How Real Housewives Alum Jen Shah and Elizabeth Holmes Have "Bonded" in Prison

Months after The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City alum Jen Shah began her prison sentence, her rep spoke about the friendship she has reportedly formed with Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes.

By Elyse Dupre Sep 14, 2023 8:08 PMTags
Watch: RHOSLC’s Jen Shah & Elizabeth Holmes Have "Bonded" in Prison

Jen Shah has formed a surprising friendship while behind bars.

In fact, The Real Housewives of Salt Like City alum has reportedly become pals with fellow inmate Elizabeth Holmes.

"They're friends," Shah's rep, Chris Giovanni, noted to People in an interview published Sept. 14. "They're both rehabilitating and have bonded over being on this journey of positive change. Their situations brought them together, and they have a good understanding of one another. They're getting through it together."

As for how the reality star bonded with the Theranos founder?

"Jen's given her a lot of advice," Giovanni continued. "She's even met Elizabeth's baby and held her."

The rep added that Holmes—who welcomed her second child with William "Billy" Evans in February before starting her sentence in the spring—has also attended Shah's fitness class called "Sha-mazing Abs."

Both Shah and Holmes are serving time in federal prison in Bryan, Texas. Shah was sentenced to six and half years in prison in January—an amount that has since been reduced by about a year—after she pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in a telemarketing scheme. She began her sentence in February and is scheduled to be released in 2028, according to the Federal Bureau of Prison's website.

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As for Holmes, the former biotech mogul was sentenced to 11 years and three months in prison in November 2022—which has since been reduced to about nine and a half years—for defrauding investors in her now-defunct blood testing company Theranos of "hundreds of millions of dollars," per a release shared by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California. 

The sentencing came after Holmes, who founded Theranos in 2003, was convicted in January 2022 of "one count conspiracy to commit fraud on investors and three counts of committing fraud on individual investors which involved wire transfers totaling more than $140 million," the release stated. (Her ex-boyfriend and Theranos COO Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani is currently serving nearly 13 years behind bars after being found guilty of ten counts of wire fraud and two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud).

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Holmes reported to prison in May and is set to be released in 2032, per the Federal Bureau of Prison's website.

E! News has reached out to both Shah's rep as well as to Holmes' team for comment but has yet to hear back.

(E! and Bravo are both part of the NBCUniversal family).