Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star Whitney Rose opens up about her decision to feature her father’s drug addiction on the show.
Whitney Rose recently sat down for an interview on Up and Adam!
Adam starts off the tough conversation by commending Whitney for being so vulnerable on the subject.
“You might not have even realized by putting yourself on the show…kinda having this as a main point of your storyline, how many people can relate to you and that you’re helping by just even being vocal and talking about it,” Adam states. “So, I think that you know, it takes a lot of courage to talk about what’s going on in your family.”
Whitney takes the moment to honor her father for broadcasting his struggle.
“The reason that I’m so upset that he’s not talking to me is, one, his health but, two, like, he should be celebrating how brave he was to share and be so vulnerable,” Whitney expresses.
“He opened up his therapy session to the camera,” Whitney explains, adding that more was filmed than what viewers saw. “It was deep. I’m very proud of him.”
Whitney admits that showing her father’s addiction journey was his idea.
“I almost didn’t share it because I didn’t want to exploit my father, but he was like, ‘No, Whitney, this is a big issue. Let’s talk about it.’ And he wanted some sort of accountability to get through it,” Whitney explains. “So I’m proud of him.”
She is also glad that discussing the subject on the show ended up being worth it.
“I’m glad it has touched people because that was really scary and it felt like a huge risk to take,” Whitney admits.
Whitney hasn’t heard from her father for months
Whitney also reveals that her father has stopped talking to her once again.
“My birthday was in September, and that was the last time I had spoken to my father or seen him, Whitney confesses. “And prior to that, he had been doing so well. He was our COVID buddy so he would come over to our house a lot.”
She hints at the possibility that her father may have relapsed again.
“I don’t know what changed but I do know this: addiction is a freakin’ b***h,” Whitney states. “And, it’s a lot harder than what people realize because it’s not just about the drug but what the drug is masking or numbing or what’s really going on underneath the surface. And unfortunately, I think what– that’s the biggest struggle. Identifying what those triggers are and working through those.”
Whitney’s father wanted her to pay for rehab
Whitney explained during the show that her father expects her to pay for his rehab.
She shared that her father argued that all of the things he paid for while she was growing like dance lessons meant she owed him, and he expected her to pay $30,000 for his rehab.
While Whitney said she was pissed, she confessed that she did end up paying for it.
Whitney noticed that her father was trying to repeat the pattern when he told her that he was ready to leave rehab and wanted to launch a salon.
When Whitney implied that he assumed she was going to lend him the money for it, he didn’t deny it.
The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City airs on Wednesdays at 10/9c on Bravo.