'RHOSLC' Star Heather Gay Explores The 'Good' And 'Bad' Aspects About Her Faith In 'Bad Mormon'

Life has been good for Heather Gay lately!

The 'RHOSLC' star celebrated the release of her memoir "Bad Mormon" on Tuesday.

Her memoir's release follows the scandal-fueled season of the "Real Housewives of Salt Lake City''s third season, which focuses a great deal on the prison sentence of Gay's castmate Jen Shah. Shah was sentenced to six and a half years behind bars for wire fraud, plus an additional five years of supervised release in early January.

Gay's life looks nothing like it used to. She has walked away from Mormonism, and her relationship with the church is frayed. She was excommunicated as a result of joining the hit Bravo reality series. (via The Daily Beast)

Gay is well into the process of putting her days as a Mormon behind, but that doesn't mean she isn't still reflecting on her life in the church. "Bad Mormon" contains countless elements surrounding Gay's discoveries and revelations about Mormonism, including realizations she experienced while still a member of the church.

The 40-year-old has been quite open in sharing her perspective on faith while on the promotional circuit for "Bad Mormon."

Speaking to The Daily Beast, Gay was transparent in discussing her current thoughts on religion and continuing to have faith after a complete life upheaval inspired by leaving the church.

Gay maintains she still "loves religion" and its historical basis.

She tells the outlet, "I love being a scholar of faith. I love scripture and the historical context of it all." She also later adds, "And it's been fascinating to me to learn what the world thinks because I've just been taught that the world is wrong- that [Mormons] are the center of all churches, and we have all the truth encompassed in our faith."

The 'Bravolebrity' also explained that questioning faith and looking beyond one's grounded perspective from the church is a rarity.

"I never looked at anything that would have shaken my faith. My brother was 50 years old when he Googled the prophet Joseph Smith. That's the founder of our faith," Gay went on to explain to the outlet. "I didn't notice a single negative story about my faith, their history, or anything. We don't seek out negative information. And it's been so fascinating to study faith and to kind of pursue spiritual interests without the context of me being right, just admitting that I don't really know anything."

Being surrounded by, or raised on the basis of a certain perspective or way of life kept Gay from questioning those beliefs and the aspects of their resulting practices until much later.

When asked by the outlet whether she believed if Mormonism ever "held her back" because of her sex, Gay responded, "I started to realize the differences [between gender roles] early. Like, who I am won't work if I want to be a girl that boys like. But I didn't even accept it as oppressive," she went on to explain. "I still thought it was notable or romantic for a woman to be the nurturer and the man to be the patriarch and the head of the household. And they work together as a team."

However, it wasn't until Gay became a mother and baptized her daughter into the faith, that she realized the flaw in the logic, and started to feel discomfort as a result.

"I think that, at my daughter's baptism, I realized, 'Oh wait. I'm not a co-captain. I'm not 'the Skipper.' I'm not even on the ship." And that's when I started to feel really broken, devastated, and oppressed."

Gay's decision to write "Bad Mormon" was in part so that those who have experienced similar feelings of oppression in their faith and/or its practices.

"I really hope that people will feel seen," she told Interview Magazine. "and that its representation for the marginalized, privileged few that feel like living their authentic selves causes conflict for those they love. It's for the bad Catholic, the bad Jew, the bad Mormon, the bad Greek, anyone who has had to disappoint their family to pursue their dreams," Gay continued to the outlet. "anyone who has had to break their grandparents apart because they were the way they were. I hope that they feel seen and that they laugh..."

"Bad Mormon" is available now!