Should Reality TV Air Tragedy? Fans Divided on Watching ‘RHOSLC’ Season 7

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Will <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/news/rhoslc-star-heather-gay-how-much-spent-plastic-surgery.html/”>The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City</a> Season 7 be must-see TV? Or will painful twists in the lives of one cast member make the new episodes too difficult to watch?

Bravo has not yet set a premiere date for the next season of RHOSLC. But fans who follow the show and its stars know what’s coming. On February 23, Robert Cosby Jr., the only child of <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/news/rhoslc-season-6-reunion-mary-cosby-controversial-church-spotlight.html/”>cast member Mary Cosby</a>, died at age 23 of a suspected overdose.

<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-mary-cosby-mourns-death-of-son-robert-cosby-jr”>Mary Cosby mourns death of son, Robert Cosby Jr.</h2>

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“Our beloved son Robert Jr. has been called home to the Lord. Though our hearts ache, we take comfort in God’s promise and in knowing he is finally at peace,” Mary and her husband, Robert Cosby Sr., said in a statement after Robert’s death.

While Robert was not a regular cast member on RHOSLC, he was seen periodically on the show, where both he and his mother discussed his issues with drug use.

“Sometimes, I feel like, I don’t know, just life is like this chicken without seasoning,” he told his mother in a season 5 episode. “But when I get high, it’s like seasoning.”

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He also confessed to struggling with his mental health.

“I felt like a stain — I just felt like this world wasn’t for me,” he said. “You’re the only reason I didn’t kill myself.”

Mary responded by telling her only son she loved him “more than anything in this world.”

“You’re my friend, you’re my son, you’re my gift,” she said, crying. “God gave you to me. You’re the only thing that ever made me happy. Before I had you, I was never happy. You came and you were so real. It was everything I hoped for in a person.”

When Robert died earlier this year, production was just about to begin on the upcoming season of RHOSLC. Bravo immediately hit pause on filming as Mary and the rest of the cast grieved.

“I think it was the hardest thing to experience,” Mary’s fellow Housewife Lisa Barlow said during a recent appearance on <a href=”https://sxm.app.link/RealityCheckedPR” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>SiriusXM’s Reality Checked</a>. “I mean, it’s a bonding moment for sure, but having Mary lose her son literally the night before we started filming. The night before, and it was, you know, I just cried all night and, you know, Mary’s handled things so incredibly well. I think when you have such a strong relationship with God, it can get you through anything.”

<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-mary-cosby-will-reportedly-appear-in-the-real-housewives-of-salt-lake-city-season-7″>Mary Cosby will reportedly appear in ‘The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City’ Season 7</h2>

In early March, filming resumed on RHOSLC Season 7, according to <a href=”https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/rhoslc-season-7-filming-mary-cosby-son-death-1236517932/” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>The Hollywood Reporter</a>. While Mary was understandably not in front of the cameras at that time, she did plan to return to the show, <a href=”https://www.tmz.com/2026/02/27/mary-cosby-still-plans-to-film-rhoslc-despite-sons-death/” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>TMZ</a> reported. Insiders said the pastor of Faith Temple Pentecostal Church wanted to maintain structure in her life as she grappled with her loss.

“It really is a total eclipse of the heart” links

While Mary has apparently decided to resume filming, RHOSLC fans are divided on whether they should watch season 7, which will presumably address Robert Jr.’s unexpected death. Some felt the episodes would just be too dark, with a few people noting that Mary’s story would hit too close to home because of losses they suffered in their own lives.

“That is such a cloud over the show that I don’t think I can watch. I hope I am wrong,” one person wrote on <a href=”https://www.reddit.com/r/rhoslc/comments/1s4jts2/mary_cosbys_plan_to_return_to_rhoslc_filming/” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>Reddit.</a>

Some felt it would have been better for Mary to sit out the season, both so she could have time to heal and for the good of the show.

“Not a good decision. She should have skipped the season,” one person commented on <a href=”https://www.instagram.com/p/DWXRSXuDo2o/?hl=en” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>Instagram</a>. “The show is going to be boring and awkward because everyone will be walking on eggshells around her.”

“I’m not a Mary fan and the new season will be hard to watch,” one Redditor shared. “It will shift the group dynamic drastically.”

RHOSLC is not the first reality show that has had to figure out how to handle filming in the wake of difficult moments. In 2011,The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills filmed Taylor Armstrong and the rest of the cast in the wake of <a href=”https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/national-international/natl-real-housewives-addresses-armstrongs-suicide/1882548/”>her husband’s death by suicide</a>. More recently, Sister Wives has focused on how the death of Garrison Brown has affected the extended Brown family, including his mother, Janelle Brown, and his father Kody Brown.

For more news and exclusive interviews, follow <a href=”https://www.instagram.com/showbizcheatsheet/” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>Showbiz Cheat Sheet’s Instagram</a>.

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