As Britani Bateman worked on “reconnecting” with daughter Olivia Bateman on The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City, the mom of two quickly realized that they might “need some professional help” to repair their relationship.
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So, Britani and Olivia began seeing a family therapist during Season 6, Episode 11, and the duo began their first session by unpacking the issues that led to their previous estrangement. Because Britani admitted she didn’t “even know where to begin,” her 20-year-old daughter took the lead.
“Things were good until she divorced my dad,” Olivia explained. “She did get [remarried] fairly quickly. He was kind of her whole world, and we weren’t her priority. We weren’t even close to being her priority. … We didn’t talk for a while. From my perspective, it was seven years of her neglecting her children.”
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As Olivia elaborated in a confessional, “When she married her second husband, she honestly became more of a mom to my new stepsiblings than to me and my sister, because she wanted her husband to appreciate her more, love her more. I moved out of my mom’s house to live with my dad.”
Britani’s daughter continued, “She put all of her time and attention into her new stepkids. Like, she would celebrate their wins, but then, not ours, and just kind of left my sister and I.”
Britani and Olivia Bateman share their family therapy goals
Despite her past hurt, Olivia shared her reasons for wanting to work on rebuilding a mother-daughter bond, along with her reservations about doing so.
“I feel like we have a connection,” she said, before addressing Britani directly. “And so, even though, like, you haven’t done and made the best decisions, I still find myself wanting a relationship with you. But my brain’s telling me that I’m gonna get hurt more than I’m gonna get any love out of it.”
That’s when Britani chimed in to express her desire to prove to Olivia that she’d “learned” and “grown” since their conflict began.
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“And maybe that’s why I want to understand why I did that, because I don’t feel like I would ever do that again,” the RHOSLC friend added. “I would never, ever, ever, like, allow myself to be put in a cage where I can’t be a mom to my kids.”
After Britani tearfully confessed that she didn’t feel “worthy of anything” at that point, her daughter said that she actually felt the same way.
“I lived so many years thinking that I wasn’t lovable,” Olivia shared. “And I feel like I often struggle with that. And so, like, letting people get close is hard, and I just feel like the second they get to know me, they’re just gonna leave again.”
Referring to Olivia’s candid remarks as “heartbreaking,” Britani acknowledged how her life choices had caused her daughters’ “trauma.” Further noting her feelings of “remorse” and “self-loathing” from the estrangement, Britani revealed that she still hadn’t forgiven herself.
“Weirdly enough, it feels kind of, like, reassuring to hear that she does realize that what she did was wrong,” Olivia remarked. “To hear her take accountability actually makes me feel better.”
Britani concluded their therapy session by responding, “I just appreciate you wanting to give me a chance. It means the world to me.”
Where Britani Bateman and her daughter Olivia stand today
The emotional therapy visit added even more context to what Olivia already shared earlier this season about their relationship issues. After their first meetup aired in Episode 6, Olivia took to Instagram to reflect on the experience.
“Feeling so many things watching this back,” Olivia captioned an Oct. 21 post that included a clip from the episode. “For those who have felt the same, I see you and love you.”
After thanking castmates Heather Gay and Angie Katsanevas for showing her and Olivia support in the comments section, Britani wrote, “So hard to watch tonight. Heartbreaking … [I’m] feeling so grateful to at least be talking again and starting to rebuild.”
Another hopeful sign? More recently, on Nov. 3, Olivia posted a laughter-filled video of herself playing a prank on Britani.
Get even more details on Britani and Olivia’s fraught family history as they continue to rebuild their relationship.
