Mountains galore. The greatest snow. Five national parks. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Utah is a destination for many things. But within the last four years, millions have paid the state a visit without ever leaving the couch.
The world of reality TV has taken the Beehive State by storm. Since 2020, four different lifestyle based shows have filmed along the Wasatch Front:
- “Dream Home Makeover,” a Netflix original show about Utah-based interior designer Studio McGee.
- “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City,” a Bravo drama that showcases the high-end lifestyles of seven women.
- “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives,” a Hulu drama about eight Utah-based female social media influencers known as “Momtok.”
- “Sold on SLC,” another Bravo drama show about six real estate agents who sell luxury homes.
There’s also the TLC show “The Sister Wives,” which dates back to 2010 and is currently on its 19th season. Originally set in Lehi, it follows a modern day polygamist family of 23. They later absconded to Las Vegas after the Utah County Attorney’s Office opened up an investigation into the family for violating bigamy laws. It frequently mentions Utah and filming regularly happens here, too.
Utah is attracting big production companies to build entire followings centered around its residents. The recent boom raises the question: Why is Utah having a reality TV moment?
Meg Walter, a culture columnist for the Deseret News, is a reality TV fan. She describes herself as in the running to be one of Utah’s top enthusiasts of reality TV. She has her theory as to why the genre is making waves in the Mountain West.
“Utah as a whole is kind of at an inflection point,” she mused.
The U.S. Census Bureau consistently ranks Utah as one of the fastest-growing states in the nation and its population is projected to grow to 5.4 million residents by 2060. The steady flow of tech jobs coming to the state is paired with a hot real estate market.
“People started to notice that there's kind of something peculiar about people in Utah,” Walter said. “That led to Bravo taking notice, and here we are today.”
The “Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” brought something new to the screen. Instead of creating a show like “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” and then teaching the cast members how to have a social media presence, Walter said the stars of Secret Lives already had a presence.
The eight women were famous on TikTok before Hulu ever swooped in on the action.
“They knew how to use the internet,” Walter said. “They knew how to say ‘We are here, here’s who we are, we're hot, we're different, we have something unique to say, pay attention to us.’ And that led to a program.”
Then, the streaming service helped grow the moms’ popularity.
The show was Hulu’s most-watched non-scripted season premiere in 2024, with nearly 730 million viewing minutes within the first week.
Millions of eyeballs are on Utah because there is something to see and something to learn. That’s at least what Janelle Silva, a professor of psychology at the University of Washington, believes. She teaches a course on the psychology of reality TV in which both the Real Housewives and Mormon Wives have spots on the syllabus.
Reality TV isn’t known for purity or civilized discourse. That’s part of the reason why Silva finds it interesting that Utah – a place known for morality and religiosity – would become a reality television hub.
She also has a personal connection since her husband is from Salt Lake County. She admittedly didn’t know much about the state before meeting him.
“Utah is very mysterious in that way,” she said. “I think within Utah, there's a lot you don't know if you're not a member of the LDS Church.”
While not all of the stars on these shows are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, most have some connection to the faith. To Silva, these real-time lifestyle shows let outsiders in on what feels like a secret.
“We want to see what this world looks like, especially a world that many of us don't know anything about, because it's a culture that’s so unique and fascinating to learn about and to see it.”
Silva also agrees with Walter’s take on why there has been such an interest in Utah recently. In addition to population growth, Silva added that the return of the Olympics in 2034 and the rise of professional sports have shined a spotlight on Utah. Those additions have “really called attention to the state as more than just a place where the LDS Church resides,” Silva said.
All this leads to one simple conclusion for Walter and Silva: This is the place for reality TV because millions of eyes are already on Utah beyond the screen.
