Before you judge me, let me explain. Jen Shah is due in court soon where they will find her guilty or not for wire fraud and money laundering. Watching the events of this case unfold in real time – her assistant Stuart pleading guilty, Jen having to downsize, the dissipation of the Shah Squad, the premiere of the Hulu documentary about her alleged crimes, not to mention the Feds storming her house on The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City – the court of public opinion is already dragging her further than I ever could. Jen is a mess who might have scammed the most vulnerable members of our society (she denies it), but I don't dislike her as much as I dislike Whitney "Wild" Rose.
I know some of you out there know exactly what I'm talking about. Jen, again, might be a federal criminal, but Whitney?! I cannot stand her.
Whitney came in hot this season when she threw what seemed to be a frat party with people she went to school with not long before her own stepsons did. It was all fun and games, and we were led to believe that Whitney's storyline this season would be about the lack of sex in her marriage and the hunt for her troubled father.
Instead, as the episodes rolled on, it turned into Whitney clinging to her cousin Heather Gay while trying to make everyone else's storyline hers. From her obsession with wanting to be Lisa Barlow's friend to her wanting to take down Mary Cosby's church to her terrible confrontation skills that just make it seem like she's (poorly) trying to produce the show – this rose has been a thorn in my side.
Let's get into why Whitney kinda sucks this season.
Her lack of a storyline
We dropped the sexless marriage and lost father storylines and gained a relaunched beauty line. She had a party for it while her husband complained that they shouldn't take out a million dollar loan. That's it. That's her home life. That's the only thing she has going on in her life, that we know about. The rest of her relevancy on the show is related to the other women. She is a Feeder Housewife, which is fine! But it can't be your only thing, and for Whitney, biting off the others' plates is all she has going for her.
Her dropped storyline with Angie Harrington
Who is Angie Hrrington in this world? Introduced as Lisa Barlow's friend, Whitney and Angie tried to catch Lisa in a "Gotcha!" moment with the LGBTQIA+ event and another with the "set-up" at a meal where they were supposed to be making peace.
If you're going to bring a friend on the show to do some dirty work with you, take a page out of Kristen Doute's book and go for the jugular. (Miami Girl on Vanderpump was epic.) Whitney's rouse just came across as played and a little sad, really.
Which leads me to my next point.
Her obsession with Lisa Barlow is confusing
This season, the ladies have personified the saying, "With friends like these, who needs enemies?"
Since the first season of RHOSLC, Heather and Whitney have wanted to get validation from Lisa, since Lisa basically pulled an "I don't know her" on Heather when it was revealed that they went to the same college.
Even after Lisa called Heather a "good-time girl" – Whitney has been flip-flopping between wanting to be the Diet Coke Queen's bestie or the one to take her down.
Whether it's revealing that Lisa was one of the ones speculating about Meredith Marks' father's memorial service or getting her to talk about Mary Cosby's ex-church member – she never hesitates to throw Lisa under the bus.
Which is confusing, considering that she ran to comfort Lisa in Sunday night's episode!! What does Whitney stand for? We have no idea.
Her focus on Mary M. Cosby's church
After Sunday night's episode, we know that Mary's congregation is infatuated with her. Is there something more there? Maybe. However, it's very odd that Whitney is hellbent on attacking Mary about her church – the very same one that welcomed Whitney's father when he was on the path to sobriety.
It’s natural for Whitney to want to argue with Mary Cosby considering the way the spiritual leader has been treating her, but there are many different things that she can say that does not her church, such as.. just off of the top of my head, Whitney could come for Mary's marriage, her wardrobe, or her lack of a filter, but this fixation on her church seems misguided.
Her terrible, awkward pot-stirring
I love a messy Housewife but it has to be done in the right way. Whitney has a habit of starting shit and not finishing it. Calling out Lisa's two-faced ways, saying Mary's church is a cult, questioning whether Meredith called the feds or not – Whitney has a way of pointing the finger at everyone but herself. And she's never able to draw a conclusion or get an answer. It's just all frothy, nothing firm, and it just makes her "confrontations" hard to watch. She could learn from Potomac's Ashley Darby, who always comes correct when confronting a cast member.
Maybe Whitney's awkward pot-stirring is due to the fact that she has nothing going on. She has no story.
But with the rumblings happening about her husband's business – next season may be Whitney's turn to be the target and not the shooter. Which, to be honest, might make her a more interesting cast member.