Heather Gay’s Surviving Mormonism uncovers the LDS Church’s hidden trauma through queer and survivor voices. She’s not just telling her story—she’s opening the door.
Inside Heather Gay’s Docuseries on Faith, Family, and Queer Survival
On November 11, 2025, Bravo will premiere Surviving Mormonism with Heather Gay, a raw and revealing three-part docuseries that exposes long-buried truths inside the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Known for her vulnerability on The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City, Heather now steps into a more serious role, one rooted in reckoning with the past and creating space for others to do the same.
All three episodes will stream on Peacock starting November 12.
From Believer to Witness
Heather Gay spent over four decades within the LDS Church. She married in the temple, raised her children in the faith, and upheld the expectations of her community. But after her divorce in 2011 and eventual exit from the church in 2019, Heather began to publicly confront what she once kept quiet: the shame, silencing, and emotional toll exacted on members, especially women and LGBTQ+ individuals.
Through Surviving Mormonism, she moves from memoirist to documentarian, drawing out hidden stories that challenge the clean public image of her former faith. Her strength isn’t in presenting answers. It’s in asking the questions many were taught never to voice.
A Conversation That Doesn’t Let You Look Away
The series opens with a deeply unsettling yet essential conversation between Heather and David Matheson, a former Mormon therapist once revered in religious circles for promoting conversion therapy. Matheson led programs designed to help gay men suppress their orientation. Today, he lives openly as a gay man and is reckoning with the damage left in his wake.
This meeting isn’t combative. It’s difficult, compassionate, and necessary. Heather listens. She absorbs. She admits how little she knew about what LGBTQ+ members endured under teachings she once embraced. It’s a portrait of someone learning in real time.
The Series at a Glance
Each of the three episodes is roughly an hour long. Here’s what viewers can expect:
Episode 1: “A Bad Mormon”
- Heather recounts her departure from the church
- Emotional sit-down with David Matheson
- Explores how conversion therapy shaped generations of Mormon youth
Episode 2: “The Highest Level of Heaven”
- Revisits a friendship fractured by Heather’s past inability to believe a survivor
- Testimony from a man who was abused as a child and ignored by leadership
- Questions the culture of obedience that shields perpetrators
Episode 3: “Change Is Gonna Come”
- Two sisters speak out about sexual abuse by their father
- Allegations that multiple bishops ignored their cries for help
- Heather makes a commitment to amplify their voices beyond the series
Key Issues Raised in the Series
- Conversion therapy and internalized shame
- Sexual abuse within church communities
- Obedience culture and systemic silencing
- Women’s roles and limitations in Mormon doctrine
- Leaving a high-control faith without losing family
- What it means to be queer in a religion that won’t say the word
LGBTQ+ Healing in the Spotlight
The heart of Surviving Mormonism is its focus on people who were never meant to be centered: queer Mormons, abuse survivors, and those who were told their trauma wasn’t real. Heather gives space to those whose stories were buried under layers of doctrine, denial, and deference to male authority.
For LGBTQ+ viewers, especially those raised in strict religious environments, this series isn’t just informative. It’s emotional. It validates grief that’s often unspoken, and lets survivors speak without needing to justify or sanitize their pain.
Heather isn’t a perfect guide, and that’s what makes her compelling. She’s honest about her past complicity. She admits to not seeing things. She doesn’t pretend this series is enough, but it’s a start.
How to Watch
- Premiere: November 11, 2025, on Bravo (9:15 PM ET/PT)
- Streaming: All three episodes available November 12 on Peacock
- Format: Limited series, 3 episodes, approx. 44 minutes each
Why This Isn’t Just Another Reality Star Pivot
Heather Gay could have stuck to being a bestselling author and Bravo favorite. Instead, she chose to make something that risks everything: her standing in a tight-knit community, relationships with family, and the comfort of not knowing. What she’s done instead is listen.
And in doing so, she’s opened the door for many others to be heard too. Make sure to watch! I know I will.
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