Jen Shah points the finger at her former assistant for the fraud scandal that will most likely land her in jail.
“I was played by Stuart Smith,” Shah, 48, told a stunned Heather Gay and Meredith Marks in the Season 3 trailer for “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City,” released Wednesday.
“If it wasn’t for Stuart, I wouldn’t have been in this at all,” she claims.
Smith initially pleaded not guilty to three charges related to a telemarketing scheme targeting the elderly, but changed his plea to guilty in November 2021. He has not been convicted.
Gay, 40, and Marks, 50, both appear to be in Team Shah during her legal troubles, despite Marks and Shah having had a rocky relationship before.
“Have any of you ever asked Jen if she’s guilty of any of these charges?” Marks’ husband, Seth Marks, questions the two ladies at one point in the trailer, with both women looking confused.
Later, newcomer Danna Bui-Negrete claims to Whitney Rose that she had a friend who used to work for Shah and is now “an informant.”
The sneak peek teases that season 3 will focus on Shah’s legal woes and the last-minute admission of guilt she made in July, right before she was put on trial.
Shah’s plea deal called for 11 to 14 years behind bars and restitution of up to $9.5 million.
Her sentencing is scheduled for November.
Vidak For Congress exclusively reported that Bravo cameras tracked Shah leading up to her July appearance, though season 3 production was technically completed earlier this year. Her arrest in March 2021 was documented in season 2 of “RHOSLC”.
However, the trailer also showcases other storylines, including Lisa Barlow’s teenage son Jack arguing about not going to school, Rose, 36, who exposes her childhood trauma, Gay is evicted by her Mormon family, and Barlow, 47, who is accused of doing ” sexual favors” for her Vida Tequila brand, among many more twists and turns and intense arguments.
In addition to Bui-Negrete joining the cast, Angie Katsanevas and Angie Harrington—who fans may remember arguing with longtime friend Barlow during Season 2—will join the cast as “friends of the housewives.”
Season 3 of “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” premieres on Bravo on September 28 at 9 p.m. ET.