When Meredith Marks, 53, first appeared on “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City,” the jewelry entrepreneur quickly stood out for her coolheaded, quick-witted presence. While her castmates leaned into chaos, Ms. Marks seemed to float above it, often delivering her signature line, “I’m disengaging.”
The phrase frustrated viewers who wanted her in the thick of the drama. That drama, of course, has been plentiful. One former cast member is serving time in prison for conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Another was unmasked as the person behind a secret online account trolling fellow Housewives. Even Ms. Marks’s long friendship with Lisa Barlow, another star of the show, unraveled onscreen, all while Ms. Marks maintained her trademark composure.
The rare occasions when she showed her anger became huge talking points online — none more so than her Season 4 outburst, when she threatened to reveal “the rumors, the nastiness” about another cast member’s husband.
Now, Ms. Marks has turned that phrase into the name of her newest venture, a party game called Rumors and Nastiness that she created with the entrepreneur Samantha Topping Gellert. The game borrows from the mechanics of the icebreaker game Two Truths and a Lie and makes nods to Ms. Marks’s life, with prompt cards packaged in caviar tins (she has a caviar line) and shot glasses emblazoned with “I’m disengaging.” At the end, the person with the most faux diamonds is crowned the winner.
For Ms. Marks, the game is a way to fortify in-person bonds between friends. “It’s almost like scheduling interaction,” she said. “We’re in a world where that’s become quite limited.”
In an interview that has been edited and condensed for clarity, Ms. Marks reflects on living in the public eye, when gossip can be fun and why knowing when to “disengage” is as important at a dinner party as it is on reality TV. (“The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” began airing its sixth season this month.)
You have been candid on the show about personal struggles — from losing your father and navigating family tragedy. How do you decide what to share publicly and what to keep private?
That is difficult, because you know sometimes when you’re vulnerable, you feel like you have a bunch of vultures just coming to attack. But for me, it’s a lot easier to just be real and true to myself than to have to track a bunch of lies that I get myself caught up in. Things that I don’t get into are things that are about other people. If it’s a story that goes beyond me, I tend to be a lot more protective.
One of your most memorable lines on the show is “I’m disengaging.” What does disengaging mean to you in practice?
There’s a point where things are so tense and so hostile that you are not going to come to an amicable resolution if you continue down that path. At that point, it is easier to take a step back, walk away, let things cool down, so that hopefully you can have a productive conversation. That’s mature conflict resolution, as opposed to the more immature method of just screaming at each other and over each other. I’m guilty of that too. I’m not perfect, that’s for sure.
Your new game, Rumors and Nastiness, is inspired by a moment from the show. Why did you want to turn it into something playful?
If we spoke six years ago, before I started this process, I would have let a lot of rumors upset me. Now I kind of laugh it off. And I think having a game like this that almost pokes fun at a lot of it is great. You don’t have to throw anyone off your wagon or pull out your meanest text or anything like that. The game is about getting closer to the people that you know.
How do you distinguish between harmless chatter and what crosses into “nastiness”?
I think that harmless gossip is, you know, petty things versus things that target somebody’s children, marriage or business. To me, those three areas are very touchy. They have relentlessly gone after me in those areas. I am not really one to fight back on it, but you never know. You push me far enough, I’ll respond eventually.
When you are accused of spreading rumors, how do you respond? Do you hold yourself accountable?
First of all, I’m not doing the things that they love to accuse me of. It’s frustrating, and sometimes just gets upsetting, because it’s relentless. At some point, you become a bit numb to the accusations.
For viewers, there’s also the question of perception as we’re watching a version of reality shaped by editing. Are there any misconceptions about you that you want to set straight?
Most of the stuff that the women on the show say about me is not true. I don’t know why I seem to be the subject of attack a lot. I don’t care when somebody proves themselves as a liar repeatedly. There’s just not that much value to what they have to say anymore.
I live a very happy life, and I have a beautiful family, and I work really hard, and I love everything that I do. As much as some of the women want to make it look like I don’t. I’m not that invested in spreading gossip about them or digging up dirt on them. I don’t really have that much time or tolerance for it.
Yola Mzizi is a reporter for the Styles section and a member of the 2025-2026 Times Fellowship class, a program for journalists early in their careers.
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