At her sentencing last week, after she pleaded guilty to federal fraud charges, Jen Shah apologized and appeared contrite. In the Season 3 finale of “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City,” Jen loudly and profanely blames all of her legal troubles on Stuart Smith, her former assistant and business partner.
Smith, who was arrested and charged with Jen in March 2021, changed his plea to guilty in November 2021 and gave prosecutors evidence against her.
“What’s been the hardest for me this week is to learn that [Smith] has turned on me,” Jen says just before she also pleads guilty in July 2022 — after she “read all the [expletive] that he said. Stuart’s a piece of [expletive]. ... You’re an evil mother-[expletive]. and you played me. I would not be in this thing at all if it wasn’t for Stuart.”
It’s worth noting that Jen doesn’t say that Stuart lied, just that his testimony buried her.
Still not admitting guilt
In a confessional, Jen implies that she’s being falsely accused: “There’s so much I wish I could say to the public.” Asked by a producer if she’s “ready to tells us the real story now,” Jen does not reply.
Heather wonders if Jen is really guilty
Heather Gay says in a confessional. “How is Stuart — the guy that chased her snacks and ordered her waxing appointments and bought her tampons — how is he also running the scheme and framing her and she doesn’t know?”
What does Sharrieff have to do with this?
Heather speculates that Jen’s husband, University of Utah assistant football coach Sharrieff Shah, may have somehow been in on Jen’s crimes. “If my husband knew about it and my husband was involved,” Heather said, “and he said, ‘There you go, sis, I’ll take care of the boys. I’ll see you in 15 years’ — that, to me, is a whole other tragedy.”
Sharrieff has not been charged with a crime, and there is no hint in court documents that he is under suspicion.
A book by its cover
Heather hosts an event to unveil the cover of her forthcoming book, “Bad Mormon,” due out on Feb, 7. Not the book, just the cover. “This cover is sacrilegious, blasphemous and terribly offensive,” she says — apparently because she’s holding a copy of the Book of Mormon? And, she says, the book will reveal “secrets you don’t reveal.” She does not specify.
Angie K. confronts Jen
Angie Katsanevas believes that Jen has been spreading rumors that she gave Heather a black eye. She also theorizes that Jen did it during lesbian lovemaking — and she questions whether Jen’s suicide attempt was real.
“I have never met anybody in my life as evil and disgusting as Angie, because you don’t do that,” Jen says in a confessional. She’s not wrong about that.
Part 1 of the Season 3 reunion airs Wednesday, Jan. 18, on Bravo — 6 p.m. on Dish and DirecTV; 9 p.m. on Comcast. Jen Shah did not take part in the reunion, which was recorded in December.
Editor’s note • If you or people you know are at risk of self-harm, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline provides 24-hour support by calling 988.
