Below, Gay opens up rediscovering herself outside of the church, how Mormonism still informs her life, and where she stands with her castmates. That’s sixes! [Laughs] But I would put money on Lisa and Meredith because Whitney’s and mine isn’t really a patch-up. I think we’re moving in different directions, and I just don’t see a way forward right now. I don’t think she does either. I think that it was pretty fun between Meredith and Lisa at the end of the reunion when Andy brought out their birthday cake, so we’ll see if there’s some opportunity there. I distinctly remember when I went through the temple before my mission. I had gone through the Sunday School class called Temple Prep. I had sat down with my parents the night before. And even as I crossed the threshold for the first time into the temple, I remember thinking, “What if they sacrifice a live animal or something?” The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office registered the term “Mormon Tabernacle Choir” to the church in 2003, for example. With writing that is beautiful, sad, funny, and true, Heather recounts the difficult discovery of the darkness and damage that often exists behind a picture-perfect life, while examining the nuanced relationship between duty to self and duty to God. Exposing secrets she once held sacred, Bad Mormon is an unfiltered look at the religion that broke her heart.

Born and bred to be devout, Heather based her life around her faith. She attended Brigham Young University, served a mission in France, and married into Mormon royalty in the temple. But her life as a good Mormon abruptly ended when she lost the marriage and faith that she had once believed would last forever. The church is opposing the application, per the Salt Lake City Tribune, saying the trademark "would create a likelihood of confusion, trademark dilution, falsely suggest a connection to the church, and be otherwise deceptive." Gay was raised as a Latter-day Saint, graduated from Brigham Young University and served a church mission. She subsequently left the church after a divorce and joined “Real Housewives.” We spend our whole lives being taught that you can never succeed once you leave the church. Yet, here you are, being blessed with all this “worldly” success. You’ve arguably become one of the most famous people at the moment to be associated with Utah and Mormonism. How do you grapple with that dichotomy?I think it gives them a lot of understanding about their parents, why we got divorced, why I made the sacrifices I made and how much they are loved,” she says. I...liked this? Surprise surprise, but honestly not very surprising because I had a feeling I would, just based on the title and well, I was right. I think this is really how Whitney wants it to be," Heather explained. "She wants to be on her own. She doesn't want to feel obligation or loyalty, and I'm kind of an obligation-loyalty girl. So, I don't know. I don't see any stormy weather for bad weather. I think it's clear skies from here on out. She's doing her thing and I'll do mine." In August 2021, Gay’s company, Heathertainment, Inc., filed a trademark application for the term “Bad Mormon,” initially for use of “bottle openers; beer mugs; coffee mugs; drinking bottles for sports; plastic water bottles sold empty; sports bottles sold empty; squeeze bottles sold empty; travel mugs.”

Gay says she “loves” hearing her daughters’ perspective on the book, saying it has deepen their relationship. “It’s really been fun to share who I was when I was their age," she says, adding that she's raising them differently than she was raised. "They’ve also given me an objective opinion where they can view me as a reader and not just as my daughter.” ‘No one talks about it’: How Gay’s family is dealing with the book But what you actually want to know is if you should read Bad Mormon. And that depends on your relationship with Heather Gay and the LDS church. Gay’s proposed trademark is trying to capitalize on the fame of the Mormon marks registered and controlled by the church and suggests a connection to the church under trademark law. “Bad Mormon” intends to create a false suggestion of connection to the church “by conveying stories of alleged former or existing members of the church behaving immorally, badly or otherwise contrary to the teachings of the church,” the filing stated.

Didn't Jasmine sing it best? [Singing] “A whole new world…” Of course. I'm a girl who never thought in a million years that I'd be on Housewives and write a book. So why would I say that in a million years, Lisa and I couldn't be best of friends? I mean, people change every day, and I'm changing every day. And she's always going to be the same, so… [Laughs] But I have hope. Yeah! What young bride is going to say “I’m going to give up on my marriage and my husband, the love of my life, because this is too weird”? Or you’ve had your missionary farewell — everyone’s given you money and scriptures, you have a calling that God’s chosen for you. You’re not going to say “No, this death oath is too much, I’m going to opt out now.” Ahead of its publication, TODAY.com caught up with Gay to hear about putting the memoir together and what comes next. Gay says she's 'loved' sharing the book with her 3 daughters The Beauty Lab + Laser founder considered his words for a month, but she eventually decided to make her own choices. "One day, in an instant, I realized that I didn't have to do what the bishop said," she wrote. "I could do whatever I wanted. I wasn't beholden to him or any other man. And maybe he was wrong. Maybe God wanted me to walk around parties with a martini instead of milk."