Earlier this week, TLC dropped a damning, albeit one-sided, documentary called The Cult of the Real Housewife. It centered around Mary Cosby, a full-time cast member on Real Housewives of Salt Lake City, and her husband, Bishop Robert Cosby Sr.
When Mary isn’t entertaining the masses with her unfiltered opinions on RHOSLC, she can be found leading her flock at Faith Temple Pentecostal Church. Rosemary Cosby, her late grandmother, started this mission. But now, many of the former congregants are crying foul, alleging that Mary and Robert, who also used to belong to Rosemary, turned this place of worship into a cult.
Many wild bombshells sounded in this report, which featured recollections from former members, Mary’s first cousin, and even her older sister. Here are their biggest claims, alongside Mary’s response.
Mary Cosby was accused of an affair with a former congregation member at her church
In The Cult of the Real Housewife, Mary’s first cousin, Dan Cosby, appears. As Dan claimed, one of Mary’s ex-church members, Cameron Williams, once confessed to having an affair with Mary.
In a recorded phone call, which aired throughout this doc, Cameron called Dan, claiming that Mary had paid him a little visit. While at Cameron’s house, Mary reportedly took Cameron’s hand, only to start “rubbing” herself with it. “According to Cameron, he put his hand in her vagina,” Dan revealed. And then, Dan reported that Mary and Cameron “had sex.”
Backing up Dan’s report, Cameron also told two other people about his forbidden fling with Mary. As noted in this expose, Cameron told Ernest Enoch, another former congregant, and Mary’s older sister, Denise Jefferson Odinaka. As Ernest recalled, his response was, “This is crazy … these people are ministers. They’re supposed to be preaching.”
Mary and her husband, Bishop Robert C. Cosby, allegedly ordered congregants to give big donations
Moving on to another huge bombshell, this series detailed claims of financial fraud within Mary’s church. However, working in her favor, in 2024, Mary initiated a lawsuit against the staff members in charge of her organization’s finances, claiming they alone embezzled her congregation’s funds. Her case remains pending in the courts.
Regardless, as this film states, Mary and Robert Sr. supposedly pressured their congregation into making substantial financial donations called “heave offerings.” At first, these “heave offerings” happened “every six months,” purported Rosalind Enoch, another former member of Faith Temple. However, “it started to increase over time,” Rosalind said, explaining, “We could’ve just had a heave offering meeting, and then in another week or two, we’re having another meeting where we’re being told there’s an emergency, and they need $100,000. They need it by Thursday.”
To help, Robert Sr. apparently ordered their ushers to stand guard at their exit doors during these offerings.
Mary and Robert married 19 days after her divorce, with claims her late grandmother ordered the wedding disputed
When viewers first met Mary during the debut of RHOSLC, she had no choice but to address the elephant in her life; Mary was married to her late grandmother’s husband, Robert Sr. Yes, it’s weird. However, this was what Rosemary wanted, Mary stressed. “Before she passed, she made it very clear that she wanted me to be the one to take her place in the church and inherit everything,” Mary said in Season 1, and “That came with homes, money, our church, and also marrying her husband.”
However, in The Cult of the Real Housewife, this entire narrative gets a different spin, courtesy of Denise. As Mary’s older sister described, after Rosemary, their grandmother, passed, Mary began spending time with Robert Sr. He bought her a BMW, and that’s when their bond formed.
“Some of the things that she’s saying about it being an inheritance … [it] is one of the biggest lies that she’s told,” Denise quipped.
Is Mary Cosby still a pastor?
With many accusations flying, both before and after the release of this documentary, many people are wondering whether Mary is still holding court as a pastor at Faith Temple Pentecostal Church. We looked up this house of prayer. And on its website, Mary remains listed as the “First Lady,” with her status set on “Presiding.”
Now, fans of RHOSLC will recall that, for a long period of roughly two years, this church had closed its doors. Regardless, the reason why was never nefarious. It had nothing to do with the lack of birthday cards Mary received from her “stingy” parishioners.
Instead, the building required several repairs, alongside a few fresh updates. Following these repairs and various work orders, its doors once again opened in 2025, bringing Mary back to her weekly pastor gig, which she has held for the past 20 years.
Mary’s response to the allegations in the TLC documentary
Other claims in The Cult of the Real Housewife included Robert Sr.’s abusive tactics. He wanted to turn young boys into men using intense military-style drills, which lasted “literally all day.” At that time, Rosemary was still alive. But when she apparently learned about these claims, she put a stop to these antics.
Nevertheless, this film reports that Robert and Mary still used harassment-style techniques with at least one of their former church members. So, what does Mary have to say about this, or any of the claims made against her in this documentary? Well, for now, all we have is a slew of hashtags, which Mary used on one of her recent posts.
“As Mary penned, #godfirst #love #you #blessed #don’t believe the lies. Happy Sunday.” Now, will Mary further address these claims during the upcoming, rather heated-looking reunion for RHOSLC Season 6? Hopefully, but we’ll see.
The Cult of The Real Housewife is streaming on TLC, Hulu, and HBO Max. Meanwhile, The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City continues on Bravo every Tuesday at 8/7c.
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