robert and Mary absolutely drive wedges between family members, friends,” she said. “Not to be able to go to their funeral is criminal.

The Cult of the Real Housewife premieres Thursday, January 1, at 8 p.m. ET on TLC. It streams the next day on HBO Max and discovery+.

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