Credit: RHOSLC/Bravo
The wild story behind Mary Cosby marrying her step-grandfather gets even more far-fetched
The wild story behind Mary Cosby marrying her step-grandfather gets even more far-fetched
RHOSLC’s Mary Cosby tied the knot with her step-grandfather in her 20s. The two aren’t blood-related, but the story behind how she became involved with Robert Sr in the first place is seriously wild.
The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City doesn’t feature Mary Cosby’s husband, Robert Sr, but he’s one of the main parts of her off-screen life. She wed him back in her 20s while he was in his 40s.
Mary Cosby married her step-grandfather
In 1998, Mary got married to Robert C. Cosby, who was the second husband of her late grandmother. They’ve been married for at least 26 years and share a son, Robert Jr, who had substance issues.
They got married at the Ritz-Carlton in Chicago, before going to a restaurant called The Pump Room. At the time, a lady was playing the piano and singing Cyndi Lauper’s Time After Time. Romantic!
Cosby has openly claimed her husband, who occasionally appears on RHOSLC, is her best friend. They started out as friends – having met through her grandmother – before their relationship became romantic.
Her late grandmother, Rosemary “Mama” Cosby, was the founder of Faith Temple Pentecostal Church in 1968. After Rosemary’s death in January 1997, there was a load of controversy that came up.
There was an argument over the division of Rosemary’s assets (a printing company, day care, beauty salon, record store, and Gospel radio station), which got worse by Mary marrying her step-grandfather.
The controversy mostly involved her widower, Bishop Robert C. Cosby, and her children, mainly with Mary’s mother, Rosalind Cazares, who Cosby no longer speaks to as a result of the marriage.
She never even wanted the marriage
Mary’s marriage to Robert Sr was arranged. When her grandmother died, her inheritance was dependent on her agreement to marry Robert Sr, who “made it clear she wanted Mary to take her place”.
She also took her late grandmother’s place in the church and inherited all of her money, claims Cosby, who is Pentecostal, adding, “That came with homes, money, our church and also marrying her husband.”
“Don’t think it wasn’t weird, because it was!” she added, telling People, “I did it because I felt like my grandmother wanted it, and I just trusted her so much that I did it because I didn’t want to do it.”
“But I am thankful today that I did. I’m happy because I did, and I’m blessed because I did and everything that I have that’s beautiful in my life, including my son, it’s through my marriage,” she added.
On their wedding night, they didn’t sleep together. “After we married, I had to get to know him,” she said on RHOSLC. “I felt like, ‘Wow, my grandmother really nailed it. If I had to pick a guy, this is what I’d pick.’”
They own a whopping 5 homes
Mary resides with her current husband, son, and daughter-in-law in a colorful Utah home, but they lived apart for six months. They own five homes, but during the Covid-19 pandemic, he was stuck in Florida.
They also have properties in Nevada, New York, and Indiana. “Robert Sr. does love checking on all of the homes that we own,” Mary said, noting the couple has no interest in having renters in the empty houses.
“When we’re not there, they are empty… We don’t share,” she added. Cosby has previously joked how she “sends her husband places” after two weeks of staying in the same place.
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