Whitney Rose Teases New RHOSLC Housewife After Jen Shah's Exit

"Real Housewives of Salt Lake City" star Jen Shah is getting ready to face the music as the Bravo show readies to move on without a key star. A core cast member since "RHOSLC"'s premiere in 2020, Shah — following an arrest in March 2021 — was sentenced on January 6 to 78 months in prison for leading a nationwide telemarketing fraud scheme, per the Department of Justice. Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said upon her sentencing that Shah is facing the "consequences of the many years she spent targeting vulnerable, elderly victims" and defrauding them out of their money. According to the Dept. of Justice, Shah's telemarketing scheme dated as far back as 2012. In addition to her 6.5 years of prison time, Shah was ordered to pay $6,645,251 in restitution and will spend five years in supervised release.

Upon Shah's sentencing, Bravo executive producer Andy Cohen said on a January 9 episode of "Radio Andy" that it will be "a loss to lose her on the show." When asked about a potential return of the larger-than-life TV personality on "RHOSLC," Cohen quipped, "Well it seemed like the judge figured it out for us, didn't he?" On the plus side for "RHOSLC" fans, Cohen also promised "great casting for next year."

Looking ahead to Season 4 of "RHOSLC," Shah's castmate, Whitney Rose, recently teased her replacement — and the new Housewife sounds as drama-loving as her predecessor.

During a January 31 episode of her "Wild Rose Podcast," Whitney Rose of the "Real Housewives of Salt Lake City" gave some tantalizing details about the new cast member joining Season 4. As Rose put it, the cast was "allegedly" about to start filming Season 4 of the show, with a "dynamic person joining who is going to ruffle some feathers" in tow. "We can't say names yet because nothing has been announced yet," Rose explained, confessing she's been feeling stressed about the changes. "This year we have new blood coming in. There are rumors we have some old friends and old faces coming back ... we'll see," the skincare entrepreneur said. 

Replacing Shah on "RHOSLC" was a change many didn't anticipate, including Bravo exec Andy Cohen. Previously stating that he hoped Shah would avoid jail time, Cohen defended his stance later in a January 15 interview with CNN's Mike Wallace. "I think I was hoping that she was actually innocent. That was before she pled guilty that I said that, I would think," the "Watch What Happens Live!" host explained.