Heather Gay Knew Jen Shah’s Business Was ‘Unsavory’ – Heavy.com

NBCUMV Heather Gay and Jen Shah

Heather Gay got real about her close friend Jen Shah.

“The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” star opened up about Shah’s business on “Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen” on Sunday, September 13, 2021. Gay acknowledged that she did have a feeling Shah’s business was shady. Shah was arrested earlier this year in March for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering through an alleged telemarketing fraud scheme. Shah’s assistant Stuart Smith was also arrested, and both have pleaded not guilty to the charges.

“I have one job, and it’s to be Jen’s friend, and that’s it,” she told Cohen. “You need friends in a situation like this.” Cohen then asked Gay if she had had a conversation with Shah about her innocence. “I don’t need to,” she responded without hesitation. “It’s irrelevant.”

She added, “I knew her business was unsavory when I was her friend, so why would I change now that it’s public? I didn’t know it was illegal…I never understood it, and I just assumed it was something that was right along the line.”

“[It was] nothing I’d want to be involved in, but I didn’t think it was illegal,” she continued saying. “I didn’t think you could go to prison for it, I would’ve said, ‘babe don’t do this, your life is worth more than that.’”

Viewers Saw a Preview of Shah’s Arrest

RHOSLC season two premiered last night, September 12, and fans immediately got a preview on what went down when Shah was arrested. The clip shows the ladies in a bus leaving for a cast trip. But things quickly go south when Shah answers a call from her husband.

She tells her co-stars she has to leave, and 12 minutes later Homeland Security Investigators show up looking for Shah. The baffled ladies tell them she left, and the clip then cuts to officers outside of Shah’s home saying they have a search warrant.

Meanwhile, the ladies – Whitney Rose, Heather Gay, Mary M. Cosby, Lisa Barlow, and Jenny Nguyen – seemingly decided to leave for their trip, since they were initially unaware of the ordeal. Rose then reads an article sharing Shah’s charges which leaves all the ladies baffled.

The Ladies Will Deal With the Aftermath of Shah’s Arrest

RHOSLC began filming two months prior to Shah’s arrest, but of course, they kept rolling afterwards. Viewers witnessed Shah’s arrest, but there’s more to come.

In the RHOSLC season two trailer, Rose insinuates that Meredith Marks had something to do with Shah’s arrest. “It looks like you might have something to do with the fact that Jen was indicted,” she tells Marks at a group dinner.

Shah then blows up and screams to Marks, “I swear to God, if you have anything to do with the bulls*** charges against me, Meredith, you’re f****** disgusting.” Marks replies in her classic one-liner, “Get out of my face. I’m out, I’m disengaging.”

Shah screams back, “You’re f****** fraudulent,” to which Marks replies, “Who’s calling who a fraud? Love you baby, bye.” In another scene, Gay sits down with Shah and asks her how they knew she was at Beauty Lab and Laser that day.

Shah’s arrest has the biggest effect on herself, but the cast also confesses to struggling with it. Barlow tells Marks in one scene, “I just don’t think she is who we think she is,” to which Marks cries back, “She’s not!” Nguyen later asks Barlow, “Do you have business with Jen?”

Even Shah’s closest friends fear what her arrest means for them. Gay tells the ladies, “I don’t want to be indicted! I don’t want to be involved!” In another scene, Rose tells her friends, “If we do not share what we know, we’re in danger.”