MONICA Garcia has departed from the Real Housewives franchise.
The TV personality spent one season on the Real Housewives of Salt Lake City.
Monica, 40, will not be returning for the fifth season of the hit Bravo reality series alongside Heather Gay, 49; Angie Katsanevas, 50; Lisa Barlow, 49; Meredith Marks, 52; and Whitney Rose, 37, People first reported.
Top execs at NBC "had about 7,000 conversations" about Monica's future appearances on the show, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Lisa Shannon, the Senior VP of Programming and Development at Shed Media, and Noah Samton, Senior VP of Production at NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, were having several conversations about it as of January 19.
"We probably have another few hundred ahead of us still," Noah told THR.
"Monica's a great cast member," Noah stated. "She’s open and vulnerable and she represents a different kind of person in Salt Lake than we have on the show. She comes from a different background and there’s a lot about her that the audience can relate to in a way that’s different from the other women.
"But at the same time, there’s the deception, there’s the relationship with the other cast members. It’s a really complicated puzzle.
"From a rating standpoint, you would want to find a way for her to come back. But it’s really challenging in this situation. We’re just trying to figure it out."
Lisa also added, "It’s a situation we’ve never been in before. ... This is a different beast than I think any of us have dealt with. So we’re kind of moving our way through it."
Earlier this month, The U.S. Sun revealed that Monica had not been offered a contract for season five.
"Monica hasn't heard from Bravo yet," the insider spilled.
"She's been left in the dark and believes they're waiting to see more of the public's opinion during the reunion before making a decision."
REALITY VON TEASE
During the finale, Heather found out that the mom of four was behind a Dita Von Teese parody account called Reality Von Teese.
Seemingly inspired by the show Gossip Girl, the profile often posts content about the RHOSLC cast.
The user's main account has over 21,000 followers and two similar accounts.
The profile posts satirical and unflattering rumors about Jen Shah and the other women featured in RHOSLC.
THE SCANDAL
Before the season 4 finale concluded, the RHOSLC cast confronted Monica during their vacation in Bermuda.
"We’ve come a long way as four and Monica [Garcia] is not who she says she is," Heather said to her castmates.
"She’s not our friend. She’s someone that has schemed and worked to infiltrate our friend group.
"And the name that you all know her as, the woman who’s birthday we celebrated, who we have been trying to champion, and support and defend is Reality Von Tease."
During the episode's dinner scene, Heather and Monica argue as the former told the latter, "You are an internet troll.
"You are a cyber bully. You have been tweeting and undermining and bullying all of us for four years."
At the time, Monica denied Heather's accusations and argued back, "That is bulls**t. That was never my f***ing account."
However, she later confessed she was one of the people behind the account.
"I didn’t say s**t about anyone else other than Jen and I will own that to the grave," Monica said as she confirmed the revelation.
"Von Tease was never just one person. It wasn’t just me.
"There were several other humans involved but bottom line, our mission was to take down Jen, the other ones were just collateral damage."
As the episode was broadcast, Monica took to her own Instagram account and posted a clip with the caption: "You know you love me! Xoxo, RVT."
HOW SHE FOUND OUT
During the finale, Heather explained that her hairdresser Tenesha is a mutual friend of hers and Monica's.
She mentioned that Tenesha "had a crisis of conscience and came clean" about her and Monica's involvement with Reality Von Tease.
Heather also told the other Housewives that Tenesha gave her "screenshots, text messages, audio recordings, videos, photos, and DMs….volumes of evidence exposing Monica."
After the finale was aired, Tenesha further shared her side of the story.
The hairdresser told her Instagram followers, "This girl [Monica] lies through her teeth and I cannot wait to start posting receipts.
"She didn’t partially run that account, she ran that account.
"This woman knows no bounds. Monica, she hated Jen and now she is Jen 2.0.
"She is a liar and a deceiver. Comfortable sitting there lying."
"That’s okay. I’ve got a receipt to back up everything I’ve ever dealt with for this woman. Ever," they added.
MORE ABOUT MONICA
The reality star was born on June 1, 1983.
She joined the cast during season four which premiered on September 5, 2023.
The entrepreneur and mother of four is the founder and creative director of the baby blanket company Brea Baby.
According to the business's website, it creates "stylish, unique, organic, one-of-a-kind pieces both you and your little ones will love for years to come."
It continues: "Every swaddle purchased helps swaddle a baby in need."
Monica is Portuguese and Columbian and hails from Boston, Massachusetts.
She is also a former Mormon who was excommunicated from the church.
Her Bravo biography states: "Portuguese-Colombian Monica Garcia is introduced to the group through her friend Angie, but the women quickly realize they recognize her through another familiar face.
"An excommunicated ex-Mormon, Monica is raising her four children on her own and running her baby products business.
"To add to her plate, she’s also dealing with divorcing her husband for the second time and navigating a volatile relationship with her mother.
"Blunt, opinionated and never afraid to speak her mind, Monica has no problem saying what she’s thinking, even if it lands her in hot water with the other women."
When Monica is not on set, she can often be found posting about her life on social media, especially Instagram, to hundreds of thousands of followers.
