Lisa Barlow Addresses Jen Shah Black Eye Claims, Says RHOSLC Costar Hurt ‘Every Single One of Us’ (Exclusive)

The Real Housewives of Salt Lake CityThe Actress’ Lisa Barlow reflects on her tumultuous friendship with former co-star Jen Shah.

Co-owner Vida Tequile, 49, tells PEOPLE she can’t shake the feeling of betrayal by Shah, 50 — who Heather Gay accused during the Season 4 finale of giving Gay the mysterious bruised eye that ended Season 3 on a dark note. Note.

But Shaha’s bad blood with her co-stars goes way back in Season 3, with incidents ranging from petty personality clashes to criminal prosecutions. The strangest light came when armed police swarmed the cast’s sprinter van looking for Shah, who was tipped off and fled the scene. The women stayed, and Barlow especially frantically called his lawyers.

Reflecting on her many entanglements with Shah, Barlow tells PEOPLE, “She would never be my friend. She never stood up for me, she always terrorized me. … It got to the point where it was so toxic that unless you’ve experienced it, you can’t understand what it’s like.”

Jen Shah responds to Heather Gay’s claim that she bruised her eye during RHOSLC Finals

Bravo; Chad Kirkland/Bravo

As for the dark circles specifically, Barlow says at first she didn’t understand why Gay, 49, would keep the alleged incident a secret. It wasn’t until she thought more deeply about how Shah (who is currently in prison on charges of criminal conspiracy and has denied causing Gay’s bruised eye) treated the rest of the group that she understood what Gay must have felt.

“I think it was hard for Heather, I was really hard on her at the season three reunion,” Barlow admits. “I say, ‘You put lives in danger. Just be honest. Why are you lying to everyone?’ But until you get to a position where it’s not even that you’re afraid of someone, it’s more that you’re exhausted by someone where you say, ‘I can’t take it anymore.'”

Lisa Barlow teases the upcoming RHOSLC Season as ‘The Most Famous Ever’: ‘We Will Delight Everyone’ (Exclusive)

Charles Sykes/Bravo via Getty, Chris Haston/Bravo via Getty

Now the entrepreneur says she and Bad Mormon the author is on good terms as they begin shooting the 5th season Bravo show. Without Shah in the group anymore, Barlow explains that the ladies can bond over the fact that they “were all wearing stuff for Jen.”

“She literally put a bruise on my eye,” says Barlow. “Going on social media, posting a list of things like, ‘Guess which of my colleagues said this’ — and it was all lies. Those were things she made up. Bravo would have to spend money to pull off an official investigation and get lawyers and people involved, and then we’d go through this whole dark process and then she’d say, ‘I’m so sorry. I’m sorry.'”

He repeats: “Until you’ve experienced it, or until Jen almost beat you up in the van, or until she made you laugh and started attacking you, you don’t know what it’s like. And in a way, with her actions, she gave each of us a bruise in the eye.”

A rep issued this statement to PEOPLE about Barlow’s remarks: “Jen has no comment for any of her previous cast members on RHOSLC. She wishes the ladies the best of luck in finding individual storylines other than using her name for Season 5.”

Clifton Prescod/Bravo via Getty Images

‘RHOSLC’ post-Jen Shah is a ‘breath of fresh air,’ says Costar — and the new housewife has a strong connection to her

Still, the fourth season wasn’t entirely devoid of ties to Shah — Barlow says she and the other women felt their former co-star was still infiltrating through ex-assistant Monica Garcia, who testified against Shah in court.

Garcia — who PEOPLE exclusively revealed will not be returning for the upcoming season RHOSLC in January – was revealed in the season 4 finale to be part of an Instagram page called Reality Von Tease, which originally aimed to bring Shah down, but expanded to gossip about other cast members.

While the ladies still need time to “cool off” after the brutal Season 4 reunion, Barlow says Garcia’s exit has provided some “closure.”

“I feel like this is the season where we’re going to really rise up and release those points in our lives that we really want to move on from,” she teases. “I don’t want to think about the feds, homeland security and the police showing up anymore. It’s not interesting anymore. We’ve been there, done that.”

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The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City can be downloaded in its entirety on Peacock

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