Heather Gay has said that she had no recollection of how she acquired her notorious black eye because she was so inebriated.
“I blacked out,” the 40-year-old reality star claimed on Wednesday’s Part 1 of the “Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” reunion. “I have no idea how it occurred.”
Gay’s admission was made after weeks of her co-stars and viewers speculating thousands of ideas as to how the Bravolebrity received a severe sunburn during a cast trip to San Diego.
“I awoke in terror. I had my phone plugged in, and I was wearing pajamas,” Gay explained, adding that she was “afraid” her co-stars would “rewrite the story” if they knew she couldn’t recall.
Gay contradicted herself at the time of the incident by claiming she both did and did not recall it, leaving her co-stars and fans perplexed.
Wednesday’s episode of “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” featured Heather Gay recalling the night she received her black eye.
Bravo Gay first claimed that she both remembered and did not recall how she acquired the shiner.
“I wish you had said that at the time because it caused so much damage,” “RHOSLC” co-star Lisa Barlow said, adding that a “investigation” was launched to determine how Gay was injured.
Andy Cohen explained that Bravo did launch an investigation, but “nothing was found and no additional footage was obtained.”
Gay asserted, “When production came into my room, I told them, ‘I have no idea, I have no memory.’” “After then, the situation spiraled out of hand, and I accept full responsibility and apologize. It’s frightening.”
The author of “Bad Mormon” became upset and began to cry as she described feeling “Mormon shame” at the “humiliating” and “terrifying” notion of passing out and waking up with a black eye and scratches all over her body.
“I’m certain I blacked out. “I awoke to an extremely high-stress situation filled with shame and humiliation,” said Gay.
“There was no way to hide it, so I did my thing, which is to use humor to make it go away. It didn’t work, but I do not want to implicate anyone here or on set – it’s my own guilt and shame over passing out and being unable to explain it.”
Gay also addressed a fan belief that Jen Shah “punched” her after too much drinking, which was sparked by their odd chat the morning after the incident.
Gay noted that while she “would defend” Shah, she “cannot comment” on claims that Shah harmed her as a result of her blackout.
“I trusted her the most to come up with a cover story when you black out and have a black eye,” Gay replied when asked why she spoke with Shah, 49, first the following day.
“If Jen had done that, I would cover it up, but that was not my intention – I was blacked out.”
The mother of three added that the last thing she recalls from the Marilyn Monroe-themed evening was “joking around with the boobs” with Shah before retiring to her room to remove her blonde wig.
“I don’t recall anything I saw transpire on film,” Gay claimed, referring to Shah, Meredith Marks, and Angie Katsanevas entering her room just before 5 a.m.
Gay added that she had hoped to hear or see something that might activate her memory, but she remains as clueless as when she initially received the black eye.
The creator of Beauty Lab and Laser said, “Anything could’ve happened, and I assumed when I was on a show with cameras and a cast that someone would give me the trigger that would make me remember, but I still don’t know how I got it.”
Whitney Rose, Gay’s cousin and former closest friend, who had earlier denied causing the injuries, stated that she believed Gay had a “accident” while intoxicated or that Shah “hit her.”
Katsanevas, 48, concurred and stated that Shah was “quiet to herself” the next day, which gave her the “very dark feeling that they knew something they weren’t sharing with the rest of the group.”
Marks, 51, was “surprised” when Gay told her that she had blacked out because she “didn’t believe anyone had consumed that much alcohol.”
Part 2 of the “Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” reunion airs Feb. 1 at 8 p.m. ET on Bravo.
»Heather Gay finally reveals the backstory behind her black eye on ‘RHOSLC’«