Finstas, Explained: Everything to Know About the RHOSLC Instagram Drama

There's no shortage of made-up words and phrases in the Real Housewives canon — from "satchels of gold" to "Gone With the Wind fabulous" — but "finsta" is not one that originated on The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City, despite the cast repeatedly using the term throughout Season 3. 

It's been used much less frequently on Season 4, but that doesn't mean there hasn't been similar social media-related drama. The RHOSLC Season 4 finale, for example, revolved around a bombshell concerning newcomer Monica Garcia's apparent Instagram account. 

To get all the details on the finale revelation as well as a rundown on "finstas," keep scrolling. 

What is a "finsta"?

The word is short for "fake Instagram," which more or less tells you exactly what it means. But for more context, The New York Times described "finsta" as "a term many users ascribe to secondary accounts they create for themselves on Instagram, where their identities — and, often, the content of their posts — are obscured to all but a small, carefully chosen group of followers."

Why is the RHOSLC cast talking about finstas?

The original finsta in question on RHOSLC Season 3 belonged to Angie Harrington's husband, Chris. He fessed up to creating the fake account to counter Angie being "attacked in the media." Added Chris, "A lot of it felt like it was coming from Lisa [Barlow]."

So, Lisa became the subject of one of Chris' negative Instagram comments. Angie Katsanevas later confronted Angie H. over the account. "I like everybody. I wanted to like you and I want to give you a chance," Angie K. told her, "but I also think if you're going to talk behind Lisa's back then don't go up to her, and don't go try to be her friend and don't try and hug her. It's fake."

She continued, "You opened up fake accounts with your spouse and go and criticize them on social media and you know that you did that. And Lisa is done with that."

Angie H. insisted that she wasn't involved in the creation of Chris' finsta, but the ladies weren't buying it. As Angie K. put it in a confessional, "She's lying. She liked a comment that was posted within like 30 seconds. You were involved 100 percent."

Whitney Rose weighed in on the finsta drama during a Nov. 2022 appearance on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, revealing that she "absolutely" believed Angie H. knew that her husband Chris made the fake Instagram account. Angie, meanwhile, has continued to deny this.

The RHOSLC Season 4 Instagram Drama

Before the Season 4 cast gathered for their final dinner, Heather Gay gathered fellow O.G. castmates, Lisa, Whitney, and Meredith Marks for a serious discussion on the beach. 

"There's something I need to tell you guys, and it's big, and it's not good," she told them. "You guys, we've come a long way, us four. We have, and Monica is not who she says she is. She's not our friend. She's someone [who] has schemed and worked to infiltrate our friend group."

Meredith, Lisa, Whitney, and Heather during The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City Season 4, Episode 16. Photo: Bravo

"The name that you all know her as, the woman whose birthday we celebrated, who we've been trying to champion and support and defend, is Reality Von Tease," Heather added, and the ladies were all shocked to hear the news. 

"Reality Von Tease," Explained

Heather explained in an interview on the RHOSLC Season 4 finale that, "Reality Von Tease was an Instagram account that was created over three years ago... It quickly expanded to troll all of us. Me, Whitney, Meredith, Lisa. These were character assassinations. They may not have created this content, but they made sure to re-post every hateful thing they could find about us. But, we never knew who it was."

Monica Garcia's Explanation for "Reality Von Tease"

Monica's response came after Heather said, "The mystery for me with Monica is, 'Who is the real Monica?' When I met you, we kind of bonded over being single moms, moms of daughters, and we really had a great time — lots of fun, charming, funny, witty. Smarter than, probably, people think. And I thought [you were] pretty much an open book, [a] truth-teller. But, I don't feel like that's who the real Monica is. The real Monica is someone who really doesn't want to be our friend, but wants to profit from our lives and our pain. I know who you really are, and who you really are is the cyberbully, internet troll Reality Von Tease."

"That's not true, entirely," Monica said. As she elaborated in an interview, "Von Tease was never just one person."

Monica during The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City Season 4, Episode 16. Photo: Bravo

"It wasn't just me," she said, and she later noted that she was not the one who actually started the account. "There [were] several other humans involved... the other women were just collateral damage."

For more on the RHOSLC Instagram drama, be sure to tune in for the Season 4 reunion.

When does the RHOSLC Season 4 reunion air?

The three-part reunion for RHOSLC Season 4 reunion begins Tuesday, Jan. 9 at 8 p.m. ET/PT. Uncensored, extended reunion episodes will be available to stream the next day on Peacock.