Real Housewives fans are split in their reaction to the news that Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star Monica Garcia, who had a breakout debut season, will not be returning to the show. Some people are relieved, while others are convinced the show will never be the same without her.

 

For context, it’s been a hell of a few weeks for the show and its cast, since the airing of arguably one of the most dramatic finales in the history of the franchise, which I covered (only lightly) here. During that finale, it was discovered that Monica was one of the people behind a troll account with tens of thousands of followers that, despite initially being created to air out Jen Shah for mistreating her staff, ended up becoming an account dedicated to making disparaging remarks about all the cast members.

 

But after a series of very heated reunions aired, and the announcement that Monica would not be returning for season 5 – both fan and cast reactions have sparked tons of discussion online about who is, exactly, the real villain in all of this, and what drives Bravo’s decision-making?

 One of the first people to react to the news was Heather Gay. She was on an episode of Watch What Happens Live shortly after Variety broke the news that Monica wasn’t returning. When she was asked by Andy about what her reaction to the news was, her saying the show was about “friendships” raised some eyebrows.

 

People online started looking more closely at Heather’s track record on the show. The thing that came up the most was the fact that for over a year, she lied to her castmates, fans, and network executives about how she got her black eye last season, only this year revealing it to have been the fault of Jen Shah.

 

Social media users highlighted the fact that her lies caused a completely unnecessary human resources investigation to be conducted, adding that the producers and crew members that were up late filming with the cast that night were all at risk of losing their jobs pending the outcome of that investigation. Many agree that her pointing her finger at Monica for lying about being behind a troll account is hypocritical.

And then there was the reaction to her remark about the show being about friendships. I mean, let’s be real here. Golden Girls is a show about friendships. Sex and the City is a show about friendships. This show is about a group of well-to-do women deliberately being put in situations where there will be a great deal of drama. And part of the reason this comment is so rich, coming from Heather, is because she has had issues with almost every single cast mate, including Whitney, who she is biologically related to. Now the show is about friendships?

If Real Housewives is really about friendships, then what the hell is going on over in Orange County? Because just yesterday, it was announced that after a years-long hiatus, Alexis Bellino is coming back as a friend of the cast (which just means she won’t have an orange or her own intro but she’ll certainly get some air time). Why, you might ask? Because she’s dating Shannon Beador’s ex, John Janssen! Producers know seeing that dynamic unfold on the show is going to drive ratings, which, as I’ve covered before, they need. In addition to that, Tamra and Shannon have fallen out. So you can bet that drama, all of which has to do with fraught relationships, not friendships, as Heather suggests, is going to be a huge storyline for this upcoming season.

 

These are the inconsistencies people are pointing out, the questions people are asking. What is the role of a villain? Why encourage new castmates to bring the drama, or to bring the heat, if it will result, as it did in Monica’s case, in not being able to return for another season?

The other part of the fallout was the accusations from Lisa, Heather and Monica, that production was in on this. All women claimed that producers knew that Monica was behind the troll account, a claim Andy vehemently challenged, which many agree was the moment he and his team at Bravo decided she would not be returning for season 5.

One voice who has really helped illuminate the danger of a lot of these claims against producers, like the ones Heather has made in the past and even as recently as the finale and reunion episodes, is reality TV producer Carlos King, who hosts a podcast called Reality With the King, and also owns a production company. 

 

This video of his reaction to the finale united a lot of Real Housewives fans who were finally able to really see the impact these claims have on the very people that help bring us our entertainment.

Monica is messy, this we know. But in fairness, some of the best Housewives in the history of the franchise have been messy. When you think about iconic and legendary Housewives that will go down in history as women who truly made their respective shows the great entertainment that they were, the one thing they had in common was that they were messy as hell. And all of that begs the question of where we draw the line between messy enough to be great entertainment and just too messy?

 

Because if you ask me, Monica did her job and she did it damn well. She showed up, and she let cameras into her life in a way not even the most long-standing cast members have. She was transparent about everything, from being a woman with abandonment issues, thanks to being the daughter of a very unwell, entitled and absolutely delusional mother, who we were also introduced to. She was open about having an affair with her brother-in-law. She was open about feeling “less than” the rest of the Housewives, to the point she felt the need to splurge on a Louis Vuitton bag. The only thing she lied about, or at least wasn’t fully transparent about, was her role in the troll account. And to me? Greater crimes – and literal crimes - have been committed by other Housewives.

Tamra Judge and Andy have both alluded to a possible comeback for Monica in the future, and I think the fact Andy is making a point to say that means no decision is ever really final. And perhaps the reason for that is because production is open to letting fan feedback inspire some of their decisions. But if that’s truly the case, Bravo is really going to want to course correct, and quickly, because from what I’ve seen, most of us are in agreement that Monica earned her spot on that show.

Photo credits: Gabe Ginsberg/ Getty Images

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