Mary Cosby had every opportunity to walk away from “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” when her world changed. Instead, she made the deeply personal decision to keep going.
Following the passing of her 23-year-old son, Robert Cosby Jr., the RHOSLC star says Bravo made it clear that filming could wait. She was offered a year away, an entire season away or however much time she needed, with the assurance that her place on the show would still be there when she was ready.
Cosby ultimately chose to return.
Now, in an interview with Vulture, she is explaining why continuing to work became part of how she navigated an unimaginable period in her life, and why her decision ultimately came back to Robert Jr.
Mary Cosby Says Bravo Gave Her the Choice to Step Away
Production stopped following Robert Jr.’s death on Feb. 23, and Cosby said NBCUniversal executive Noah Samton personally assured her that she did not need to think about RHOSLC or worry about her future on the series.
“When it first happened, Noah told me I didn’t have to come back,” Cosby recalled. “He’s like, ‘You don’t have to worry about your job. You take a year off, you take a season off, you will have your job.’”
For Cosby, however, stepping away completely did not feel like the right choice.
She worried that remaining at home would leave her alone with questions about what she could have done differently. Work offered something else: a place to put her attention and a reason to keep moving forward.
“No, I want to work. I want to distract myself. I want to keep my mind on something positive,” she recalled telling Samton.
Bravo did not immediately resume filming with Cosby after Robert Jr.’s death. Andy Cohen previously explained that production stopped to protect her privacy and give her control over whether, and when, she wanted cameras to return.
About a month later, that decision was hers to make. Cosby told producers she wanted to continue.
Mary Cosby Explains Why She Chose to Keep Going
Returning to RHOSLC meant allowing cameras back into Cosby’s life at an extraordinarily vulnerable time.
Her husband, Robert Cosby Sr., agreed to film a scene at their church after Cosby asked him to join her. Her fellow RHOSLC cast members also rallied around her as filming resumed, with Cosby saying their visits, conversations and gestures of support helped give her strength.
But there was a deeper reason she felt she needed to continue.
“I need to keep going to see what’s in the end,” Cosby said.
Her decision was not simply about returning to a television show or protecting her place on RHOSLC. Bravo had already assured her that her job was safe if she chose to take the time away. Instead, Cosby viewed moving forward as something her son would have wanted for her.
“For my son,” she said. “He would want me to keep going. He would want me to shine.”
That sentiment puts her decision to return in a different light. Cosby was not facing an ultimatum from the network or a deadline to get back in front of the cameras. She had been given permission to step away for an entire season, or longer.
She chose to keep going.
And in explaining that choice, Cosby made clear that Robert Jr. remains at the heart of it.
