Mary Cosby returning to ‘RHOSLC’ in friend role amid cast shakeup

Reality TV

Get ready to be read like a scripture, little girls!

Mary M. Cosby will be returning to “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” in a “friend of” role, several sources confirmed to Page Six on Wednesday.

One source clarified to us that Cosby, 50, has not been cast as a full-time “Housewife,” but instead will “film a few scenes” of the upcoming season — which is set to resume production Feb. 13.

Mary Cosby posing for a red carpet photo
Mary Cosby will return to the “Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” in a “friend of” role, several 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 come back to the franchise, she needed time to process Jennie Nguyen’s 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 protests of 2020.

Meredith Marks, Jennie Nguyen, Lisa Barlow, Jen Shah, Heather Gay, Whitney Rose posing for the "RHOSLC" reunion photo
Nguyen (second from left) was fired from “RHOSLC” after Season 2 for a string of racist social media posts.
NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images

“Mary was dealing with a lot of trauma after Season 2,” the insider told us of Cosby, who notably skipped the Season 2 reunion before exiting the show altogether.

“Jennie’s racist posts really seemed to shake Mary, especially after Jennie threw a glass at her on camera,” the source elaborated. “Mary was grateful for the time away from the cameras, but she seems ready to get back in the mix.”

When Cosby departed “Salt Lake City” in February 2022, a source told Page Six that she “did not enjoy her time on the show or form any strong bonds with the ladies.”

But things have changed one year later. Another insider teased that Cosby will return to the group as Meredith Marks’ friend since the jewelry designer is currently the only cast member in communication with the preacher.

Mary Cosby
“Mary was grateful for the time away from the cameras, but she seems ready to get back in the mix,” a source told us.

Mary Cosby
“Mary was grateful for the time away from the cameras, but she seems ready to get back in the mix,” a source told us.


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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 didn’t immediately return Page Six’s request for comment.

Veteran stars Marks, Heather Gay, Lisa Barlow and Whitney Rose have all retained 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, predominantly targeting vulnerable elders. The convicted fraudster is scheduled to begin her sentence at a federal prison in Texas on Feb. 17.

Lisa Barlow, Meredith Marks, Mary Cosby
An insider teased that Cosby will return to the group via Meredith Marks, who she’s been in contact with recently.

Whitney Rose, Meredith Marks, Mary Cosby, Heather Gay
An insider teased that Cosby will return to the group via Meredith Marks, who she’s been in contact with recently.


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The news of Cosby’s return comes after Page Six revealed that the cast would be getting a major shakeup after a “dark” Season 3.

“They’re trying to bring in new women to lighten it up,” a source told us on Jan. 20 and added they were still deciding if the Season 3 “friends of” — including Angie Harrington, Angie Katsanevas and Danna Bui-Negrete — would be “promoted or if they’d find new talent.”

Marks later 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 comes to an end on Wednesday night — took a turn after decade-long friends Marks, 51, and Barlow, 46 and cousins-turned-best-friends Gay, 49, and Rose, 36, couldn’t repair their explosive falling outs.

Whitney Rose, Lisa Barlow, Jen Shah, Meredith Marks, Heather Gay posing for the "RHOSLC" promo photo
Season 3 stars Marks, Whitney Rose, Lisa Barlow and Heather Gay will all be returning.
Chris Haston/Bravo via Getty Ima

The season also grew more intense when Gay woke up with a black eye after a girl’s night out and changed her story several times — which led fans to conspire several controversial theories — before finally admitting she blacked out and didn’t remember how she got the severe shiner.

The second and final installment of the “Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” Season 3 reunion airs Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET on Bravo. 

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