Angie Katsanevas On Trading Out Her Warm-Water Bidet For A Compost Toilet In Bravo’s ‘Wife Swap: Real Housewives Edition’: “It Was Humbling, To Say The Least”

Angie Katsanevas is going off the grid in Wife Swap: Real Housewives Edition.

The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City‘s center snowflake ditched her luxurious city life for a labor-intensive stay in Challis, Idaho, leaving behind her warm-water bidets for outdoor bathtubs and compost toilets.

“I’ve never seen one of those,” Katsanevas said of her swap family’s compost toilet, which she described as a “giant poop bag” that needed to be changed out after every 40 uses. “It was humbling, to say the least.”

Katsanevas spent her time in Idaho with Tanner and his three children, while his wife Lindsay jetted off to Utah to join Katsanevas’ husband Shawn Trujillo and their daughter Elektra Trujillo in the big city. Unlike the reality star, Tanner and Lindsay live their lives off the grid, growing and hunting their own food, bathing in the outdoors, and fetching drinking water from the hot springs near their home.

“It really was such a beautiful experience,” Katsanevas told Decider over Zoom, noting that she “couldn’t have gotten a better swap husband” than Tanner. “I just adored him. He was outgoing and fun and made me comfortable.”

While the Real Housewives icon embraced Lindsay and Tanner’s lifestyle during filming for the show—and even kept the garden Lindsay planted in her backyard alive and well—she isn’t quite ready to get rid of her designer sunglasses and Miele coffee machine just yet.

“I love Salt Lake City,” she said. “I wake up every morning, I pour my little espresso and I look out at the city. I’m such a city girl. I need to be around people. I need to be seeing kids and dogs out in the neighborhood. I just thrive off energy.”

When we caught up with Katsanevas over Zoom, she revealed which of her RHOSLC co-stars would do the best living off the grid, which scenes she wished were included in her Wife Swap episode, and what she thought of Mary Cosby’s hilarious cameo. Check out the full interview below.

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DECIDER: I thought your episode of Wife Swap was reality TV gold. We got to see a lot more of your house, which we don’t really see on Housewives. You have a bidet and you have a dishwasher that opens when you knock on it twice. What is your favorite feature about your home that most other homes might not have?

ANGIE KATSANEVAS: Oh, that’s a good question. One thing that you’ll notice–and the swap wife didn’t even know what it was–I just love my Miele coffee machine, because I push a button and then it offers all the drink options. I hit my little double espresso in the morning. It’s just part of my routine that I use every single day. Look, I use the bidet. I have heated toilet seats, and the water on the bidet is even heated, so those are definitely luxuries that I missed while I was gone. But who just doesn’t love their coffee at a push of a button? My mom had the old coffeemaker with the percolator, I think it’s called. I love the convenience. 

Do you actually deep clean your house every night? 

We eat at home a lot. With eating at home, there’s a lot of cleanup, right? I mean, I clean the counters off, I do the dishes. My house is always pretty impeccable. You can walk in anytime and it looks great. I love keeping it clean. When I wake up the next day, it’s a fresh start. So, not deep clean, but I do clean and I always have my counters cleaned.

It was so sweet to see you with Lindsay and Tanner’s kids. Before the kids met you, they thought you might be rich and bratty. Do you think they would have a different view now that they’ve spent some time with you?

Yes, absolutely. I think we bonded. I fell in love with them. I think they fell in love with me, especially the little girl. There was a true connection. The amount of hugs I got every single day, I just felt the love from her. And I still think about her all the time. 

I loved when Lindsay tried on your iconic pink sunglasses and immediately thought they’d be perfect for dirtbiking and mountain biking. What did you think of that?

All my eyes could see was like splats of mud on them. I have been on a four-wheeler and I know how messy that is. And I just thought, “How dare she? My glasses!” I don’t think she realized that they’re iconic and they’re going to be a keepsake one day. So I’m glad she didn’t take them out doing anything recreational with them.

This house you went to in Idaho does not have running water. The bath is literally outside. I need to know: did you actually use that bathtub? 

Oh! There’s a great scene that didn’t make it, but we did a whole little overhaul on the outside and made it beautiful for her. I did get to get in it on the last day, and it was heated by a fire underneath. Very unconventional. I mean, I’ve got heated water coming out of my toilets and I’ve never had to heat the water under a bath tub. But it was a special moment that didn’t air. It was really cool. So I did get to use it. And so I got one little bath the day I left. 

We need an extended version.

I know there was so much that didn’t make it in, but it was a great hour. There were too many special moments to cram them all in. 

At least we got to see you changing out the compost toilet.

Oh, my God! I’ve never seen one of those. I didn’t know. The little boy even said, “You don’t have to change it every day. Sometimes we can use it 40 times before you change it.” It doesn’t drop anywhere. A compost toilet is a bag that just catches it. Like a little poop bag for your dog. But a giant poop bag. It was humbling, to say the least. 

It must’ve been entertaining for you to watch Shawn and Electra attempt to go off the grid. How do you think they fared? 

Lindsay is very sweet. She wanted to give them a taste of new roles and her life. Teenagers want to do different things. She’s got small children. You can still kind of make small children do the things you want them to do. Teenagers want to do what they want to do. They want to have their phones so they can stay connected to their friends. Lindsay made some changes. But they loved Lindsay and said she was very sweet. I think they also learned a lot. You’ll be surprised at some of the food prep and some of the things that she does that were a little shocking and different that they have never experienced, or my daughter has never experienced. 

Do you still have the garden that Lindsay planted in your backyard? 

I do. I think of them every day because I see that garden out my kitchen window. It was such a beautiful gesture. It’s like a gift that you’ll look at and remember this family not only every day, but this year and next year. I made some beautiful Greek salads for my family from that garden. 

It seems like this experience really stuck with everyone involved.

It would be a waste if it didn’t, right? You have this amazing experience, you step into someone else’s shoes and see their life. If we don’t have takeaways, it would have been a waste. If there’s no transformation, it would have been a waste. 

I loved to see Mary pop in for the rescue. Did you ask her to check in on them before you left?

I did, and she was willing to do it, and it was so fun. I think when she met Lindsay and when she walked in on what she walked in on, she was even more worried about me. She wanted to come rescue me. She was texting me, but I couldn’t get service. We didn’t speak, so she was probably really worried. 

Melissa Gorga recently talked about how she really pushed for personal security for this experience. Is that something that concerned you as well?

Interestingly enough, when I first heard about it, I thought, “Oh, I’m sleeping in this house with another man?” In my mind, I wondered, “Would there be security?” And I thought, “Of course there would, because it’d probably be a liability for them not to have it.” Need it or not, of course. But then when I met Tanner and the kids, I just thought, “Oh, my gosh, I don’t need security.” If anyone, I’m the one that people call security on. They were the most wonderful, sweet people, and we clicked in an instant. I wasn’t worried the moment I met them. I was in the middle of nowhere and still didn’t feel like I needed security. They were so sweet. But I can see why she would have felt that way going into it, not knowing where she’s going. 

Melissa, Emily, and Wendy also filmed episodes of Wife Swap. Which are you most excited to see?

All of them because truthfully, I don’t know any of these other women well, except Emily. I know Emily, I’ve met her. She’s very sweet. She’s a lot of fun. I think her husband’s hilarious. I definitely have a connection with Emily. The other two women, I’ve never really gotten to know. I met Melissa briefly at BravoCon, but I don’t know them, so it’ll be an opportunity for me to get to know them better. I think I’m equally excited to see all of them knowing that every swap was such a different experience. 

I love to see how close you and your dad are. What was his reaction when he heard you were going on Wife Swap? Has he seen the episode yet?

I just got the episode late last night and he’s going to see it tonight. He did film, but because there was so much to get in, that little clip of him coming didn’t make it. He met Lindsay and he thought she was very sweet. They connected on hunting and fishing. Lindsay sent my dad a hat and a fishing pole. She was so sweet and so there was a great little connection there. When he met her, the thing he said was, “Angie’s great. I’m not worried about her. She’ll be fine.” He talked about how he grew up very similar to that: no running water, no electricity. I think my dad knows that I’m humble and that I’d get through it, no problem. I’ve heard his stories, so it’s new to me, but it’s not new to me. I just have never lived like that. 

You have it in you!

I have it in me. It’s in my roots. Hey, my dad roughed it, so I can too.

We saw in last week’s episode of SLC that Lisa Barlow thinks she could be a farmer for a little while. Out of your castmates, who do you think would do the best in an environment like the one Tanner and Lindsay live in?

I’ve got to say it’s a tie. It’s going to be Heather and Whitney, because I think they’re both very down to earth. I think that they could have handled the chores and the entire situation with grace. They’re easy to get along with. They both love children and family. I think they’d be fun. I think it’s kind of a tie with the two of them. It’s hard to pick one. 

What is one thing about the life you live that you’ll never take for granted again?

Oh, that’s interesting. I love Salt Lake City. I wake up every morning, I pour my little espresso and I look out at the city. I’m such a city girl. I need to be around people. I need to be seeing kids and dogs out in the neighborhood. I just thrive off energy. It’s just 360-degree views of this amazing city, and being around people. Just being a city girl. 

You’re definitely a very social person.

I know. I love having neighbors and I love seeing people and I love just waking up to the city, the mountains and the view. I feel blessed. Their views were not bad. They were just different views. 

Well, I can’t wait for everyone to see this episode.

I hope you loved it. When you’re rewatching yourself, you have to watch it, like, three times. The experience I had – I hope it translates on television. I just could never explain that to someone having been in her shoes and the connection with the family. It was just so heartfelt and touching and enlightening. 

You could definitely see that. It was interesting, too, that you both had these preconceived notions about each others’ lives, and when you both came together, you realized that it can be difficult in both settings.

I pulled up and thought, “Oh, this is a simple life.” She pulled up and thought that I laid by a pool all day. It was a wake up call for both of us. But it is so interesting. We all have a full plate, so I don’t ever like to feel sorry for myself because I know everyone out there is trying to keep it all together. It’s just life and how we do it and how we balance it. It really was such a beautiful experience for that reason. And I loved Tanner. I couldn’t have gotten a better swap husband. I just adored him. He was outgoing and fun and made me comfortable. I feel like I will always be friends with him and I can’t wait to see them again. 

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Wife Swap: Real Housewives Edition airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Bravo. New episodes are available to stream the next day on Peacock.