Credit: Presley Ann/Bravo
A production exec refuted Lisa Barlow’s claim that The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City started with her. He also revealed which co-star truly started the show – as Lisa clapped back.
For many years, Lisa proudly proclaimed she was the first castmate to be considered for the spot. Some fans felt she used it like a hammer, whacking it at any co-star who challenged her authority.
But according to a senior executive speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, the entire idea for RHOSLC started with Mary Cosby.
“[The idea to set it in Salt Lake City] originally came to Bravo through Mary Cosby,” said Noah Sampton, NBCUniversal Television and Streaming Senior VP of Production, via Heavy. “Somebody had discovered her as a great character. She was pitched, and we started to find other characters along with her. Once the development team started to dig in and meet people there, they realized that it was just such a hotbed of interesting, unique personalities. It wasn’t planned as a Housewives. We kind of just fell into it.”
Noah then revealed when he first met the castmates.
“I’d already been blown away by the casting tape that I saw, and every woman that I met was even better in person,” he explained. “We met everybody for drinks at a bar, and then [another executive] and I left, and the Housewives all stayed there. And then we heard all these stories the next day where a huge argument broke out and somebody got thrown out of the bar. They were Housewives already before we even started filming them.”
On Twitter, Lisa denied Noah’s claims.
“Odd and not true she was recommended by my friend Cameron.”
Odd and not true she was recommended by my friend Cameron
— Lisa Barlow (@LisaBarlow7) January 20, 2024
Lisa also reacted to an Instagram post about Noah’s claims.
“I don’t lie,” she insisted. “It needs to be corrected.”
Image credit: @lisabarlow14/Instagram