Everything to Know About Whitney Rose and Heather Gay's Friendship
The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City cousins' relationship has gotten rocky.
When we first met Whitney Rose and Heather Gay in Season 1 of The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City, the third cousins had a close friendship that seemed unbreakable. They were even dubbed "Whitney and Heather Bad Weather" by fellow RHOSLC cast member Lisa Barlow because she accused them of trying to “spin the truth,” but the duo ended up wearing the moniker like a badge of honor.
Fast forward to the present day, and Bad Weather is on thin ice. After a rocky RHOSLC Season 3 in which the two took a “friendship break” and a dramatic trip to Thailand on The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip Season 3, the pair is trying to mend their fractured relationship. But whether they can truly forgive and forget remains to be seen on RHOSLC Season 4.
Heather Gay and Whitney Rose were super close in RHOSLC Season 1
In Season 1, Heather and Whitney appeared to have an inseparable bond. In December 2020, Heather took to X (then known as Twitter) to explain that, in addition to a friendship, the two actually share a familial bond.
“My great grandmother and Whit’s great grandfather are siblings,” Heather wrote. (The pair were friends before they found out about their connected lineage.) Sharing a great-great-grandparent from four generations back makes them third cousins.
Heather Gay and Whitney Rose’s friendship took a turn for the worse in Season 3
The third season of RHOSLC saw the first big rift in Whitney and Heather’s friendship when the group took a trip to Arizona. Heather denied remembering a rumor that Whitney had heard about Lisa, while Whitney thought Heather was lying and accused her of not having her back. Heather told Whitney she was making the trip all about her.
While Heather ultimately apologized for her part, Whitney called the apology insincere.
Heather Gay kicked Whitney Rose out of her home in RHOSLC Season 3 Episode 7
The moment that felt like the height of the feud came in Episode 7 — which first aired in November 2022 —when another argument between Whitney and Heather ended with Heather kicking Whitney out of her home.
Heather Gay and Whitney Rose elaborated on the drama during the RHOSLC Season 3 After Show
During the RHOSLC Season 3 After Show for Episode 11, Whitney and Heather shared more insight into their feud. In one episode, Heather said she felt “discarded” by Whitney.
Whitney, on the other hand, blamed Heather for her getting off on the wrong foot with Lisa. Whitney said Heather didn’t like Whitney’s friendship with Lisa because that’s when “Heather lost the control, because I was always the mouthpiece for Heather.”
In another After Show episode, Whitney said Heather didn’t tell her about her mysterious black eye because she “didn’t trust her anymore.” Whitney added: “Once again she tried to deflect.”
Heather shared the reason for not opening up to Whitney: “I am not in a place to confide anything in her or in a place to seek counsel from her.”
Whitney Rose and Heather Gay’s beef continued while filming RHUGT Season 3
When they flew to Thailand in July 2022 for RHUGT Season 3 — which premiered on Peacock in March 2023 — Whitney and Heather hadn’t fully reconciled, but they felt hopeful that they were on the right path.
“Whitney and I have had a pretty rough go filming Season 3. It hasn’t been easy, but nothing heals wounds faster than a girls’ trip,” Heather said in Episode 1. Still, they found themselves at odds during moments of the trip.
By the final day of the trip, though, Whitney and Heather seemed to be on a much better path. In the season finale, they donned animal masks and laughed while calling themselves Bad Weather again.
Heather Gay gave an update on her friendship with Whitney Rose in October 2022
After Season 3 of RHOSLC premiered in September 2022, the two continued to question their loyalties to each other and the other women, as well as each other’s honesty. In October 2022 — as their falling-out was airing on RHOSLC — Heather appeared on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen and gave an update on the status of their friendship at that time.
"It makes me sad. It's absolutely sincere and I feel horrible about the state of our relationship," Heather said on the show. "I am trying desperately to be supportive, but also stand my ground a little bit," she added. "And it's just kind of a hard path to walk."
Heather added that she "totally regret[s]" what she said to Whitney on the trip. "I just felt really mean," Heather explained. "Seeing it play back and seeing how raw she was and seeing that she was conflating the two issues — I was really clear about what I was upset about it but it was muddled for her. And I feel terrible that she thought I was not being sensitive to her pain."
Heather Gay and Whitney Rose spoke about the issue at BravoCon 2022
Of course, the status of their friendship was a hot topic at BravoCon that year. During an RHOSLC panel at the convention, Heather addressed the situation. “We were dear friends, and it seemed out of the blue just completely that you decided that you were gonna dump me as a friend. And that to me felt like that you were trying to create drama where there was none,” Heather told Whitney, according to Us Weekly. “And that to me feels like a reach.”
Whitney had thoughts to share, too. “I officially am never gonna try to heal with this group again,” she told the crowd, the publication reported. “But we need it.”
Whitney Rose threw shade at Heather Gay on WWHL
The following month, Whitney appeared on WWHL and played a shady game where she had to pick between Lisa and Heather on a variety of topics. Whitney picked Lisa as the person who has made a bigger effort as a friend and has better style. She picked Heather as the one most guilty of talking behind the other women’s backs and as the one who had most let fame go to her head.
Heather Gay said her friendship with Whitney Rose “disappeared overnight”
In an interview with Us Weekly’s "Getting Real with the Housewives" podcast in December 2022, Heather opened up about the falling out with her former bestie. Heather said that their tight relationship "disappeared overnight," adding, "I feel like our friendship just went up in smoke and I’m not sure how to repair that."
"I still don't even really understand what I'm doing wrong and, like, how to fix it. I think that I’ve been really frustrated and I've done things that are out of character for me when I get really frustrated and kind of pushed to my limit," she elaborated to Us. "I don't want to ever scream at the people I love. I don't want to ever yell obscenities at anyone and I also just want to be in a good place with everyone in my life, my friends and my dearest friends, of course."
Going into RHOSLC Season 4, Whitney Rose and Heather Gay still have a ways to go
Whitney and Heather were still working to repair their relationship in RHOSLC Season 4, which began filming in March 2023. “I want to forge a new path as friends,” Heather told Whitney in the season premiere — which aired in September – to which Whitney replied, “It’s going to be hard for me to trust you that you really want to be my friend. We just gotta show each other that we mean it.”
