Elizabeth Holmes, take note: Jen Shah’s skin is ‘glowy’ in Texas prison

While Elizabeth Holmes has pursued last-minute efforts to delay reporting to the minimum-security federal prison camp in Bryan, Texas, Jen Shah, the former star of “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City,” appears to be doing OK in the same facility.

Shah actually might be doing more than OK, judging by photos published Tuesday by Page Six and by reports from Shah’s friends, who say she’s getting along with the other women, teaching some to read, working in the prison library, exercising and losing weight just by staying away from some of the notoriously bad food.

The photos show the reality TV star, known for her lavish lifestyle and over-the-top fashion, walking the prison yard in a beige uniform and chatting with another female prisoner. Page Six said that Shah, who reported to the camp in February, seems to be keeping up with her beauty routine, “rocking” a pair of simple gold earrings, with her hair tied back in a sleek ponytail.

“She looks beautiful, her skin looks so glowy, her hair looks great. She’s doing phenomenal there in that sense,” Shah’s friend and assistant wrote on her Instagram in March, Page Six reported. The assistant also manages Shah’s social media accounts.

Shah, 49, pleaded guilty in July 2022 to defrauding thousands of people in a telemarketing scheme. She reported to prison on Feb. 17 and was originally sentenced to 6½ years, but her sentence was later reduced by one year, with a release date scheduled for August 2028.

Meanwhile, Holmes has been sentenced to 11 years in federal prison after being convicted of swindling investors in her Theranos blood-testing startup out of hundreds of millions of dollars. The would-be world visionary was ordered to report on April 27 to the same women’s federal prison camp where Shah is incarcerated. She would be leaving behind a newborn daughter, Invicta, a 20-month-old son, William, and a devoted partner, hotel heir Billy Evans.

In a recent New York Times profile, the convicted fraudster tried to build sympathy around her new, low-key lifestyle, which includes speaking in a more normal voice and ditching her signature tech-mogul black turtlenecks and red “Kabuki” lipstick in favor of beige sweaters and breast-feeding. Holmes expressed disbelief that her domestic bliss wouldn’t last, at one point crying about her children growing up without her in their daily lives.

Last month, Holmes managed to win a temporary reprieve from going to prison on April 27, with a successful request to remain free pending on an appeal on her prison reporting date. But legal experts told this news organization that she’s not likely to win the appeal and will probably end up heading to prison at some point.

Holmes could perhaps look to Shah for guidance on how a rich and famous person can adjust to the spartan conditions of prison life — where there is little privacy, the commissary offers limited shopping opportunities and authorities aren’t known for extending privileges to celebrities.

To stay in shape and to get along with other women in her dormitory, Shah has started to teach a fitness class three times a week, Shah’s assistant revealed, according to Page Six. Shah has even earned herself the nickname, “Jen Fonda.”

Her manager, Chris Giovanni, told TMZ last month that Shah had lost 15 pounds from working out daily and eating less, as she finds the food “subpar,” Page Six also reported.

Giovanni told TMZ that Shah has been working in the prison’s educational department and library and has tried to stay creatively and spiritually engaged. She began creating a play with with the other prisoners — aptly titled “The Real Housewives of Bryan.” The production, though, was still in early development because Shah is teaching some of her crew how to read and write, Giovanni said.

Shah also had stayed in touch with her faith, according to TMZ and Page Six. She converted to Islam after marrying her husband, football coach Sharrieff Shah. In March and April, she and other inmates observed Ramadan by fasting and praying daily.