The Real Housewives of New Jersey
American reality television series
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Real Housewives of New Jersey, abbreviated RHONJ, is an American reality television series that premiered on May 12, 2009, on Bravo. Developed as the fourth installment of The Real Housewives franchise, it has aired fourteen seasons and focuses on the personal and professional lives of several women residing in the state of New Jersey, primarily in North Jersey.
- Teresa Giudice
- Jacqueline Laurita
- Caroline Manzo
- Dina Cantin
- Danielle Staub
- Melissa Gorga
- Kathy Wakile
- Teresa Aprea
- Amber Marchese
- Nicole Napolitano
- Dolores Catania
- Siggy Flicker
- Margaret Josephs
- Jennifer Aydin
- Jackie Goldschneider
- Danielle Cabral
- Rachel Fuda
| The Real Housewives of New Jersey | |
|---|---|
| |
| Genre | Reality television |
| Starring |
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| Composers | |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 14 |
| No. of episodes | 249 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
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| Camera setup | Multiple |
| Running time | 41–43 minutes |
| Production company | Sirens Media |
| Original release | |
| Network | Bravo |
| Release | May 12, 2009 – present |
| Related | |
The cast of the recent fourteenth season consists of Teresa Giudice, Melissa Gorga, Dolores Catania, Margaret Josephs, Jennifer Aydin, Danielle Cabral and Rachel Fuda, with former housewife Jackie Goldschneider and Jennifer Fessler serving as friends of the housewives. Previously featured cast members include original housewives Dina Cantin, Jacqueline Laurita, Caroline Manzo and Danielle Staub; and subsequent housewives Kathy Wakile, Teresa Aprea, Amber Marchese, Nicole Napolitano and Siggy Flicker.
The success of the show has resulted in the spin-offs Boys to Manzo, Manzo'd with Children, and Teresa Checks In.
Production
Seasons 1–5
The Real Housewives of New Jersey was announced by Bravo on April 15, 2008.[1] The first season premiered on May 12, 2009, and starred Caroline Manzo, Jacqueline Laurita, Teresa Giudice, Dina Cantin and Danielle Staub with Dolores Catania as a friend of the housewives. For the first time in The Real Housewives franchise, the series followed cast members who are related to one another: sisters Caroline Manzo and Dina Cantin were at the time married to brothers Albert and Tommy Manzo, and Laurita is married to Caroline and Dina's brother, Chris Laurita.[2] Dina and Tommy Manzo would later end up separated.[3][4] The second season premiered on May 3, 2010, with Dina Manzo departing the series after the seventh episode.[5] Staub left the show after the second season.[6]
The third season premiered on May 16, 2011, with new housewives Melissa Gorga, Teresa Giudice's sister-in-law, and Kathy Wakile, Teresa's cousin. Kathy's sister, Rosie Pierri, appeared as a guest.[7] It delivered the highest rated season premiere in Bravo's history and the highest-rated season premiere in The Real Housewives franchise at the time.[8]
The fourth season premiered on April 22, 2012; Giudice, Laurita, Caroline Manzo, Gorga, and Wakile returned to their primary capacities.[9] Future housewife Dolores Catania made her final cameo until Season 7 where she would become a main cast member. Dina Manzo also made a guest appearance during the fourth season. The fifth season premiered on June 2, 2013, with all five housewives from the previous season returning.[10] On October 13, Caroline Manzo confirmed her voluntary departure from the series to her BravoTV.com blog.[11] Four days later, on October 17, E! Online confirmed that both Wakile and Laurita would also not be returning to the series for the upcoming sixth season.[12] Wakile confirmed her departure in May the following year.[13]
Seasons 6–8
Along with the October 2013 announcement of Wakile and Laurita's departures was the simultaneous announcement that Amber Marchese and twin sisters Teresa Aprea and Nicole Napolitano would be joining the cast.[12] On October 29, Dina Manzo confirmed her return as a full-time cast member to her Twitter account.[14][15] The sixth season premiered on July 13, 2014.[16] Wakile and Laurita both appeared in a demoting "friend of the housewives" role, while Giudice and Gorga remained in their primary capacities.[17] In November 2015, Marchese announced her departure after only one season.[18] In May 2016, Dina Manzo announced her second departure from the series.[19]
In January 2016, NJ.com reported that Dolores Catania and relationship expert Siggy Flicker were set to join the show.[20] On February 8, Bravo Media confirmed the series would return for a seventh season amidst Giudice's release from prison, subsequently confirming her return, as well as Gorga and Laurita (returning as a full-time cast member).[21] On May 24, Bravo confirmed the season seven cast would consist of Giudice, Gorga, Laurita, Catania, and Flicker; noticeably excluding Aprea and Napolitano, implicitly confirming their departures.[22] Season 7 premiered on July 10, 2016.[23] Wakile returned, once again as "friends of the housewives", along with Rosie Pierri.[24] Aprea and Napolitano also made a guest appearance.[25][26] On April 3, 2017, Laurita announced her official departure from the show.[27] In May, Wakile also confirmed she would be leaving.[28]
The eighth season was announced on April 27, 2017.[29] In August, Bravo confirmed everyone from the main cast, with the exception of Laurita, would be returning, also announcing newcomer Margaret Josephs would be joining as a main cast member, as well as the return of Danielle Staub, who would serve in the recurring "friend" capacity.[30][31] The season premiered on October 4, 2017. On December 22, during the airing of the season, Flicker announced her exit from the series.[32]
Seasons 9–12
In March 2018, Us Weekly reported filming for the ninth season was underway, with Giudice, Gorga, Catania, Josephs, and Staub (in an unknown capacity) participating.[33] The season was confirmed by Bravo on April 11.[34] On April 13, it was reported that columnist Jackie Goldschneider and Jennifer Aydin would be joining the cast.[35] In September, Bravo confirmed the main cast would consist of Giudice, Gorga, Catania, Josephs, Aydin, and Goldschneider, with Staub also returning in a "friend" capacity. Season nine premiered on November 7, 2018.
Filming for the tenth season was confirmed to be underway in March 2019, with all seven women returning.[36] The season premiered on November 6, 2019.[37] On January 8, 2020, Staub, who returned in a recurring capacity for her third consecutive season, announced her resignation from the show for the second time.[38]
In March 2020, Bravo postponed the filming for the eleventh season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[39] In January 2021, Bravo confirmed the season, and the returns of Giudice, Gorga, Catania, Josephs, Goldschneider, and Aydin as full-time cast members.[40] The eleventh season premiered on February 17, 2021.[41]
The twelfth season premiered on February 1, 2022, with all six women returning, and Traci Johnson (wife of Tiki Barber and friend to Gorga) added as a "friend of the housewives".[42]
Seasons 13–present
In May 2022, Bravo confirmed the show would return for a thirteenth season.[43] On December 21, Bravo confirmed the cast of season thirteen would include Giudice, Gorga, Aydin, Josephs, Catania, and newcomers Danielle Cabral and Rachel Fuda as main cast members, with Goldschneider and fellow newcomer Jennifer "Jenn" Fessler appearing in recurring capacities.[44] Upon the casting announcement, Goldschneider told People that she had initially been offered a full-time contract, however, due to her personal struggles with her eating disorder, she declined and was instead demoted to a recurring "friend" role.[45] Season thirteen premiered on February 7, 2023.[46]
In March 2024, the fourteenth season was announced with the entire cast from the thirteenth season returning in their respective capacities.[47] The season premiered on May 5, 2024. In June, it was confirmed that there would not be a traditional reunion for the fourteenth season, making this for the first time in the show's history.[48]
In March 2026, after a year-long-hiatus, Josephs announced her departure from the franchise.[49] That same month, Bravo announced production for the fifteenth season would begin in mid-2026,[50] with Catania, Giudice, and Gorga returning as full-time housewives, and implicitly confirming the firings of Aydin, Cabral, Fuda, Goldschneider, and Fessler.[51]
Cast
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| Cast member | Seasons | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | |||
| Teresa Giudice | Main | |||||||||||||||
| Jacqueline Laurita | Main | Friend | Main | |||||||||||||
| Caroline Manzo | Main | |||||||||||||||
| Dina Manzo | Main | Guest | Main | |||||||||||||
| Danielle Staub | Main | Friend | ||||||||||||||
| Melissa Gorga | Guest | Main | ||||||||||||||
| Kathy Wakile | Guest | Main | Friend | |||||||||||||
| Teresa Aprea | Main | Guest | ||||||||||||||
| Amber Marchese | Main | |||||||||||||||
| Nicole Napolitano | Main | Guest | ||||||||||||||
| Dolores Catania | Guest | Guest | Main | |||||||||||||
| Siggy Flicker | Main | |||||||||||||||
| Margaret Josephs | Main | |||||||||||||||
| Jennifer Aydin | Guest | Main | ||||||||||||||
| Jackie Goldschneider | Main | Friend | ||||||||||||||
| Danielle Cabral | Main | |||||||||||||||
| Rachel Fuda | Main | |||||||||||||||
| Friends of the housewives | ||||||||||||||||
| Kim Granatell | Friend | Guest | ||||||||||||||
| Kim DePaola | Guest | Friend | Guest | |||||||||||||
| Rosie Pierri | Guest | Friend | ||||||||||||||
| Traci Johnson | Friend | Guest | ||||||||||||||
| Jennifer Fessler | Guest | Friend | ||||||||||||||
Episodes
| Season | Episodes | Originally released | Average Viewers (millions) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First released | Last released | ||||
| 1 | 10 | May 12, 2009 | July 9, 2009 | 2.25 | |
| 2 | 18 | May 3, 2010 | September 6, 2010 | 2.74 | |
| 3 | 21 | May 16, 2011 | October 23, 2011 | 2.66 | |
| 4 | 24 | April 22, 2012 | October 21, 2012 | 2.66 | |
| 5 | 22 | June 2, 2013 | October 20, 2013 | 2.29 | |
| 6 | 19 | July 13, 2014 | November 20, 2014 | 1.86 | |
| 7 | 18 | July 10, 2016 | November 13, 2016 | 1.54 | |
| 8 | 16 | October 4, 2017 | January 31, 2018 | 1.24 | |
| 9 | 18 | November 7, 2018 | March 6, 2019 | 1.22 | |
| 10 | 19 | November 6, 2019 | March 18, 2020 | 1.18 | |
| 11 | 15 | February 17, 2021 | May 26, 2021 | 1.05 | |
| 12 | 16 | February 1, 2022 | May 17, 2022 | 1.04 | |
| 13 | 19 | February 7, 2023 | June 13, 2023 | 0.93 | |
| 14 | 14 | May 5, 2024 | August 11, 2024 | 0.73 | |
Broadcast history
The Real Housewives of New Jersey airs regularly on Bravo in the United States;[52] most episodes are approximately forty-two minutes in length,[53] and are broadcast in standard definition and high definition.[54] Since its premiere, the series has alternated airing on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday evenings and has been frequently shifted between the 8:00, 9:00, and 10:00 PM timeslots.[52]
Spin-offs
The series' success has resulted in a development of spin-off series. Caroline Manzo's sons, Albie and Chris, had a web series spin-off alongside their roommate and friend Greg Bennett, Boys to Manzo, which premiered on May 30, 2011.[55][56] Caroline Manzo moved on from the original show to her own spin-off, Manzo'd with Children,[57][58] which premiered on October 5, 2014, on Bravo.[59] It featured her daily life with her husband, sons and daughter[60] and lasted for three seasons.[61]
In October 2015, a three episode spin-off, Teresa Checks In, premiered. It followed the life of the Giudice family during Teresa's incarceration, including her nearly daily phone calls from prison, and featured Melissa Gorga and her husband, Joe, and Rosie Pierri.[62][63]
In December 2018, an after-show featuring season 9's cast was released online through Bravo.com and YouTube. It featured their reactions to the most recent episode and thoughts on the season.[64] An after-show for the tenth season started streaming online on December 11, 2019.[65]
Giudice and Melissa Gorga starred in the first season of the Peacock spin-off, The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip. They traveled to Turks and Caicos alongside several other Housewives cast members from other cities.[66][67]
Teresa Gets Married, featuring the August 2022 nuptials of Giudice and Luis "Louie" Ruelas, aired on Bravo on May 23, 2023.[68]
