One step at a time. Jen Shah and her husband, Sharrieff Shah, have been through a lot over the past year, but they’re working hard to make sure it doesn’t break their marriage.
“It’s been a very stressful time,” a source exclusively tells Us Weekly of the Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star, 48, and her husband, 50, adding that her March arrest “put a strain on their marriage.”
The marketing professional hinted at trouble in paradise on RHOSLC, revealing in the season 2 premiere that the duo considered divorce earlier this year. “I thought that my entire world was ending,” she told Lisa Barlow during the September 12 episode. “Sharrieff felt like he wasn’t being a positive influence in my life. Like, he couldn’t help me. What I didn’t realize was how I was acting and because I hadn’t fully told him how I was feeling, it made him feel like he was the problem.”
Now, however, “Jen and Coach are going strong,” the insider tells Us. “They are taking it day by day, especially since every day brings something new.”
The Bravo personality has been in an uncomfortable spotlight since March 30 when she and her assistant Stuart Smith were arrested for their alleged roles in a telemarketing scheme that defrauded hundreds of victims across the United States. In April, Jen pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with telemarketing and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Last month, Smith pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, money laundering and obstruction of justice.
As the legal battle plays out both on and off camera, the Shahs are “processing everything as a family,” the source notes. The couple share sons Sharrieff Jr., 27, and Omar, 16.
“[Coach Shah] is there for Jen and is supporting her through all of this,” the insider adds. “They have a lot of love for each other. They’ve been through therapy, which really helped, and now, they are stronger than where they were months ago.”
During the RHOSLC premiere, Jen told Barlow, 46, about the couples therapy, but she also revealed that Sharrieff was much closer to pulling the plug on their marriage than she thought.
“So, he was like, ‘OK, I have to leave.’ And at first, I thought, ‘OK, this is just an argument,’” she recalled of one fight the couple had earlier in the year. “And then the next day, a divorce attorney contacted me. He had already reached out to a divorce attorney. And Lisa, I was devastated.”
Jen added that she believes the pair’s trouble began after her father died and Sharrieff “wasn’t there” for her in the way she wanted him to be. “I didn’t realize this but I was being resentful to Sharrieff, and I didn’t even know I was,” she explained.
The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City airs on Bravo Sundays at 9 p.m. ET.
With reporting by Diana Cooper
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