Mary Cosby returning to ‘RHOSLC’ in friend role amid cast shakeup
Prepare to be read like scripture, little girls!
Mary M. Cosby will return to “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” in a “friend of” role, multiple sources confirmed to Page Six on Wednesday.
A source told us that Cosby, 50, has not been cast as a full-time “housewife” but will “film some scenes” for the upcoming season – which is set to resume production on February 13.
Mary Cosby will return to the “Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” in a “friend of” role, multiple sources have confirmed to Page Six. NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images
“Mary wanted to come back,” the insider said.
However, a second source explained that while Cosby had hoped to return to the franchise, she needed time to process the Jennie Nguyen racist controversy.
Nguyen, 44, was fired in January 2022 after just one season for a series of offensive social media posts that mocked the Black Lives Matter movement and the 2020 protests.
Nguyen (second from left) was fired from “RHOSLC” after season 2 for a series of racist social media posts. NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images
“Mary went through a lot of trauma after Season 2,” the insider told Us of Cosby, who notably skipped the Season 2 reunion before quitting the show altogether.
“Jennie’s racist messages really seemed to rattle Mary, especially after Jennie threw a drink at her on camera,” the source explained. “Mary was grateful to have some time away from the cameras, but she seems ready to get back into the mix.”
When Cosby left “Salt Lake City” in February 2022, a source told Page Six that she “didn’t enjoy her time on the show or form a strong bond with the ladies.”
But things changed a year later. Another insider teased that Cosby would return to the group as a friend of Meredith Marks since the jewelry designer is currently the only cast member in communication with the preacher.
“Mary was grateful to have some time away from the cameras, but she seems ready to get back into the mix,” a source tells Us. mary_m_cosby/Instagram “Mary was grateful to have some time away from the cameras, but she seems ready to get back into the mix,” a source tells us. mary_m_cosby/Instagram
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“They’ve reestablished a connection over the past year,” the source noted, “and have been texting and talking more in recent months.”
Bravo did not immediately return Page Six’s request for comment.
Veteran stars Marks, Heather Gay, Lisa Barlow and Whitney Rose all kept their Snowflakes for Season 4.
Meanwhile, Jen Shah is out as she was sentenced to six and a half years behind bars for orchestrating a nationwide telemarketing scheme, primarily targeting vulnerable elderly people. The convicted fraudster is due to begin her sentence in a federal prison in Texas on February 17.
An insider teased that Cosby would be returning to the group through Meredith Marks, who she has been in touch with recently. NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images An insider has teased that Cosby will be returning to the group via Meredith Marks, who she has been in contact with recently. NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images
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News of Cosby’s return comes after Page Six revealed the cast was going to undergo a major shakeup after a “bleak” Season 3.
“They’re trying to bring in some new women to lighten it up,” a source told Us on Jan. 20 and added that they’re still deciding whether Season 3’s “friends of” – including Angie Harrington, Angie Katsanevas and Danna Bui-Negrete – would be “promoted or if they find new talent”.
Marks then exclusively told Page Six that she agreed they “need people to help bridge the gap” of the “divided” cast.
Marks may be referring to when the current season – which ends Wednesday night – took a turn after friends of ten years Marks, 51, and Barlow, 46, and cousins who became best friends Gay, 49, and Rose, 36, were unable to repair their explosive falls.
Season 3 stars Marks, Whitney Rose, Lisa Barlow and Heather Gay will all be back. Chris Haston/Bravo via Getty Ima
The season also got more intense when Gay woke up with a black eye after a girls’ night out and changed his story several times – which led fans to conspire several controversial theories – before finally admitting that she passed out and couldn’t remember how she got the stern minnow.
The second and final episode of the “Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” Season 3 reunion airs Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET on Bravo.