Lisa Barlow on Mormons, Fast Food and Why She'll Never Be 'Wishy Washy'

Lisa Barlow.

Lisa Barlow has a strong sense of what she stands for and — and what she doesn’t.

It has made her a reliably quotable fixture on The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City, but also a tantalizing target for her castmates. “I was in a blissful state when I started the show,” Barlow, 49, tells Us Weekly.

When she filmed the first season of the Bravo show back in 2020, “No one said anything bad to my face and I thought I was going to have like the best season ever,” she remembers. Of course, that’s not how Housewives ever shakes out, and Barlow has now navigated five seasons of shifting alliances, castmates’ shady confessionals, and fickle fans.

Midway through the gripping current season, the Vida tequila proprietress has been tangling with newcomer Bronwyn Newport and apologized to estranged friend Angie K as well as ex-friend Whitney Rose‘s husband Justin. (She also declared, while negotiating a luxurious flight home from Palm Springs, “I don’t carry Coach, and I don’t fly coach.”)

As part of her collab with DoorDash and Lyft to promote DashPass, Barlow chatted with Us about her love of fast but not fresh food, pop star aspirations, the misconceptions about Mormonism, her army of attorneys, faves and feuds of the Housewives, and her family (husband John, and sons Jack, 20, and Henry, 12).

What is the wildest thing you think you’ve ever DoorDashed?

We DoorDash daily in our household. I love to bake. I don’t cook at all. So I will DoorDash ingredients. I’ll be in the middle of making something and I’m like, oh my gosh, we don’t have this or that. So I always DoorDash that. But I think we’re pretty standard, regular DoorDash people where we’re getting fast food. Henry’s addicted to DoorDash. It’s almost dangerous. [Laughs.] He spends a lot of money [Laughs.] And we have no control. [Laughs.]

You are one of our favorite fast food advocates on TV. If you had one last meal on Earth, what would that fast food meal be?

I would send myself dozens and dozens of Wendy’s nuggets with lots of barbecue sauce and I would be dipping nonstop. I would have french fries as a side. And of course, my baby gorgeous Diet Coke.

Lisa, you answered that too quickly and easily!

It’s my go-to!

Speaking of your baby gorgeous Diet Coke, did you try the TikTok trend of vanilla-flavored protein shakes and Diet Coke?

I did not do that, but if I were to get dirty with my Diet Coke, I would do fresh cream and a shot of vanilla, probably sugar-free vanilla, to go with the Diet Coke.

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That’s your Swig order?

Yeah. I think my organs take enough hits with the Diet Coke. They don’t really need muscle milk in there, too. I’ve read about that and I’m like, I don’t think that’s good for your kidneys.

It doesn’t sound very good. Did you see the Dua Lipa viral trend on TikTok? She had a pickle juice, hot sauce, Diet Coke. Is that for you or no?

That is not for me. I’m a purist. I just like easy ice with some lemon, maybe some lime if I can’t get lemon. But I do love Dua Lipa. Her music is on my playlist and in the car nonstop.

We’re going to get to your love of music but first, you recently shared a revelation about fresh food. How often do you have fresh fruits and vegetables?

OK, I do start my day every day with a banana because my mom raising us was like, “you have to have a banana in the morning, whether it’s on cold cereal or you’re just eating a banana.” So I do start my day with a banana. I do have a hotspot in Draper, Utah, that I go for all of my green drinks. So I have one green drink a day to counterbalance everything else. For real, though. Have you been to Italy?

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Yes!

I’m not kidding. If you can’t get there from a yacht, you shouldn’t go there. I’m not kidding you. [Laughs.] Like, Quattro Passi, that works. There’s some great places in Sardinia that I will go to. But if you’re just cruising around Italy and you want a real pizza, like no thank you, I don’t want your pizza. I don’t want your lobster that looks like you just pulled out of the Mediterranean and did nothing to prep it. I’m not interested in it, and I don’t wanna gain 50 pounds in Italy eating carbs. [Laughs.]

Sorry, their pizza is too fresh for you?! Is it because the tomatoes taste like they’re freshly picked?

It just doesn’t taste the same. I think growing up in New York when you’re used to a good slice of pizza, like New York, Italian, I’m all for. Italy, Italian? No thank you. Unless you’re at Quattro Passi and you’re getting a Branzino and it’s packed in salt. Other than that, I don’t like it. Too fresh for me.

Back to your love of music. We loved your rendition of “Away in a Manger.” Would you ever lay down like a housewife musical track? There have been some iconic ones like “Tardy for the Party,” “Coffee & Love,” and “On Display.” Would you do that?

I feel like it’s about time I do that. I have amazing friends in the music industry, and know major music producers so I feel like I could do some cool stuff. Jack is obsessed with music, so on his mission, he’s been talking to someone that’s on the Drake team. I feel like we have some good music connections where when I’m ready to do it, it will be next level. I won’t be tardy for that party. [Laughs.]

We’re very ready for a Lisa Barlow and Drake track, thank you very much.

Would you die!? Like, that would be crazy.

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Oh, we would. We would die.

I have put out a call to action for Post Malone. We need to do something together. I could be his Taylor, he would be my Post. I can see it happening now. [Laughs.]

Speaking of your cultural impact, we’re seeing all these Mormon-centered shows springing up. Do you feel like you kicked off the trend for Mormons on tv, at least in this current iteration?

You know, it’s so crazy. Like I’ve always thought Utah is weird. You know they say Austin’s weird. “Utah is weirder” and that could be our new slogan. And when I first moved here from New York, I was like, “oh my gosh, this is like the weirdest place I’ve ever lived.” My mother hates it here. She’s a New York elitist, and she’s like, I hate coming to Utah. But you know, the fact that I was able to help bring the franchise here I think is really cool. I think it opened the doors in everyone’s mind to this culture that they had no idea about. And now it’s like a thing. Like a good thing, but it’s a thing.

What’s the biggest misunderstanding you’ve read or you’ve encountered about Mormons or Mormonism?

Well, I joined the church when I was in New York, so it’s like a totally different type of Mormon. And I think moving out here, the culture takes over. Like, even the religion, I think they conflate the two. I’ve never felt bad about who I am going to church, but I think a lot of other people have. And, there’s not like a checklist to go to church. And I think that that’s a big misconception. I don’t have to be a perfect person to go to church. I think church is for imperfect people, and I think that they put this idea on [RHOSLC] that you have to be perfect. And I think their degree of perfect is just being better than their neighbor.

It’s been helpful to see different people’s approaches to religion. You’ve opened up about how your family experiences it, including Jack’s mission. Do you think Henry will go on a mission like Jack?

Oh yeah, a hundred percent. I think Henry watching Jack go on his mission, is like, “I’m all about the mission.” He’s like, “I’ll probably go on a mission.” We’ve never put pressure on our kids to feel like they have to go. I think it’s such a personal thing. If you don’t believe in the teachings of Jesus Christ, you should not go on a mission and give up like two years of your life. And I think watching Jack, it’s been amazing. He’s matured so much. I think he has next level gratitude. I do think he was sent to a very bougie mission. He gets very upset when I say that, but he’s like in the Bogota North mission, there’s Louis Vuittons there, he’s eating at great restaurants. [Laughs.] We definitely have to supplement his stipend, but it’s been a great experience for him. And he is doing a ton of service. Like I feel like that kid is up at like five 30 every morning, doesn’t go to bed until 11 and like, he’s just working really hard.

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We see on the show how you and your husband are so driven too, so that must be cool for you as a mom to see that translating into your kid and using that for good.

Mmm-hmm. I just want him to support himself. They’re expensive. These kids are expensive! [Laughs.]

Speaking of expenses, why do you have so many lawyers? Do they handle different things? Can you please break that down for us?

I mean, there’s way more than six that we work with and you need lawyers for different things, for different specialties. When you’re in a government regulated industry, you have to have a lawyer that oversees all of your compliance as the federal laws change, so do like the way we do business. So we have to be very cognizant of that. We have a full import company that we have in Manhasset, New York. I don’t think people realize how many lawyers you have to have; you need a lawyer for everything. I don’t sign a contract, I don’t commit to anything without a lawyer. I own Luxe Marketing, so I’m doing contracts with major groups, huge companies that come in. So you wanna have your t’s crossed, i’s dotted, but I will forever have lawyers. I’ve called two of them this morning, like literally no joke. Two of ’em this morning.

It’s a great flex, but also has brought us a lot of joy.

You know what, I have a great security team too. Like when you see me on the show and I’m like, “I’m calling Shawn.” Shawn owns a security firm. He travels with the who’s-who of Utah. And everybody knows who he is, if you’re in the right circles and you know, if you have a problem and you need an answer, you call Shawn.

Shawn’s on retainer, or he’s somebody that you hire for one off for things?

No, Shawn just works for us on the regular. So if John’s going on a trip to Mexico and needs a detail, he has someone from Shawn’s team go with him. If someone’s sending me nasty emails and we need to know where they’re coming from, we get Shawn and he gets his people involved.

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Is there advice you’d give yourself before season one of the show?

I would just tell myself to just keep being me. And if you don’t lie, then you don’t have anything to worry about. You can say your truth and you don’t have to worry about anyone coming for you, but ignorance was bliss. Like that first season reunion was crazy.

We’ve seen you have conflict with multiple people this season, at times with Whitney, Angie, and Bronwyn. Do you feel like the women are ganging up on you?

Yeah, and I feel like they read what’s on Twitter, they read what’s online and they’re like, oh, this is how these people are perceiving Lisa. So they double down on something like, “oh, you’re a narcissist.” I just defend myself. I can admit when I’m wrong and everyone’s like, she can never admit when she’s wrong, but how am I supposed to admit to Whitney I’m wrong? I didn’t do what you’re accusing me of doing. I’m not gonna be like, “oh, I’m so sorry, please forgive me.” I’m not gonna cop to something I didn’t do. And I think that that’s hard for them, but they go with the same things. Like “Lisa needs her minions…” I’m a Sagittarius, I’m doing my own thing. If I don’t like you, I cut you off and cauterize, like we’re done. So I think those narratives get really old. You can tell that they’re definitely talking off camera and coming up with ideas of how they’re gonna get me. But they fail every time. [Laughs.] So come up with something new, get something new.

You’ve been very strong throughout the season, and it’s nice to see somebody with such strong convictions.

Thank you.

It can be polarizing but I think it endears you to a lot of fans.

Super polarizing. Super polarizing. But I think when you’re resolute in how you feel about something, I’m not wishy-washy. I listen to the facts. I formulate my opinions based on hearing both sides. I do listen to both sides even though some people wanna pretend I don’t, I do listen to both sides. I use my intuition and figure things out. But it’s a crazy season. I think this one feels like season one to me again. I feel like I’m relieving season one.

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It has been great TV, seeing the change in dynamics — we love seeing you and Meredith back together.

She’s my bestie. Look at, I have my Meredith Marks jewelry on. This is the bestie stack. She has the prettiest jewelry. I wish everyone got to see it a little more, but she has the best jewelry. I mean, diamonds and tequila, like what else do you need?

Do you have a dream Ultimate Girls trip cast that obviously involves you?

Yeah. Oh my gosh, I feel like there’s so many combinations we can put together. I was just in London with Sutton [Stracke] and I think Sutton is like really, really funny. And I think she just says whatever comes to her head. So I would definitely put Sutton on my dream cast. And then her bestie Garcelle [Beauvais], I think she would be a lot of fun too. And like they’re really close and I think that would be good for Sutton. But Sutton is really funny. Like I had the best time with her, Lisa Hochstein from Miami. Like I love her. I think she’s so funny. I just love everything about her. Um, from Potomac, I’d probably put Ashley Darby on. I spent time with Ashley and oh my gosh, Ashley’s a cool girl. She’s a great mom. We’re both boy moms, so she had her little boys with her in London. And I just thought watching her as a mom and then seeing how strong she is and just really open about who she is. I really like her. I think from New York, I would probably pick Erin [Lichy] and I love Sai [De Silva], I think she is really, really cool and really bold. I don’t think people get to see her like how I know her. and I do think Rebecca Minkoff is a really cool girl too. She’s fun. That’s probably some of the girls, and then from my cast, I’d bring Meredith.

To bring it back to DoorDash and Lyft when it comes to fast food, has John ever said, “Lisa, we need to cut down the Diet Coke, we need to cut down the Wendy’s?”

John lets me be me. He’s never been like, “stop.” But I did get irritated when we went on our trip. We were in The Bahamas before Jack left for his mission, and we were at the Rosewood Resort and they give you these really cool water bottles and John got addicted to water in The Bahamas. So it’s irritating for me because I’m like, oh my gosh, I wanna go with you to get Cokes together in the morning. And like now he doesn’t do that with me. He gets me a Coke, but I’m like, you’re drinking water. And then now I have to feel bad about doing what I love? And so it’s not intentional, but that changed his life. That Rosewood water bottle has gone everywhere with him. [Laughs.]

Wow Lisa, if your big complaint about your husband is that he’s now addicted to water….?

I know I know! But John is pretty much perfect. So when people talk about him too, I’m like, “shut up, John Barlow is perfect.” Like if a compass were a person, it would be John Barlow. He’s always north.

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We loved seeing him step into more of a role this season and to stand by you.

I don’t think he wanted it [Laughs.] But he’s there for it. I think it was nice. I’ve never had John on a cast trip, so to have John go on a trip with me was amazing, other than the cameras and the mics, which I’ve learned to take off and I’m pretty good at it, having conversations and being able to not have to call him and just go in a room. It’s nice. It was nice this season.

You’ve learned from hot mic moments of the past when to take the mic off!

Oh my gosh, yes. I still dispute that hot mic moment. I know I took my mic off, like, I know it was off. They said it was a good boom, but I don’t vent out loud anymore. I just say everything in my head [Laughs.]

She’s learned, she’s learned!

I’ve learned my lesson, I’ve learned from my mistakes.