Who Is Whitney Rose From Real Housewives Of Salt Lake City?
Move over, Housewives! There are some new ladies in town and they are taking the Bravosphere by (snow) storm.
With The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City set to premiere on Nov. 11, 2020, per People, the latest installment of the popular franchise includes cast members jewelry designer Meredith Marks, marketing CEO Jen Shah, Lisa Barlow, Mary Cosby, Heather Gay, and Whitney Rose. Like all Housewives offshoots, this particular series promises to document the ladies as they navigate their social circle. However, this spin-off will also focus on a rather unique element: religion. And the ladies endless quest to achieve perfection, of course.
Salt Lake City is notorious for being home to a large percentage of Mormons, but Bravo was careful to include women from all walks of faith, including those of Jewish, Pentecostal, Mormon, and even Islamic faiths. But as Housewife Whitney Rose noted in the first trailer for the premiere season, in a place like Utah, "it is a very big deal that [she's] no longer Mormon." Other than her decision to close the chapter on her Mormon faith, what else is there to know about new Housewife Whitney? Keep reading after the jump to find out!
Whitney Rose left the Mormon faith after having an affair
According to Bravo, Whitney Rose, the self-professed "descendant of Mormon royalty," has a rather sordid past with her Mormon faith. Apparently Whitney fell in love with her boss and the two had an affair. Because Whitney strayed outside of her marriage, she opted to leave the religion in her rearview mirror forever. Unfortunately, that has proven to be no easy task in a place like Salt Lake City, Utah. Surprise, surprise.
One bright spot in Whitney's past, however, was the formation of her very own skincare line, Iris and Beau. Whitney also went on to marry the aforementioned boss with whom she had an affair. The couple has now been married for more than ten years and share two children together: Bobbi and Brooks. But now, with the spotlight burning bright, the couple will once again have to defend their love and new speculations about their "progressive marriage." Will their union be able to withstand the reality television curse? Only time will tell, we suppose.
Whitney Rose's husband was accused of profiting off a pyramid scheme
While Whitney Rose has her own business to tend to, it's her husband's business that's landed the couple in hot water.
Welcome to Salt Lake City, land of the multi-level marketing companies (MLMs). As reported by Your Tango, Whitney's husband, Justin, gets paid big money to run a direct sales company that peddles health supplements. But many claim that the business Justin works for, LifeVantage, is nothing more than an illegal pyramid scheme, as the company allegedly relies heavily on recruiting members to sell their products by way of "downlines." Per the Economic Research institute, it's purported that Justin rakes in over $1.2 million annually. Now, that's some serious dough!
As it turns out, both Justin and Whitney met while working at another direct sales company, NuSkin. But that's just the tip of the iceberg. Justin has worked for multiple direct sales companies, including Shaklee and Melaluca. (It should be noted that, while direct sales and multi-level marketing businesses are not deemed illegal, the Federal Trade Commission prohibits the formation of any business that solely relies on the business of recruiting others.) While we may not know for certain if Whitney's husband is a scam artist or not, rest assured — we can surely count on a few Real Housewives to get to the bottom of it in the coming season.