Scheananigans with Scheana Shay - Housewives-on-Mormon Wives | Lisa Barlow & Demi Engemann

Episode Date: October 8, 2024

Bonus Episode! While in Utah, Scheana was able to get Lisa Barlow (RHOSLC) and Demi Engemann (Secret Lives of Mormon Wives) on the same couch for the crossover conversation we didn’t know we needed! They dish on how they first met, Lisa’s role in urging Demi to sign on for SLOMW, the reasons why Utah is strikingly reality TV gold right now, and Lisa’s past with Demi’s husband Bret. Was their relationship platonic in nature? Tune in to find out!  Follow us: @scheananigans @scheana Guests: @lisabarlow14 @demilucymay The video version of this episode will be available on Scheana’s YouTube page on Tuesday, October 8th.Produced by Dear MediaSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The following podcast is a Dear Media production. From Vanderpump rules to motherhood and everywhere in between. Warm up the kettle, it's time to spill some tea. Let's get into some shenanigans with Sheena Shay. All right, y'all. We are getting into some more shenanigans this week here in Salt Lake City, and And then Demi sent me a photo of the two of you. I guess you ran into each other last week, and that was just my catalyst to get the wheels in motion here. So it's quite fitting. We are going to have a little bit of time together

from Real Housewives of Salt Lake City. Please welcome back Lisa Barlow and from Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, my girl Demi Engelman. So had you two met previously before running into each other recently? Yes. Yeah, we met. We met at… Was it Whitney's event? Whitney had an event where I donated a bar generously for her business. Whitney Rose. Yes.

Okay. Not Whitney from Secret Lives. No. Oh my God. No, not that Whitney. I forgot. We have to like be very specific because there's two Whitney's. Yeah. Whitney Rose. When Whitney was launching her jewelry brand, the new one, she was like, hey, could you donate a bar? And I'm like, of course I will.

So I donated a bar and Demi was there. And I know Demi's husband forever for like over 20 years. Yeah, since college. 22 years. I'm dating myself. Now everyone can figure out my age. I love it. I mean, I was in college 20 years ago. Isn't it crazy? How did time fly by like that? She still looks like she's 28. You both do.

Like 20. Thank you. Like 20s like she's 28. You both do. Thank you. Like 20s. I'll take it. It's crazy. You both look incredible. But Brett was like the star football player for BYU. Yeah, wasn't he like quarterback? Quarterback.

Like the cute quarterback. He's like quintessential quarterback. He used to come to my house with David Osmond and sing to me. It was totally platonic. Just really good friends. They kissed like eight times, but it was totally platonic. There was no kissing. There was no kissing. I never kissed Brett. They soaked like eight times, but it was totally platonic. There was no kissing.

There was no kissing. I never kissed friends. They soaked, so it didn't count. No, she's lying. Okay, we did not soak. Oh my God, I just learned what that is. That's like the ugliest thing ever. And like people do that.

All right, who shook the bed when you were soaking? Well, we didn't soak. David. No, that was a threesome. Don't get it twisted. David's going to be mortified too. He is like, he is a quintessential us man, like Mormon. Yeah. We love him.

We love him. Do you have any fun stories of Brett, like from the vault that Demi might not know about? No, I don't think I do. Brett is just super kind. I think everybody loved Brett. He did go out and play for the Raiders. His brother-in-law was Larry King. His father did like amazing things to he like represented who the Beach Boys.

Yeah, the Beach Boys. Capital Records. And then he managed Marie Osmond for like 30 years. And then I'm friends with his sister, Shannon. I love Shannon so much. Like she was the girl every guy was obsessed with. So like for real, she has like the hottest body, coolest personality, best voice, like everything about her is cool.

So you guys are really good looking family. Yeah. So you guys have always like kept in touch. You know, I moved back to New York. Like so I started school at BYU, moved back to New York, then came back here. And like, we would just run into each other, like how we accidentally ran into each other at brunch. Yeah.

Like we would just run into each other, but I've always thought Brett was so awesome and so kind and he's handsome. He's like a good person. What did you think, Lisa, when you heard that Brett and Demi were going to be on Secret Lives? I don't know if I really thought much about it other than like, we talked a What did you think Lisa, when you heard that Brett and Demi were gonna be on Secret Lives? I don't know if I really thought much about it other than like we talked a little bit about it

when we were at Whitney's jewelry brand. Yeah, so we talked about it a little bit and I was like Demi's perfect for this. I think it'll be amazing for you. I think it was all positive. Oh, thank you. Don't you think? Yeah, my takeaway was that you just had really great advice

and you were telling me to go for it. Cause I was nervous. I was like, I don't know if it's a right, if it's a good fit. I don't know if I want to like enter that world. And you were like, go for it. And I was like, okay. Well, I think she's perfect for it too.

I think she's the star of her show. I think Demi is like direct when she needs to be compassionate when she needs to be. And I like that Demi feels a hundred percent like her. I binge the show. Like I was like, I have to know what this is about. Yeah. I know who I like and who I don't like.

Yeah. Same. I will. Okay. Who do you not like? Um, I do not like the Affleck girl, Jen Affleck's husband. I don't like him. I'm like, I don't like anything about him

from what I've seen. And I'm like, she's too cute for him. She should leave him and find someone else. But then she might end up with someone like Whitney's husband who has a porn addiction. So, I don't know if there's anything. Maybe the grass isn't greener. I don't think Whitney, I, you know,

I had a really bad first season where people were like, I hate you. And I was like, maybe she's getting a bad edit. And then it kept getting worse and worse and worse. So then I'm like, maybe. It's not that it. And I just think the fact that she's so needy. I'm like, you have two kids.

Like you're a giver completely. Like I'm watching you do activities with your kids. Like give a little more to your friends and don't be the victim all the time. I really liked Taylor. I didn't know if I was going to like Taylor because I remember when the whole mom talk thing blew up, but I think she is honest, honest about who she is, honest about who she is with everyone, including her parents,

which is really hard. And like, I actually feel bad for Dakota. I feel bad for him. I think he came right out of one addiction into another. And that was with Taylor. Yeah. That's a good way to look at it. Yeah. I think he did. It's complicated, but I think he feels like, you know, when we're young, we don't know what love is. Sometimes we have to like fall in real love to figure that out. And I think he literally went from one addiction to the other, but I like how honest she is about herself. I think that was like amazing. And I loved me.

Thank you. I love to me. She's amazing. Yeah. I've been so excited. No, I don't have to say that. If I didn't feel that way, I wouldn't say it, but you know, when you know someone in real life and then you see them on the show, I think some of the strengths to me has are

like just being so bold and honest about who she is, about her relationship, about her friendships. And I think you're a really good friend. Thank you so much. You're welcome. It's true. I appreciate it. Thank you. And a good luck. Yes.

Thank you. Thank you. I feel like Utah is like currently the epicenter for reality TV. We have Secret Lives, which is just dominating the streaming charts, like insane. Real Housewives of Salt Lake back for its fifth season. And now there's another Utah show on Bravo about like real estate, apparently, that was just announced. Selling SLC.

Okay. Crazy. It's crazy. I think more is gonna come. Utah is weird. It's completely weird. Like the norms here are not norms anywhere else. Like the language, like hilling and crick and creek.

And like the way people say things, it's different. It's like the soda capital of the world. Like, I feel like Diet Coke does like 90% of its sales here. Like, I mean it. I've never tried a Diet Coke with coconut cream until this morning. And I was like, hold on. This is soda. That's the norm.

What a norm. We're going to swig after this. I was like, hold on. This is soda. That's the norm. That's the norm. We're going to swig after this. I never drank soda growing up. Like it was like a special occasion when we had pizza and I moved to Utah and I'm like hearts. I'm like here every day. I like spent like, I don't know, 30, 40 bucks a week in college at hearts. It's a little gas station where you can fill up your cup

and I'd get a sugar cookie. And I was like a like a soda holic. Okay, wait, can I ask you, did you drink in college? I drank one time and no one out, I've never said this out loud. I got wine coolers. They were like the grossest flavor with my friend Mindy, who was like trouble.

And we like went to the bay, drank them really fast in the party line. Got sick as can be. No, I did not get sick, but I danced like I was Janet Jackson the whole night. That's amazing. I'm sure that felt good to get off your chest. All these years later.

My dad has never heard that story. He found out I put a cheap muffler on his Mercedes from something like this. That's cute. And that also makes sense because I was like, if you're drinking in college, I feel like you're not as prone to the soda addiction here. Yeah. I feel like it's because we, a lot of us don't drink or we're closet drinkers. And so a lot of people like that's their vice. Like they wake up and they soda.

None of my friends in college were from Utah. I had very few. I shouldn't say none of them. Very few were from Utah. They were all the California Laguna Beach kids, the Danville kids, the New York kids, the New Canaan kids. So I felt like they didn't have the norm, like the social norms on them for drinking and like they all drink all the time. We lived at the avenues. And like everyone was drinking there. That's so funny. Was that hard for you? Was it like, were you tempted to do it more than that one wild night? The only thing I was tempted to do was to get a tattoo, a little one on my ankle, because my

girlfriend got one. She had a little dolphin on there and I was like, should I get one? I'm glad you didn't. I'm glad you didn't go with the dolphin. I'm tattoo free. So many tattoos that have not aged well. Where are they? I have a tramp stamp, a fairy. Yeah, there's a lot of bad choices on my body. That's okay.

We all have them. Some of us just don't show the bad choices. Yeah, I've got live, laugh, love right here on the ribs. Oh yeah, that's a different kind of choice. Yeah, I was 18 and drunk. Makes sense. I remember one of my roommates at BYU, Emily, she lived in Beaverton and she'll know exactly who I am because I'm sure she watches.

Her sister got drunk and got a giant Tweety bird in a cage down her back. Oh no. Yes. That is awful. Whoever did that is that's criminal behavior. And I remember we drove to Beaverton and back and on the way back, like I didn't know they had so much weed in the car. And then her and her friend started smoking

and I'm in the back seat and I'm like, I'm gonna die. We're gonna get pulled over by the police and I'm gonna get go to jail with these girls in their hot box in this car. That's a drama. That's hilarious. I love it. I have to ask because you all are celebrated

across the country, but how are you received in Utah? Like among the more traditional Mormons? I think for me, I'm in a good place because I've always been like the way I am as a Mormon. I think for Demi and her cast, there is a lady that will not stop. I shared a post and she is going on and on and on about how none of them are Mormon. And I think it's frustrating because religion is personal and there's not a checklist to be any religion. If she goes to church once a month, once a week, once a year, it doesn't make you any less of a Mormon. And they shouldn't be like, you can't be Mormon because you drink, you're on a TV show, you're honest about who you are.

I think the church is evolving and some people are not. Agreed, agreed. I think in true Mormon fashion, I'm not hearing any of the, you know, negative. I'm only seeing positive. And I will say when the trailer dropped, everyone freaked out. Everyone was like, this is not how it is. This is not true. Like this isn't a representation of Mormonism.

And then now there's radio silence. Those people aren't saying anything at all. Or there's people coming out being like, actually this is a true representation. And like, this is going on in the church and this does need to be talked about. So that's what I've seen. And I've actually been pleasantly surprised

with the way that people have been receiving it all and talking about it and treating me. I feel like I've received so much love. And I know like talking to you, I'm like that could totally shift and change through the years, but right now I'm just like enjoying being on, you know, being on top. I think it's good for people to see that you can't,

that you can still go to church if you do things that aren't on the checklist to be a good woman. And like when people have these expectations, I'm like, you're basically asking people to be perfect. Like don't mess up at all in your whole entire life. And then that's how you're a good Mormon, but that's not how people are. And like religion subjective, like what my mom needed from the church when she joined the church with us is totally different than when I needed. Things that trigger her don't trigger me. And she's left the church. So I'm still in it. Yeah. So I think it's like all subjective, but Utah has a crazy culture where it's like hide things. And I've experienced it on my cast too, where like girls that are born and

raised in Utah are harder about, they're harder to be friends with. They're harder to get like the truth from. And I think it's like part of the religion that created the culture. Yeah. Yeah, it makes it tricky because you, it's this roadmap to essentially perfection, but then there's also like grace and the atonement

and like you're human. And then it's like, you have the people who you're trying to like navigate it and navigate where, you know where the line is. And so it's, it, it's really tricky. Yeah. And the line is different for different people. And it's not the Mormon church. It's the church of Jesus Christ.

So follow those teachings and you won't be judgy. Yeah, exactly. Yep. Well, I know you have to get going. So last question, what advice do you have for the ladies of Secret Lives? I think the biggest thing is to be yourself a hundred percent. I think you can answer to being yourself. I think you can defend being yourself.

And when you try and be something that I don't think you do this at all to me, I think you're a hundred percent yourself. But when people try to be something they're not, it usually fails, but you can defend everything if it's how you really feel, how you think who you are. I love that. it usually fails, but you can defend everything if it's how you really feel, how you think, who you are. I love that. Yeah. Yeah.

Well, thank you. And thank you for sticking around with us today. I know you have a busy day. Don't forget to tune into Bravo every Wednesday for new episodes of Real Housewives of Salt Lake City. You can stream it on Peacock the next day. Follow Lisa and all of her projects at lisabarlow14 on Instagram. Thanks, Sheena.

Thanks for having me. Thank you. Thanks for listening to Shenanigans with Sheena Shay. Tune in next time for juicy updates from the world of reality TV, pop culture, and more. Download new episodes every week on Apple podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you like to listen.