Latest / Untraditionally Lala / Bad Mormon, Good Life
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: Hello gorgeous, it's Lala Kent. Welcome to Untraditionally Lala. Hello gorgeous,
- 0:07Speaker 1: welcome back to Untraditionally Lala, the bonus episode that I
- 0:11Speaker 1: am so excited about because we have one of my
- 0:14Speaker 1: most favorite humans. I am like the moment she entered
- 0:18Speaker 1: this world of the Bravo universe that we're all obsessed with.
- 0:22Speaker 1: I was fucking captivated. I have Heather freaking gay.
- 0:28Speaker 2: Welcome.
- 0:29Speaker 3: What an introduction.
- 0:30Speaker 1: Thank you very much.
- 0:32Speaker 2: People always say, oh, you're so nice. I'm like, I'm
- 0:34Speaker 2: really not that nice. I'm just honest and excited.
- 0:37Speaker 1: Okay.
- 0:38Speaker 2: So I want to give you All of the things.
- 0:42Speaker 1: So you are at this point an OG cast member
- 0:44Speaker 1: of Real Housewives of Salt Lake. We're going to get
- 0:46Speaker 1: into that. You have three incredibly beautiful and smart daughters,
- 0:51Speaker 1: which you did by yourself.
- 0:53Speaker 2: So praising you on that.
- 0:54Speaker 1: Founded a successful medical spa, beauty lab, and laser, and
- 0:58Speaker 1: is a New York Times bestselling author of Bad Mormon.
- 1:02Speaker 1: And my most— this is— I cannot believe Tripp is in the room.
- 1:06Speaker 2: I'm kind of freaking out, you guys.
- 1:08Speaker 1: So after marrying into Mormon royalty with Frank William, Billy
- 1:11Speaker 1: Gay III, and divorcing around 2014, 2015, Heather is finally
- 1:16Speaker 1: giving love another chance with her new boyfriend, Tripp, who
- 1:19Speaker 1: was seen.
- 1:20Speaker 2: On this season. And you are looking like a host, Nick.
- 1:24Speaker 2: Good for us. How do you feel?
- 1:28Speaker 4: I mean— first of all, it's so cool to like
- 1:32Speaker 4: have trip film with me.
- 1:33Speaker 3: You know what I mean? Like I did it alone for.
- 1:35Speaker 4: Seven years and I didn't realize what it felt like
- 1:38Speaker 4: to kind of go in with like an ally, you know,
- 1:41Speaker 4: like to walk into like a dinner party or an
- 1:44Speaker 4: event and like, just.
- 1:46Speaker 3: Have someone by your side.
- 1:47Speaker 4: Like I, I truly didn't know what that meant because
- 1:49Speaker 4: you know how it's always shifting sand with your castmates.
- 1:53Speaker 4: Like it just, you never expect the unexpected. And I
- 1:57Speaker 4: was so grateful to him for filming with me. I
- 1:59Speaker 4: know it was like not, you know, he obviously did
- 2:03Speaker 4: it because we had.
- 2:03Speaker 3: No option, but it was fun and it was great.
- 2:06Speaker 4: And it's really cool to watch it back and see
- 2:09Speaker 4: like what I look like in love and dare I
- 2:13Speaker 4: say happy because I don't think I saw that, you know, the.
- 2:17Speaker 3: Last six seasons.
- 2:19Speaker 2: So how long were you single for?
- 2:22Speaker 3: Oh, 10 years.
- 2:23Speaker 2: 10 years?
- 2:24Speaker 1: Yeah.
- 2:25Speaker 3: He's like my first partner. boyfriend really ever.
- 2:27Speaker 4: Like, cause I didn't really date in high school, you know,
- 2:29Speaker 4: I had boyfriends, but not like adult boyfriends, you know?
- 2:33Speaker 1: Yeah.
- 2:34Speaker 4: And then I got married, my first boyfriend I married,
- 2:37Speaker 4: and then I got divorced and just never really had
- 2:40Speaker 4: a boyfriend after that.
- 2:41Speaker 1: Do you think you were afraid to go out and date? Like,
- 2:44Speaker 1: what was the reasoning for, for you to not being
- 2:48Speaker 1: in a relationship for 10 years.
- 2:50Speaker 4: I mean, there's so many excuses that I told myself
- 2:53Speaker 4: and that I like think about now and like looking back,
- 2:55Speaker 4: like now that I'm like, why did I deprive myself
- 2:59Speaker 4: of this for so long?
- 3:00Speaker 1: Yeah.
- 3:00Speaker 4: And I think the truth is, I don't think, I
- 3:03Speaker 4: think there wasn't a scene for me.
- 3:05Speaker 3: I was still cosplaying as Mormon. Okay.
- 3:08Speaker 4: And I wasn't going to like, how can I have
- 3:11Speaker 4: a boyfriend that I'm like, that's Mormon. That's not even
- 3:13Speaker 4: having a boyfriend. You just have to marry him if
- 3:15Speaker 4: you want to sleep with them.
- 3:15Speaker 3: You know what I mean?
- 3:16Speaker 4: Like there was no world in between where there were
- 3:18Speaker 4: people that would like be like, I just, there was
- 3:22Speaker 4: no options for me really to date.
- 3:24Speaker 3: Like I didn't know who I was or what I wanted.
- 3:27Speaker 3: So how was I going to like find someone that
- 3:29Speaker 3: would want to date that?
- 3:31Speaker 4: And also I was a single mom with three kids,
- 3:33Speaker 4: like had zero bandwidth for it. And then I got
- 3:36Speaker 4: the show and then I was starting the business. So
- 3:38Speaker 4: it was like, I was barely keeping afloat. And so
- 3:42Speaker 4: that's why I think I would just hook up when
- 3:43Speaker 4: I could.
- 3:44Speaker 2: Totally.
- 3:44Speaker 4: But there was no space in my heart or brain,
- 3:47Speaker 4: I think, for love.
- 3:49Speaker 1: I relate to that a lot. I have been single
- 3:53Speaker 1: for five years now. And a lot of people say,
- 3:57Speaker 1: you should go out, you should date. And maybe I'm
- 4:00Speaker 1: just protecting my heart. I like to say I'm protecting
- 4:04Speaker 1: my peace because I have two babies. My youngest is two.
- 4:08Speaker 1: I have a five and a half year old. And
- 4:10Speaker 1: like you said, I don't feel like I have the
- 4:12Speaker 1: bandwidth to take on another person's wants and needs.
- 4:16Speaker 2: And any extra time.
- 4:18Speaker 1: That I have, I'd rather sprinkle it to the people
- 4:20Speaker 1: that are in my life. And I don't know if
- 4:23Speaker 1: you ever felt this way in the 10 years.
- 4:26Speaker 2: I am so comfortable as a third wheel. Yeah.
- 4:29Speaker 3: You forget that you even are one.
- 4:31Speaker 1: Yeah.
- 4:32Speaker 3: You just show up.
- 4:32Speaker 2: You're like, oh, what?
- 4:34Speaker 4: Yeah.
- 4:34Speaker 3: Is this a couples thing?
- 4:35Speaker 1: Like, I think it would be very weird to walk
- 4:37Speaker 1: into a space and, like, have my person.
- 4:40Speaker 4: I mean, I think I got so comfortable with it that, like,
- 4:43Speaker 4: I was in that groove, too.
- 4:45Speaker 1: Yeah.
- 4:46Speaker 3: You know?
- 4:47Speaker 1: And I wonder, I'm like, is there or was there
- 4:51Speaker 1: for you ever a point where you're like, I'm becoming
- 4:53Speaker 1: so hyper-independent, I may end up by myself? I.
- 4:58Speaker 3: I don't think I ever hoped for love again.
- 5:00Speaker 4: Like I really just kind of, I think like the
- 5:04Speaker 4: only version of love and success was like a Mormon
- 5:08Speaker 4: forever family. So when I got divorced, I think like
- 5:11Speaker 4: a huge part of my identity and like anything I
- 5:13Speaker 4: wanted about that.
- 5:14Speaker 3: World just buried it, crushed it.
- 5:17Speaker 4: So like I never thought I would really, I think
- 5:20Speaker 4: I probably just thought I'd end up alone.
- 5:21Speaker 3: Yeah.
- 5:22Speaker 4: I don't think I ever, I didn't think about the future, Lala.
- 5:24Speaker 4: I didn't think about anything. I didn't hope or wonder.
- 5:27Speaker 4: I just thought, get my girls to college, get my
- 5:30Speaker 4: girls like happy.
- 5:31Speaker 3: And then like.
- 5:32Speaker 2: And then you'll focus on you.
- 5:33Speaker 3: Crawl in a hole and die.
- 5:34Speaker 4: I mean, you know, but like just so hyper focused
- 5:37Speaker 4: on the kids and like just getting through like survival
- 5:40Speaker 4: is a lot of it.
- 5:41Speaker 3: You know, I didn't think about what it would look
- 5:43Speaker 3: like in the end.
- 5:44Speaker 1: I have to say it is very refreshing to see
- 5:46Speaker 1: you talk about motherhood because I think you talk about
- 5:50Speaker 1: motherhood in a way where you obviously love and adore
- 5:54Speaker 1: your girls, but you've done your job.
- 5:57Speaker 2: They're out of the house.
- 5:58Speaker 1: I love when you talk about deadbolting the door and
- 6:01Speaker 1: like life is for you now. And I think a
- 6:03Speaker 1: lot of women feel that way, especially as single moms
- 6:07Speaker 1: once they've done their job and they feel guilt. And
- 6:11Speaker 1: to see you just smiling, being like, I did it.
- 6:15Speaker 1: And now it's time to take a moment for me.
- 6:17Speaker 1: I fucking love you, Heather.
- 6:18Speaker 3: Thank you for saying that.
- 6:20Speaker 4: I mean, I do feel guilt and I get a
- 6:22Speaker 4: lot of societal shame, but I feel it.
- 6:25Speaker 3: Like, I can't lie. Like, I want them... to feel
- 6:28Speaker 3: the drive to do it on their own.
- 6:30Speaker 4: You know, it's, it's like, I, it was the chapter
- 6:34Speaker 4: of my life and I was in it. Like, and
- 6:36Speaker 4: I don't have any regrets about the mom.
- 6:37Speaker 3: I was like, I put them first.
- 6:40Speaker 4: I did everything, you know, and I feel like I
- 6:43Speaker 4: left it all on the field and they, they are strong,
- 6:46Speaker 4: independent women.
- 6:47Speaker 3: They can do it, you know? So go do it.
- 6:50Speaker 2: So go do it and have fun.
- 6:52Speaker 1: And like, yeah, you talk about like, go live the
- 6:56Speaker 1: life that you're supposed to live when you're a girl
- 6:58Speaker 1: leaving home and.
- 7:00Speaker 2: Like have a drink.
- 7:02Speaker 1: Yeah.
- 7:02Speaker 2: If you find a cute boy, don't just marry him.
- 7:05Speaker 3: Fuck around.
- 7:06Speaker 1: Yeah.
- 7:06Speaker 2: Fuck around.
- 7:08Speaker 3: No, for real. Like live all of it. Be so
- 7:11Speaker 3: wild that I have to like bail you out of jail,
- 7:15Speaker 3: you know? Like, just, like, for disorderly conduct, nothing that'll stick.
- 7:19Speaker 3: Nothing crazy.
- 7:20Speaker 2: You know, come on.
- 7:21Speaker 4: But, like, make your mistakes now when I can, when
- 7:25Speaker 4: I'm here to help you, you know, pick yourself up
- 7:29Speaker 4: and start a new life. Reinvent yourself a million times
- 7:32Speaker 4: before you're 30. Don't wait till you're, like, 40, like me, to, like,
- 7:36Speaker 4: figure out who you are and what you want, you know?
- 7:38Speaker 1: Yeah.
- 7:39Speaker 2: I also wonder, like, with the way that you have.
- 7:45Speaker 1: moved since leaving the church so i don't know if
- 7:47Speaker 1: you know this about me my.
- 7:48Speaker 4: Dad are you crying no okay i just like got
- 7:51Speaker 4: emotional thinking about them.
- 7:52Speaker 2: Oh you know yeah this is the boss i'm just kidding.
- 7:57Speaker 1: Well that's not it because i literally cry every day
- 7:59Speaker 1: i always say people should have a laugh a day
- 8:01Speaker 1: and a cry a day.
- 8:02Speaker 4: Right this is best emotion laughter through tears right yes
- 8:05Speaker 4: yeah i'm just in it with you yeah Well, I
- 8:09Speaker 4: feel that way about my babies.
- 8:10Speaker 3: Yeah.
- 8:10Speaker 2: You know, and you blink and it's done.
- 8:12Speaker 3: Yeah.
- 8:13Speaker 2: And I think that's another reason why I have.
- 8:16Speaker 1: Chosen, and I guess not chosen, to stay single because
- 8:22Speaker 1: they will get to an age where they are off
- 8:24Speaker 1: flying even before they're ready, right? It's happening very quickly.
- 8:28Speaker 1: Like 12 years old, I'm seeing these kids at the mall.
- 8:30Speaker 2: I'm like, where's your mother?
- 8:31Speaker 1: Right. So I'm like, I want to be here for
- 8:34Speaker 1: these moments because I'm blinking and time is passing and
- 8:37Speaker 1: that takes me out.
- 8:38Speaker 2: Right?
- 8:38Speaker 1: Totally. So you are so felt and seen, and I
- 8:41Speaker 1: love that you got emotional. My dad was born and
- 8:47Speaker 1: raised a true blue Mormon, right? Got married to his
- 8:52Speaker 1: first wife in the temple. At 22, they got divorced.
- 8:55Speaker 1: That's when he left the church. The first thing he
- 8:57Speaker 1: said he did was went to the place with the
- 8:59Speaker 1: bars on the windows that was where the devil danced,
- 9:01Speaker 1: which was a bar.
- 9:03Speaker 3: Ha ha ha!
- 9:03Speaker 1: Yeah. And he was like, and the devil forbidden place
- 9:06Speaker 1: on the planet.
- 9:07Speaker 2: Exactly. And he was like, and the devil wasn't in there.
- 9:09Speaker 1: Just a bunch of guys watching a football game and
- 9:11Speaker 1: having some drinks. Like it was nothing like what he
- 9:14Speaker 1: was told. So he marries my mom. Um, my mom
- 9:19Speaker 1: was an army brat. So she moved all over the world. Um,
- 9:24Speaker 1: and we were not raised Mormon, but even though he
- 9:27Speaker 1: left the church at 22, which was well before I
- 9:29Speaker 1: even entered the world, um, he still had these little
- 9:33Speaker 1: things that would pop up where I'm like, you're feeling
- 9:36Speaker 1: guilt about this. Do you feel that even now? Or
- 9:40Speaker 1: have you released it because you've spoken about it so much?
- 9:43Speaker 3: No, I feel it still now. Like it still frames
- 9:46Speaker 3: a lot of my thoughts and.
- 9:48Speaker 4: I have to like actively think, oh, that's like not
- 9:51Speaker 4: what you really think. That's just what you've been trained
- 9:52Speaker 4: to react to, especially with parenting, you know, because there
- 9:55Speaker 4: was just one way to parent. And I had to, luckily,
- 9:58Speaker 4: I think I left the church with enough years left
- 10:01Speaker 4: that I could correct it right when they were teenagers
- 10:03Speaker 4: you know so I didn't have to like instill in
- 10:06Speaker 4: them all the guilt and shame that I felt growing
- 10:08Speaker 4: up but yeah it's like imprinted on us in a
- 10:11Speaker 4: way that's really really hard to deconstruct and like break
- 10:15Speaker 4: down and I didn't publicly leave the church till I
- 10:18Speaker 4: went on the show So like your dad is still
- 10:20Speaker 4: doing after when he left at 22. Like I, you know,
- 10:24Speaker 4: I left officially like seven years ago and probably belief
- 10:28Speaker 4: wise like five years ago.
- 10:31Speaker 2: Oh my gosh. So do you feel like the show
- 10:45Speaker 2: has been therapeutic for you?
- 10:47Speaker 3: Yeah, totally.
- 10:47Speaker 1: Totally.
- 10:48Speaker 3: It ripped the Band-Aid off.
- 10:49Speaker 4: It forced me into my like authentic self immediately. And
- 10:54Speaker 4: it forced me in, I mean, a little inside scoop.
- 10:58Speaker 4: It's like, you know, I don't know. Did you film
- 11:00Speaker 4: the sizzle reel of Vanderpump?
- 11:02Speaker 2: No, the show had been on for three seasons before
- 11:04Speaker 2: I entered. Okay.
- 11:05Speaker 3: Okay.
- 11:05Speaker 4: So we were like, you know, origin story, like a
- 11:09Speaker 4: sizzle reel thought it was going to be called Utah Untitled.
- 11:12Speaker 4: And so I just was kind of balls to the
- 11:14Speaker 4: wall with that. Like I just was exactly who I was.
- 11:16Speaker 3: I didn't lie one time.
- 11:17Speaker 1: Time.
- 11:17Speaker 3: I didn't do one Mormon answer, you know, like this
- 11:20Speaker 3: is what I'm about. This is who I am.
- 11:22Speaker 4: And I just threw it all out there, never thinking
- 11:24Speaker 4: it would go anywhere, never thinking it would be a show.
- 11:26Speaker 4: And then when we got the show, I felt obligated
- 11:30Speaker 4: to that girl. Like that's the girl that got the
- 11:32Speaker 4: show and that's who I am. So you can't go on,
- 11:35Speaker 4: like you can't switch back to your Mormon role, you know?
- 11:38Speaker 2: Right.
- 11:38Speaker 3: I thought about it. I thought, okay, fuck, you know,
- 11:41Speaker 3: now I'm going to be totally exposed. Can we swear
- 11:43Speaker 3: on this podcast?
- 11:44Speaker 2: Yeah, fuck yeah. You can do whatever you want on
- 11:46Speaker 2: this podcast. I thought now I'm exposed.
- 11:47Speaker 4: Now it's like, I can't like pull it back in.
- 11:50Speaker 4: And so that really forced me. It's like, it pushed
- 11:52Speaker 4: me off the diet green board.
- 11:53Speaker 3: And like, I was all in and I was on TV.
- 11:56Speaker 3: I had to like process it all as it was happening.
- 12:00Speaker 4: As I was telling my kids, I mean, I told
- 12:02Speaker 4: my kids on camera and I felt like so empowered
- 12:07Speaker 4: doing that like I felt like it was forcing me
- 12:10Speaker 4: you know you say it on camera it's forever right
- 12:12Speaker 4: it's for yeah and it held me to that and
- 12:14Speaker 4: I think I'm grateful for that so I meet people
- 12:16Speaker 4: all the time they're like I can't leave yet I'm
- 12:18Speaker 4: left but I can't leave you know like publicly and
- 12:21Speaker 4: I'm like it took something really really big to pull
- 12:23Speaker 4: me out of it it took television and financial independence, and, like,
- 12:28Speaker 4: all these things. So, like, for the people that just
- 12:30Speaker 4: pull themselves out out of their own grit and integrity, like,
- 12:34Speaker 4: I just really stand in awe of them.
- 12:37Speaker 1: I mean, that's, for me, the best part about reality
- 12:40Speaker 1: TV is because you're with your friends, and although things
- 12:45Speaker 1: get wonky, as we know, a production team who, you know,
- 12:50Speaker 1: granted the main goal is to entertain people, but there's
- 12:54Speaker 1: something amazing when... Cameras pick up and you feel comfortable
- 12:58Speaker 1: and in a safe space to be who you are.
- 13:00Speaker 1: And then you're held accountable for it, right? And you
- 13:03Speaker 1: feel like you owe not only yourself, but the girl
- 13:07Speaker 1: who's watching, who so desperately wants out of a situation,
- 13:10Speaker 1: out of her religion, and doesn't feel strong enough.
- 13:13Speaker 2: And then watching you do it and you survive, nothing happens.
- 13:18Speaker 1: That's incredible. Because I'll never know what that type of
- 13:21Speaker 1: pressure feels like, right? Because I didn't grow up in it.
- 13:23Speaker 1: All I know is what my dad experienced, which... felt
- 13:28Speaker 1: when I was watching, it looked suffocating.
- 13:30Speaker 3: That's a great word.
- 13:32Speaker 1: Yeah.
- 13:32Speaker 2: It's a great word.
- 13:33Speaker 1: And I remember my grandmother was diagnosed with cancer and
- 13:39Speaker 1: she was dying and my dad was over there and
- 13:43Speaker 1: she said to him, I'm just so sad. And my
- 13:46Speaker 1: dad was like, I know, I'm so sad too. And
- 13:49Speaker 1: she goes, but you're sad for a different reason. I'm
- 13:52Speaker 1: sad that I'm not going to be with you in heaven.
- 13:54Speaker 1: And I'm like, why would you fucking say that to
- 13:56Speaker 1: my dad? It is like so rude. Well, rude.
- 14:01Speaker 3: It's devastating. I mean, for your, it's Mormonism. That's what
- 14:05Speaker 3: we believe. And that's like till on your deathbed, you know? Yeah.
- 14:09Speaker 2: I'm like, when he came home and said that to me,
- 14:12Speaker 2: I'm like, you know that that is not true, right?
- 14:14Speaker 3: Did he?
- 14:15Speaker 2: I mean, I think, I think he was a little unsure.
- 14:20Speaker 1: And to me, I just feel like that's just like,
- 14:24Speaker 1: It feels like common sense. Like, if you birth something, like,
- 14:27Speaker 1: you're together forever.
- 14:28Speaker 2: Like, come on, Dad.
- 14:29Speaker 1: You know?
- 14:30Speaker 2: It's not like, well, we had this wonderful life. I
- 14:31Speaker 2: raised you. But now, like, see you later. Should have
- 14:34Speaker 2: paid your tithing. Exactly.
- 14:35Speaker 4: Yeah.
- 14:36Speaker 1: No.
- 14:37Speaker 2: It doesn't make any sense. Let's use logic here.
- 14:39Speaker 3: Yeah. But it's, like, deep.
- 14:42Speaker 4: It entangles itself deep in your heart. And it's hard
- 14:45Speaker 4: to dis- disconnect it. What do I believe and what
- 14:50Speaker 4: is true and what is a lie that I believe?
- 14:54Speaker 3: It's just confusing.
- 14:56Speaker 1: The way that you talk about it though, you're so
- 14:59Speaker 1: well-spoken and I'm sure you're told this all the time
- 15:03Speaker 1: and you know this, but so well-spoken that you then
- 15:07Speaker 1: got a green light on the dock, on Peacock. I've
- 15:11Speaker 1: been pitching forever.
- 15:13Speaker 4: The second I you know, the second that Bad Mormon
- 15:16Speaker 4: was successful and I went on tour and just saw
- 15:18Speaker 4: like all of the stories in my DMs and all
- 15:21Speaker 4: of the people in the letters, like it was overwhelming.
- 15:24Speaker 4: And I just was like, I want to be like
- 15:26Speaker 4: Leah Remini. I want to do like a doc, like
- 15:29Speaker 4: the Scientology. I want to like sit with people, like
- 15:31Speaker 4: want to do exactly what she did. And I pitched
- 15:34Speaker 4: it forever.
- 15:35Speaker 1: How nervous were you to come out with that book?
- 15:37Speaker 2: Oh, terrified.
- 15:39Speaker 3: Terrified.
- 15:39Speaker 4: I had the book deal for a year before I,
- 15:41Speaker 4: like the book offer, I should say, a year before
- 15:44Speaker 4: I agreed to do it. I thought I will never
- 15:46Speaker 4: put my face on a cover with the word bad Mormon.
- 15:49Speaker 4: Like I could never be that out loud about the
- 15:53Speaker 4: shame I feel and like the fact that I'm a
- 15:55Speaker 4: traitor and I've left my faith and I've betrayed all
- 15:58Speaker 4: my cousins and my parents and my community and my kids'
- 16:01Speaker 4: teachers and my, you know, all of my kids' friends.
- 16:04Speaker 4: Like it's just like really terrifying. And that's just on
- 16:08Speaker 4: the social level of the community. But like faith-wise and doctrine-wise,
- 16:13Speaker 4: like I betrayed all of these covenants I had made
- 16:16Speaker 4: in the temple that like have, you know, disemboweling and
- 16:21Speaker 4: death forever as the consequence forever speaking them out loud.
- 16:24Speaker 4: And not only did I speak them out loud, I
- 16:25Speaker 4: wrote about.
- 16:26Speaker 3: Them in the book.
- 16:26Speaker 4: And it was like the first time it had been
- 16:28Speaker 4: like written, like here's the secrets. Here's what we're all
- 16:32Speaker 4: scared that we're going to be burned at the stake for.
- 16:34Speaker 4: If you want to know what goes on in that
- 16:36Speaker 4: secret Huge building. I'm riding it all down.
- 16:39Speaker 3: I have chills.
- 16:40Speaker 2: That just gave me chills.
- 16:42Speaker 3: It was scary. But people loved it.
- 16:45Speaker 1: Yeah.
- 16:45Speaker 2: But they loved it. But people loved it, so it's
- 16:48Speaker 2: all good, man. No, but you helped a lot of people.
- 16:52Speaker 1: That's what's so terrifying is I tell my girls, there's
- 16:55Speaker 1: going to come a point in time where your voice
- 16:57Speaker 1: is all you have.
- 16:58Speaker 2: Nothing else.
- 16:59Speaker 1: The moment that you feel like that is silence, we
- 17:02Speaker 1: got a real fucking problem on our hands. So the
- 17:04Speaker 1: fact that you... I mean, a year is a long
- 17:07Speaker 1: time to sit on something like that. And then you
- 17:09Speaker 1: have to deal with like, I'm sure you did this
- 17:12Speaker 1: all the time. Write it out, like delete.
- 17:14Speaker 3: I can't do it.
- 17:15Speaker 1: So how long all in all did it take to,
- 17:17Speaker 1: from the time you got the book deal for it
- 17:19Speaker 1: to come out, how long was that?
- 17:20Speaker 3: That was probably three and a half years. It was
- 17:22Speaker 3: a long process.
- 17:24Speaker 4: And like compared to Good Time Girl, six months. Eternal Glow, like,
- 17:29Speaker 4: nine months. And this is, like, going to be four
- 17:31Speaker 4: more books. So, like, I'm going to have a book
- 17:33Speaker 4: a year.
- 17:33Speaker 2: This is incredible, though.
- 17:35Speaker 3: But this isn't, like, all of my.
- 17:38Speaker 2: No, this is fiction, right?
- 17:39Speaker 4: Yeah, but this was, like, Bad Mormon was hard because
- 17:42Speaker 4: it took that much to, like, say it out loud.
- 17:46Speaker 2: You know what I mean? It was the core.
- 17:47Speaker 3: The core, yeah.
- 17:48Speaker 2: You had to go to the core.
- 17:49Speaker 3: It was, like, I had the, like, heavy lifting, and
- 17:50Speaker 3: now I have a foundation.
- 17:51Speaker 2: How wonderful that it's a New York Times bestseller, right? Yeah,
- 17:54Speaker 2: that was— That makes it all better.
- 17:55Speaker 3: It made it— yeah, that— Who cares? I'll go to hell
- 17:58Speaker 3: for a New York Times bestseller credit.
- 18:02Speaker 2: As the devil's making you vacuum over and over again.
- 18:04Speaker 4: It's fine.
- 18:05Speaker 2: I love the heat.
- 18:05Speaker 3: I love the heat.
- 18:06Speaker 2: Dry heat. It's fine. It's fine. I'm from Utah. This
- 18:09Speaker 2: is no big deal. What made you want to go
- 18:12Speaker 2: the fiction route? Because I.
- 18:14Speaker 4: Well, I love writing, and I always dreamed that I
- 18:18Speaker 4: could be a writer, but I never even dreamed that big.
- 18:20Speaker 2: You know what I mean?
- 18:20Speaker 4: Like, I mean, I watched Romantic in the Stone and
- 18:22Speaker 4: wanted to be Joan Wilder, and like... have a typewriter
- 18:25Speaker 4: and a cat and a box of Kleenex, you know,
- 18:27Speaker 4: like I visualized and I read and I.
- 18:30Speaker 3: Was like in AP English.
- 18:32Speaker 4: And there's actually a moment in high school that a
- 18:35Speaker 4: teacher found this anonymous letter I had written and it
- 18:39Speaker 4: was supposed to be a secret. I had written it
- 18:41Speaker 4: with a group of friends. So like there was a
- 18:43Speaker 4: secret bond in me being the writer of this letter.
- 18:46Speaker 4: And she stopped me in the hallway and said, you
- 18:49Speaker 4: have a very strong voice as a writer. And I
- 18:50Speaker 4: know you wrote that letter. I'm not going to like
- 18:53Speaker 4: reveal it to anyone. It was like, a critique of
- 18:56Speaker 4: the staff.
- 18:58Speaker 3: I love you.
- 18:59Speaker 4: And like, even though she was complimenting me on having
- 19:02Speaker 4: a voice and being distinct as a writer, I remember
- 19:05Speaker 4: being like, oh my gosh, like I'm terrified I'm going
- 19:07Speaker 4: to be exposed now.
- 19:09Speaker 3: But it never left me. That moment left me.
- 19:10Speaker 4: And when I was writing Bad Mormon, it, you know,
- 19:14Speaker 4: it flowed out of me once I got past the
- 19:16Speaker 4: shame of it. And then I just realized it was
- 19:19Speaker 4: like something I love to do and I was great
- 19:21Speaker 4: at and I want to do it more.
- 19:22Speaker 3: And like, now I can because like, Fuck them. I'm here.
- 19:26Speaker 3: I'm writing books.
- 19:27Speaker 2: You know what I mean? We all see it, babe.
- 19:28Speaker 2: We all see it. You're a bad Mormon. Might as
- 19:31Speaker 2: well rock it.
- 19:31Speaker 3: Might as well lean in.
- 19:33Speaker 2: Lean in.
- 19:34Speaker 3: And I'm loving it.
- 19:35Speaker 2: That makes me so happy. I'm so excited to read this.
- 19:38Speaker 2: You're going to love it.
- 19:39Speaker 3: It's like so fun to read. And it's set in
- 19:42Speaker 3: Salt Lake City.
- 19:42Speaker 4: You'll recognize all of the way these women speak to
- 19:45Speaker 4: each other.
- 19:45Speaker 3: You'll recognize all of the locations. There's Housewife Easter eggs.
- 19:49Speaker 3: There's Springfields.
- 19:50Speaker 2: Vans. There's medical procedures.
- 19:52Speaker 4: There's wriggling under skin. There's black veins. There's doubting your thoughts.
- 19:57Speaker 4: There's postpartum Everything. It's a psychological, physical body horror thriller.
- 20:04Speaker 2: Right up my alley. Let me tell you, I put
- 20:06Speaker 2: my kids to bed at 630. It sounds early.
- 20:09Speaker 1: It is.
- 20:09Speaker 2: I don't give a fuck. It's my time now.
- 20:12Speaker 3: All right.
- 20:12Speaker 2: I read my book and I masturbate.
- 20:14Speaker 3: Sorry, Trev. This book only has one sex scene, but
- 20:18Speaker 3: she does dab perfume on her thighs, which, you know,
- 20:21Speaker 3: is a.
- 20:21Speaker 2: Who doesn't? Fingers to the world. Taste. We're good.
- 20:27Speaker 1: Spritz.
- 20:28Speaker 2: I know the drill, Heather. I'm not a bad Mormon.
- 20:30Speaker 2: I'm just bad altogether, right? That's why I love it.
- 20:33Speaker 2: So good.
- 20:46Speaker 1: I want to talk about this season because I have
- 20:49Speaker 1: talked about this already. I am a, were you a
- 20:52Speaker 1: Bravo fan before you were on the show?
- 20:55Speaker 3: Yeah.
- 20:55Speaker 1: Okay.
- 20:56Speaker 2: Same.
- 20:58Speaker 1: I have to say that first episode of Salt Lake
- 21:01Speaker 1: season seven, and I've watched a lot of fucking reality
- 21:04Speaker 1: TV was one of the greatest first episodes I have
- 21:10Speaker 1: ever seen of a reality TV show in my life.
- 21:13Speaker 2: It was, like, the.
- 21:15Speaker 1: Way they edited, the music choices, you girls together, the storylines,
- 21:20Speaker 1: everything was working. And I just want to say congratulations
- 21:23Speaker 1: because that is not easy.
- 21:24Speaker 3: Thank you.
- 21:25Speaker 2: And, I mean, it was just perfection. I was sobbing.
- 21:29Speaker 2: My mom was sobbing.
- 21:30Speaker 3: I sobbed.
- 21:31Speaker 2: How could you not?
- 21:31Speaker 3: I was sobbing, yeah.
- 21:33Speaker 2: What was the season like filming?
- 21:35Speaker 4: Well, you know, at first we weren't sure we were
- 21:37Speaker 4: going to have a season, you know, because everything with
- 21:39Speaker 4: Mary and Robert Jr. happened right the night or cameras
- 21:42Speaker 4: were up. I mean, cameras had actually been up, but
- 21:44Speaker 4: like it was right.
- 21:46Speaker 3: In the thick of it. So it just, it flipped
- 21:50Speaker 3: the script.
- 21:50Speaker 4: You know, we had left season six, totally contentious, at
- 21:53Speaker 4: each other's throats, very divided, more divided than we'd been.
- 21:57Speaker 4: And we kind of all came in with like agendas,
- 22:02Speaker 4: you know, like, you know how you, everyone's kind of positioning,
- 22:04Speaker 4: you talk to your friends and the cameras are coming up.
- 22:07Speaker 2: Of course, you have your production meeting.
- 22:08Speaker 4: The lines were very, getting very drawn and, And then
- 22:11Speaker 4: this tragedy just kind of flipped the script immediately and
- 22:15Speaker 4: forced us all to like, you know, just drop it,
- 22:19Speaker 4: you know, and kind of get over it and like
- 22:22Speaker 4: be together for Mary to support Mary. And it was
- 22:25Speaker 4: much easier than I think any of us expected it
- 22:28Speaker 4: to be. And that was kind of a magical thing
- 22:31Speaker 4: for me to like realize like, holy cow, what we
- 22:35Speaker 4: thought we were about to die on a hill for,
- 22:37Speaker 4: a three hours ago is like so petty and dumb
- 22:40Speaker 4: because look how much love there is. Look how much camaraderie,
- 22:44Speaker 4: look how much we're able to like see through it
- 22:47Speaker 4: all to, you know, focus on what's important.
- 22:49Speaker 3: So it's a weird way.
- 22:51Speaker 4: To start out a contentious reality house five show, you know,
- 22:54Speaker 4: like with so much love.
- 22:56Speaker 3: And perspective on what's really important. I, yes.
- 23:00Speaker 1: I mean, it does something like that. It does shed perspective.
- 23:03Speaker 1: And then I sometimes have these moments where, I remember
- 23:07Speaker 1: it was, I think, season seven of Vanderpump Rules. I
- 23:12Speaker 1: had lost my dad three weeks before we went in
- 23:15Speaker 1: to shoot and I just didn't give a fuck. And
- 23:18Speaker 1: you could tell. And I was at everyone's throats because
- 23:21Speaker 1: I was like, I don't, I just didn't care. Right?
- 23:24Speaker 1: So my question is like, after something so devastating and
- 23:29Speaker 1: like losing a dad, I feel like god just put
- 23:32Speaker 1: that in us to deal with that type of loss
- 23:35Speaker 1: because it's the circle of life yeah dealing with a
- 23:37Speaker 1: child um passing i just don't think we have that
- 23:41Speaker 1: in us yeah it.
- 23:42Speaker 4: It's yeah it's nothing it's it's like we don't yeah
- 23:47Speaker 4: we don't know where what resources to pull from not
- 23:49Speaker 4: at all like that yeah So with that being at
- 23:52Speaker 4: the start of the season and still knowing like we
- 23:55Speaker 4: have a show that we have to film, which still
- 23:59Speaker 4: to this day is like, that's a hard pill to
- 24:01Speaker 4: swallow where you're like, no life stops now.
- 24:03Speaker 3: Right.
- 24:04Speaker 2: No one should be laughing. Right. Why is this person
- 24:06Speaker 2: having a good day?
- 24:07Speaker 3: No one should be drinking. No one should be getting glam.
- 24:11Speaker 2: Right.
- 24:11Speaker 3: You know, we should be, this is, we're grieving.
- 24:14Speaker 1: Yeah. So how did, how were you guys able to
- 24:17Speaker 1: move on and make a TV show with something like
- 24:19Speaker 1: that happening so early on?
- 24:20Speaker 3: I mean, all grace is to Mary.
- 24:25Speaker 1: Really?
- 24:25Speaker 2: It was Mary.
- 24:26Speaker 4: You know, we all had to follow Mary's lead. We
- 24:28Speaker 4: all wanted to follow Mary's lead. And the first thing
- 24:31Speaker 4: that Mary said was, you know, the show, the show
- 24:35Speaker 4: must go on. I want the show. I need the show.
- 24:38Speaker 4: I want the distraction. And I want to process this.
- 24:45Speaker 4: I don't think she said the word process. I don't
- 24:48Speaker 4: want to paraphrase. I don't want to speak for Mary,
- 24:50Speaker 4: but we followed her lead. And she said, camera's up.
- 24:54Speaker 4: Let's do this. She gave us permission. And then she
- 24:57Speaker 4: was pretty strong in leading like, She didn't want like
- 25:02Speaker 4: the forearm squeezes. She didn't want the sad eyes. She
- 25:05Speaker 4: didn't want the pats on the back. She was just like,
- 25:07Speaker 4: she wanted to feel normal and like for us to
- 25:10Speaker 4: act normal.
- 25:10Speaker 3: So that gave us permission.
- 25:12Speaker 1: Yeah.
- 25:12Speaker 3: And luckily for Housewives fans, normal for us is very
- 25:16Speaker 3: not normal. You know, like she gave us permission.
- 25:19Speaker 4: To be ourselves and we followed her lead. And I
- 25:21Speaker 4: think that's what saved the season. And I mean, we,
- 25:25Speaker 4: once that ripcord was pulled, you know, it was.
- 25:28Speaker 3: Off to the races.
- 25:29Speaker 2: Oh, I truly cannot even imagine.
- 25:32Speaker 1: And what's wild is, like, that being the first episode,
- 25:36Speaker 1: and what are we on, four now?
- 25:37Speaker 2: Yeah.
- 25:39Speaker 1: It's so fucking good. You guys are giving me life.
- 25:43Speaker 1: You have revived my love. Like, I rock with housewives
- 25:46Speaker 1: through the good, the bad, the ugly, not-so-great seasons.
- 25:48Speaker 2: Like, I'm here, man.
- 25:49Speaker 3: Thank you.
- 25:50Speaker 2: You're wild. I got it.
- 25:52Speaker 1: But you guys have, like, I think revived a lot
- 25:55Speaker 1: of people because you're just so authentic. And to watch
- 26:00Speaker 1: these storylines play out, You know, it's all we want
- 26:03Speaker 1: is to be a fly on the wall in your guys' lives.
- 26:08Speaker 2: And, I mean, I saw— what was it?
- 26:11Speaker 1: A couple days ago, Justin and— Yeah.
- 26:14Speaker 2: That is so— I.
- 26:15Speaker 3: Found out about it live on Radio Andy.
- 26:17Speaker 2: Well, by the way, I saw you find out about
- 26:18Speaker 2: it live. You looked fucking shocked.
- 26:20Speaker 4: I was shocked because I— you know, it's so hard to
- 26:26Speaker 4: walk that line of public, personal, you know, like, you know— persona.
- 26:32Speaker 3: I don't even know if that's the word.
- 26:33Speaker 4: But just to walk the line of what is sacred
- 26:36Speaker 4: and what is happening right now. And I really think
- 26:39Speaker 4: I believed that it was just a chapter of separation
- 26:43Speaker 4: for them, very much like nesting and all of these
- 26:50Speaker 4: things to just make it like, this is a time
- 26:52Speaker 4: where Whitney, of course, needs her independence and wants to
- 26:55Speaker 4: do these things, but that it was just a stretching
- 26:57Speaker 4: of the elastic band, not filing for divorce. So the
- 27:01Speaker 4: fact that she filed shocked me.
- 27:04Speaker 2: And obviously you've spoken to her.
- 27:05Speaker 1: Yes.
- 27:05Speaker 3: Yeah.
- 27:06Speaker 4: And texted her. And I don't think she wanted the
- 27:08Speaker 4: news to come out like that. And she, you know,
- 27:12Speaker 4: she's just like, you, I mean, anyone who's been through
- 27:16Speaker 4: a divorce.
- 27:17Speaker 3: You're in a blender. You don't know what is up,
- 27:20Speaker 3: what is down. You're just you're just existing.
- 27:23Speaker 4: And like, I just remember being in a tumult of like,
- 27:28Speaker 4: you know, confusion and fear.
- 27:32Speaker 1: Yeah.
- 27:33Speaker 3: I got to do it privately and I got to
- 27:34Speaker 3: lie to whoever I wanted to. Things are great. Things
- 27:36Speaker 3: are great.
- 27:37Speaker 4: Things are great because I could process it privately, you know,
- 27:39Speaker 4: and like work through the mess of it all. I
- 27:41Speaker 4: cannot imagine doing it publicly, you know, and having everyone
- 27:46Speaker 4: weigh in on her marriage, everyone, everyone weigh in on.
- 27:49Speaker 3: The divorce, the separation. And then I just feel for her. Yeah.
- 27:53Speaker 1: And then the weird world that we live in is
- 27:56Speaker 1: like the moments that we want private are the moments
- 27:59Speaker 1: where it's like, well, we got to pick cameras up.
- 28:01Speaker 3: Yeah.
- 28:02Speaker 1: You know, and that adds such an extra layer, as
- 28:06Speaker 1: you said. And I remember going through my, we were
- 28:10Speaker 1: never married, but I guess separating of our family and
- 28:13Speaker 1: being so just in my own world and then seeing
- 28:17Speaker 1: like a paparazzi photo of And I knew exactly the
- 28:21Speaker 1: conversation that I was having on the phone. And it
- 28:23Speaker 1: just felt like I was being watched and I didn't,
- 28:27Speaker 1: I couldn't afford to be watched. Right.
- 28:29Speaker 2: And you, like you said, you feel like you're in
- 28:31Speaker 2: a blender.
- 28:32Speaker 1: Yeah.
- 28:34Speaker 2: It's a, it's a weird world to be in.
- 28:36Speaker 3: Yeah.
- 28:37Speaker 4: And I, I mean, I, it, my divorce almost destroyed me.
- 28:40Speaker 4: I mean, it did in a lot of ways, but
- 28:43Speaker 4: I can't imagine if I had to do it public
- 28:45Speaker 4: and then like also promote a show, you know, and
- 28:49Speaker 4: present an award, you know, it's just.
- 28:53Speaker 2: Like, like saying the show must go on, which is
- 28:55Speaker 2: very much like, I'm in the fetal position.
- 29:00Speaker 1: My family is breaking up because her kids are relatively
- 29:03Speaker 1: young still.
- 29:04Speaker 3: 16 and 13.
- 29:06Speaker 1: Yeah.
- 29:06Speaker 3: Bobby and Brooks.
- 29:08Speaker 2: I mean, I feel like everyone's relationships are more besides yours.
- 29:12Speaker 1: Yeah.
- 29:13Speaker 3: I mean, God bless Tripp. He's keeping love alive.
- 29:16Speaker 2: Which you fucking, you deserve.
- 29:18Speaker 4: But yeah, you know, there go, I mean, that's, we
- 29:21Speaker 4: double dated with, I mean, Sean and Angie were going
- 29:24Speaker 4: to be our couple of friends. We double dated with
- 29:25Speaker 4: Whitney and Justin. And I'm just like, babe, I have
- 29:27Speaker 4: no one for, I mean, we'll get Mary and Robert Sr.
- 29:29Speaker 1: Out.
- 29:30Speaker 3: And if Lisa and John will have us, but I
- 29:32Speaker 3: don't know, you know.
- 29:33Speaker 2: I don't know.
- 29:33Speaker 3: Seth and Meredith, I can count on. Seth's always a
- 29:36Speaker 3: good time. Yes.
- 29:37Speaker 2: He seems like a really good time.
- 29:38Speaker 3: I'm not worried about that.
- 29:39Speaker 4: And he, um, the final episode there's, I think there's
- 29:43Speaker 4: been teasers of it, but it's like a prom and
- 29:46Speaker 4: he did like the four husbands pick where like they're
- 29:49Speaker 4: in like a train, like posing.
- 29:50Speaker 3: He was like all the bros in their Texas. It
- 29:53Speaker 3: was so, So that's like a stamp of approval. I
- 29:56Speaker 3: love it. If you pose for a group pic with
- 29:57Speaker 3: the husbands.
- 29:58Speaker 2: Oh, you're in. How do you feel about that? Nervous, right?
- 30:01Speaker 3: Little nervous. Tripp's nervous.
- 30:03Speaker 1: You jumping on the motorcycle with your helmet that says
- 30:06Speaker 1: your name?
- 30:07Speaker 3: You made that for me. Isn't that awesome?
- 30:09Speaker 2: I loved it.
- 30:10Speaker 1: I know.
- 30:10Speaker 4: It was like my fairy tale moment. I never thought
- 30:12Speaker 4: I'd have one. And I get to have that forever now.
- 30:16Speaker 3: Never screw up.
- 30:19Speaker 2: We will all hunt you down, by the way. The
- 30:22Speaker 2: Bravo universe runs really deep and thick. You won't even
- 30:27Speaker 2: have time to stop off to get gas.
- 30:29Speaker 4: Yeah.
- 30:29Speaker 2: You know? I love it. I love that you're so happy.
- 30:32Speaker 2: I'm loving the season. You guys made it cool to
- 30:35Speaker 2: be from Salt Lake.
- 30:36Speaker 1: Between Housewives and then the Mormon show on Hulu, people
- 30:41Speaker 1: are like, you're from Utah?
- 30:42Speaker 2: How do you get the good hair?
- 30:43Speaker 3: I'm like.
- 30:44Speaker 1: Does it look like I would even know that?
- 30:45Speaker 2: You have to be a Mormon, I guess. That's what
- 30:48Speaker 2: you get from being a Mormon. You get good hair.
- 30:50Speaker 3: Good hair and teeth, they say.
- 30:52Speaker 2: Good hair and teeth. I love it. Thank you so
- 30:54Speaker 2: much for being on Untraditionally Lala. You're incredible.
- 30:56Speaker 1: You guys, thank you for listening to another episode of
- 30:58Speaker 1: Untraditionally Lala, the bonus episode.
- 31:00Speaker 2: I will catch you guys next week.
- 31:02Speaker 1: Bye.