Mary M. Cosby will return to The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City as the ladies’ friend, returning part-time for season four after having to sit out season three.
According to multiple sources for Page Six, the 50-year-old Preacher will be filming “a few scenes” for season four, which is set to begin filming on February 13.
One source said that “Mary wanted to come back,” while another explained that Mary’s absence in season three was largely due to the scandalous firing of her former co-star Jennie Nguyen, 44.
Nguyen saw her brief year-long run as a housewife ignite when her racist social media posts mocking the Black Lives Matter movement resurfaced online.
The source explained, “Jennie’s racist posts seemed to really upset Mary, especially after Jennie threw a glass at her on camera. Mary has been grateful for the time away from the cameras, but she seems ready to get back into the mix.
She is back! Mary M. Cosby, 50, will reportedly return to The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City as the ladies’ friend and will return part-time for season four after sitting out season three
The Page Six source went on to say that after “coping with a lot of post-Season 2 trauma,” Cosby is being brought back into the group as a boyfriend to OG cast member Meredith Marks, 51.
‘[Cosby and Marks] reconnected over the past year,” said the source, who added that the two housewives “have been texting and talking more in recent months.”
Meredith is reportedly the only cast member still in touch with Cosby, who allegedly “didn’t enjoy her time on the show or form strong bonds with the ladies,” according to a source for Page Six.
After starring in the first two seasons of RHOSLC, the “philanthropist and spiritual leader” — according to her Instagram bio — left the series amid a cloud of controversy.
Back in September of last year, The Daily Beast quoted former members of Cosby’s Faith Temple Pentecostal Church as saying they run it as a cult.
She has been accused of trying to get her parishioners to work for her family business – either for free or for minimum wage – and telling them they will go to hell if they leave the church or don’t donate enough money to it would.
She was also accused of calling herself God, though she denied that claim to RHSLC: “I’m not God! I worship the God in me!’
Cosby inherited the church — plus a multimillion-dollar estate — from her grandmother, Rosemary “Mama” Redmon Cosby, who died in 1997.
Part-time boyfriend role: According to multiple sources for Page Six, the 50-year-old Preacher will be filming “a few scenes” for season four, which is set to begin filming on February 13
Polarizing: After starring in the first two seasons of RHOSLC, the ‘philanthropist and spiritual leader’ – according to her Instagram bio – left the series amid a cloud of controversy. Back in September of last year, The Daily Beast quoted former members of Cosby’s Faith Temple Pentecostal Church as saying they run it as a cult
Controversially, Mary also married her grandmother’s former husband, Bishop Robert Cosby, although the two are not related by blood.
During an episode of RHSLC, Cosby claimed her grandmother wanted her to marry Robert after she was dead.
“I married him. I didn’t mean to … That’s weird to me,” she said. ‘But [my grandmother] I really wanted me to want it, so I obeyed her. I trusted every word.’
Cosby later disputed her own words during the reunion episode, clarifying that her grandmother merely wanted Robert to marry someone young, like Mary, because she “felt she stole his youth.”
Mary has also admitted that she has not been physically with her husband in recent years, adding that they sleep in separate beds.
In addition to her polarizing private life, the religious leader was accused of making racist statements on the show.
At a lunchtime event, Cosby said she loved Nguyen’s “slanted eyes,” which Nguyen later addressed by saying, “You don’t say things like that.”
In a subsequent confessional, Nguyen said: “It is an insult to our Asian culture to call me that and it comes across as racist. And it’s shocking because Mary should be more educated and understand that it’s not appropriate to say such things.’
Her only friend: The source for Page Six went on to say that after “coping with a lot of trauma post Season 2,” Cosby is being brought back into the group as a friend of OG cast member Meredith Marks, 51
Not on good terms: Meredith is reportedly the only cast member still in touch with Cosby, according to a Page Six source
Cosby also came under fire for calling her costar Jen Shah a “thug,” and she was later caught on camera comparing Shah to “those Mexicans who make all these drugs.”
Mary effectively left the series by skipping the season two reunion because she “didn’t want to deal with the controversy surrounding her this season,” according to a Page Six source.
They added: “She was afraid of being grilled for her ‘racist’ comments towards Jennie [Nguyen] and Jens [Shah]. She also declined to discuss allegations that she runs a cult.’
“Skipping the reunion is a big no-no for housewives,” the source explained. “That was the kiss of death for Mary. She has few alliances left in the cast who would have hoped she would have turned up at the reunion to take responsibility for her behavior and the allegations against her church.
But it seems Mary has made amends with Bravo as she prepares to fill the void left by Jen Shah, who was recently sentenced to six and a half years in prison for a nationwide telemarketing scam.
Cosby will return to RHOSLC mainstays Meredith Marks, Heather Gay, Lisa Barlow and Whitney Rose, all of whom will return for season four, along with several new cast members.
“They’re trying to bring in new women to soften it up,” a source told Page Six last month, which was later confirmed by Marks, who said the production “needed to help bridge that gap between the fractious cast members.” , by incorporating her new talent.