Monica Garcia is taking a much-needed breather from The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City after an explosive season 4 reunion.
During an appearance on Sirius XM's Reality Checked, the Bravolebrity, 40, reacted to her departure from the Utah-based reality series and Andy Cohen's recent decision to put her Housewife stint on pause.
"I don't know what that means," she said of her hiatus. "If I were to look at it logically, right, I would just think, you know, the other women need time to cool down. I need time to cool down. Production needs time to cool down."
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Garcia went on to explain to host Dorinda Medley that the events of this season "affected more than just me" and "more than just the women."
"I mean, everything coming out with [Heather Gay's] black eye even was probably re-triggering for production as well. I think everyone just needs a breather maybe is what that means," she added.
Earlier this month, PEOPLE exclusively broke the news of Garcia's exit after her breakout debut on the reality series. Multiple sources confirmed that she would not be rejoining costars Gay, Meredith Marks, Lisa Barlow, Whitney Rose and Angie Katsanevas when cameras pick back up next month.
Bravo typically does not discuss casting, but executive producers confirmed the news shortly after in an interview with Variety, saying the cast needed time to regroup. Cohen later, on Watch What Happens Live, suggested Garcia's exit might be "a break."
News of Garcia's exit came hours before the airing of the third and final part of the RHOSLC reunion, where she confronted the revelation that she was behind RealityVonTease, an Instagram troll account that's had a history of posting negative things about the RHOSLC stars.
There, Garcia defended her actions, claiming her primary goal for posting on Reality Von Tease was "to expose Jen [Shah]," an original RHOSLC cast member who is currently serving a 5.5 sentence in prison for her role in a long-running telemarketing fraud scheme, and her alleged "abusive behavior."
On Reality Checked, Garcia confessed she was "not prepared" for the hostile confrontation she received at the season 4 reunion.
"I think that people also don't understand just the pressure of walking in that room and knowing all eyes are on you," she explained. "I mean, Angie said it, nobody wants you here. I had to walk into that situation knowing it was going to be a bloodbath."
Garcia admitted that she knew that the reunion would be a non-starter, but felt compelled to share a note of gratitude to the few who showed her support.
"I will say I am so grateful that I was next to Andy because at the end of the day, that was the only person I did have on my side. That's how I felt," she added.
The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City season 4 can be streamed in full on Peacock. SiriusXM’s Reality Checked airs weekdays at 4 p.m. ET on SiriusXM’s Radio Andy channel 102, and anytime on the SXM app.
Monica Garcia is exiting The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City after one season.
The Bravo reality star found herself at odds with her co-stars when it was revealed she was behind an Instagram fan account that trolled her fellow housewives.
Andy Cohen, who is an executive producer on the show, explained the reasons for why producers opted to put Garcia on pause.
“The news is out that we are going to have a cooling-off period,” Cohen said on his SiriusXM show Andy Cohen Live.
He continued, “I think the reunion is the chance to come out [and] say why you did what you did on the season. It’s the Supreme Court of public opinion. And so Monica had the opportunity, not only to explain herself to the audience but way more importantly, in this case, to the other women. And I don’t think she successfully swayed any of them to her side.”
In the third part of the reunion, Cohen asked the RHOSLC where they stood with Garcia and they all said that they didn’t trust her.
“So, I think that it’s best- you know, we all discussed it ad nauseam- to kind of let this one breathe for a while,” Cohen added. “She’s obviously really compelling television. Maybe she’ll be able to build some inroads with some of the women on her own, off camera.”
RHOSLC Season 5 is expected to start production in the coming weeks. The cast of the most current season includes Lisa Barlow, Heather Gay, Meredith Marks, Whitney Rose, Angie Katsanevas and Mary M. Cosby as a friend of the housewives.
Garcia joined the show in Season 4, having worked briefly for former housewife Jen Shah, who is currently serving time in prison for her involvement in a telemarketing scheme. Although many of the women tried to befriend Garcia, by the end of the season, Gay revealed that Garcia was involved with a social media account that had been reporting on the stars of RHOSLC.
Garcia admitted she was one of several people running an Instagram account called Reality Von Tease. She said her initial involvement was to expose Shah sharing videos of her mistreating her employees.
