Why RHOSLC's Whitney Rose Was Kicked Out Of The Mormon Church
There's a new group of Real Housewives in town, and they're already causing a stir. The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City premiered on Bravo on Nov. 11, 2020, featuring a cast of six women who each come from interesting and sometimes controversial backgrounds. Since the series takes place in the state of Utah, which is famously home to a large population of Mormons, it's not surprising that some of the cast members are current or former members of the Mormon Church, including Whitney Rose, Lisa Barlow, Heather Gay, and Jen Shah. The other two women are Mary Cosby, a Pentecostal preacher, and Meredith Marks, who is Jewish and "Mormon by choice."
However, several of the RHOSLC ladies have walked away from their Mormon roots for a variety of reasons. Heather "distanced herself" from the church after her divorce, for example, while Jen converted to Islam after marrying her husband, Sharrief Shah.
Meanwhile, Whitney Rose is rumored to have been kicked out of the church years ago after a controversial affair with her boss. But Whitney set the story straight after the show's premiere, explaining the real reason she's no longer involved with the Church of Latter-day Saints. Here's her story.
Whitney Rose willingly gave up being 'Mormon royalty'
According to her Bravo bio, Whitney Rose is a descendant of "Mormon royalty." But things changed when she fell in love with her boss Justin and had an affair, despite both of them being married to other people at the time. It only took a few weeks for Whitney and Justin to leave their respective spouses and start a life with each other, and they married after finding out Whitney was pregnant.
On the first episode of Real Housewives of Salt Lake City, Whitney's castmate and cousin Heather Gay explained the situation to producers, saying that Whitney and Justin were "both excommunicated from the church." Whitney acknowledged in her own confessional that given her family history, "you could say it is a very big deal that I am no longer Mormon" and that her friends and family turned their backs on her after her remarriage.
But Whitney took to Twitter to set the story straight. "I WAS NOT EXCOMMUNICATED from the Mormon church," she wrote. "I chose to walk away." She added, "Although I no longer identify as a Mormon I still have deep love and admiration for all of my Mormon friends and family."
Whitney and Justin have now been married for more than 10 years and share two children together, and they celebrated their vow renewal on the season premiere. Whitney rejoiced that her community is finally beginning to support their union — but something tells us her stint on RHOSLC might stir up some old drama.