Two timelines converged in a Salt Lake City movie theater Saturday night, when Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star Whitney Rose met Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star Whitney Leavitt to host a screening of A24’s new film, Heretic, starring Hugh Grant. This is not an article about that movie, which my colleagues have already thoughtfully reviewed. This is about the Whitneys.
When I tell you these are the pop culture moments I live for, I mean it. Whitney Rose is an essential character in the RHOSLC universe. A former Mormon turned jewelry designer currently and forevermore on a “healing journey,” she offers a wide-eyed, “Who, me?” quality mixed with a dash of “Don’t come for me and my trauma,” that balances out the otherwise chaotic, kicking and screaming vibe of the rest of the cast. Whitney Leavitt, similarly, rolls her eyes at her fellow Mormon Wives while keeping her tongue firmly planted in her cheek, usually in a flouncy, vaguely clown-core outfit. So, they occupy the same space on their respective shows.
And they both have bobs.
The bobs are important, you have to understand, because Salt Lake City, Utah, is where good taste goes to die. You thought that was New Jersey? No. In Salt Lake City, they’re still wearing Lululemon leggings as pants and curling their waist-length extensions until about three inches from the tip, then just stopping so that the ends look especially fried and split. All of the TikTok fashion trends your 13-year-old daughter is into, adult women are doing in Salt Lake City. It is, ironically, a cursed place. The Whitneys know this, and they’re setting themselves apart.
“There’s something happening nationally right now where Utah is blowing up—not as a state but as a concept…Why are people looking at women in Utah with such fascination?” Vulture asked the Whitneys.
“I think it’s lot of things besides our religion that happens culturally in Utah. Like, we’ve got our soda drinks. Yeah, we’ve got our ‘Utah curl,’” answered Whitney Leavitt.
“I love all of your castmates a lot,” responded Whitney Rose, “but I despise the Utah curl. You gotta curl your hair to the end.”
“Or get a bob!” Whitney Leavitt added.
“Yeah, and I’m so glad that Whitney is paving the way there with her bob,” said Whitney Rose, though I’d like to think she had a bob before they were cool.
It’s a great time to be a girl with a bob, and a reality television fan. That’s it, that’s the whole article.