The Real Housewives franchise has become a behemoth one, with multiple cities airing on Bravo (and streaming with a Peacock subscription). Many fans believe Salt Lake City to be top tier, possibly one of the best reality shows ever. Season 6 started off with a truly delightful premiere, although OG Lisa Barlow was noticeably absent. To be honest I didn't miss the Vida tequila owner, which makes me wonder if the show truly NEEDS baby gorgeous after all. Hear me out.
John Oliver said RHOSLC was "spectacular" and he's not wrong. These women consistently bring the drama and laughs, both the OGs and newer additions like Bronwyn Newport and Britani Bateman. While Lisa is usually at the center of the mess and chiming in with hilarious catch phrases, she didn't appear in the Season 6 premiere, which featured the ladies going on a camping trip. I thought that this would leave a big hole in the group dynamic, but I still found myself riveted throughout the entire episode. Of course, Lisa was mentioned a ton of times, as she's got beef with three of her castmates.
The reason that Lisa gave for missing the trip was business, although not all of the women believed her. In a recent appearance on the podcast Chicks in the Office, she maintained this story, citing this year's South by Southwest Film Festival, which recently moved out of Utah. In her words:
I think this year I was very focused on what makes me happy, what I do extraneously that's great. I'm not even in the first episode because I was working in Austin for South by. And for me that just felt different. Because I usually am done, drop everything. This season I was like 'I need a little more balance.'
Not having one of The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City's original stars in its season premiere was new, although after a few minutes of seeing the cast back on my screen I settled in.
Given how popular the Housewives is, there are other rumors online about why Lisa was missing from the first episode of Season 6. Namely that she was negotiating her contract with Bravo, and hoping to get more money per episode. But we should probably take that with a grain of salt for the time being.
While Lisa isn't a Housewife I'd like to see on The Traitors, she has brought a ton of iconic moments to Salt Lake throughout the years. Between her eating habits, her signature accent and singing voice, and her penchant for fighting with the other women, Barlow has been a big part of the winning recipe of the show. Which is why I thought that her absence from the premiere would have been a bit more painful than it ultimately was.
As previously mentioned, Lisa's presence still loomed over the episode, with the other women talking about their issues with her, as well as theorizing about her legal issues. So in her way she was there. But the episode did go on with plenty of laughs and drama without her along for the Blair Witch-esque camping trip.
New episodes of The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City air Tuesdays on Bravo as part of the 2025 TV schedule, streaming the next day on Peacock. I can't wait to have the full cast together, especially since it looks like there's going to be a ton of shade thown Lisa's way.
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