The Real Housewives of New Jersey | |
Current Housewives | Teresa Giudice (Season 1–) Melissa Gorga (Season 3–) |
Former Housewives | Jacqueline Laurita (Season 1–5, 7) Caroline Manzo (Season 1–5) |
Country of Origin | United States |
Original Language | English |
Number of Seasons | 13 |
Number of Episodes | 235 |
Original Release | May 12, 2009–Present |
Preceded By | The Real Housewives of Atlanta |
Followed By | The Real Housewives of D.C. |
Spin-Off(s) | Boys To Manzo Manzo’d With Children |
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 thirteen seasons and focuses on the personal and professional lives of several women residing in the state of New Jersey.
The cast of the recent thirteenth 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 Manzo, 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, Manzo'd with Children and Teresa Checks In.
Overview[]
Seasons 1–5[]
The Real Housewives of New Jersey was announced by Bravo on April 15, 2008. The first season premiered on May 12, 2009, and starred: Caroline Manzo, Jacqueline Laurita, Teresa Giudice, Dina Manzo and Danielle Staub; with future housewife, Dolores Catania, serving as a guest. 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 Manzo, were, at the time, married to brothers, Albert and Tommy Manzo, and Laurita is married to Caroline and Dina's brother, Chris Laurita. Dina and Tommy Manzo would later end up separated. The second season premiered on May 3, 2010, with Dina Manzo departing the series after the seventh episode as she wanted to distance herself from the show’s drama. Staub left the show after the second season.
The third season premiered on May 16, 2011, with new housewives, Melissa Gorga and Kathy Wakile. 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. The fourth season premiered on April 22, 2012. This season served as Dolores Catania's final season as a guest until the seventh season where she would become a main cast member. The fifth season premiered on June 2, 2013. Caroline Manzo and Laurita left the show after the fifth season.
Seasons 6–8[]
The sixth season premiered on July 13, 2014. It featured the return of Dina Manzo as a full-time cast member and new cast members, Amber Marchese, Teresa Aprea and Nicole Napolitano. Wakile was demoted to a "Friend of the Housewives" role, while Laurita also appeared in the same capacity. Aprea, Cantin and Napolitano left the show, while Marchese was fired after the sixth season.
Laurita returned as a full-time cast member in the seventh season, which premiered on July 10, 2016. The season also featured Dolores Catania and Siggy Flicker as new cast members, Catania having already made several cameos on the show during the first four seasons plus having originally signed to appear in the inaugural season but pulling out due to personal reasons. Kathy Wakile and Rosie Pierri appeared as "Friend of the Housewives". Aprea and Napolitano also appeared as guests. The season marked as the final appearance of Laurita, Wakile and Pierri in the show. Staub returned in the show as a "Friend of the Housewives" for the eighth season, which premiered on October 4, 2017. It also featured Margaret Josephs as the new cast member. Flicker left the show afterwards.
Seasons 9–Present[]
The ninth season premiered on November 7, 2018, featuring Jennifer Aydin and Jackie Goldschneider joining the cast; while Staub returned as a ‘Friend’ once again. The tenth season premiered on November 6, 2019. The season marked Staub's final appearance, as she announced her resignation from the show for the second time in January 2020.
Filming for the eleventh season was postponed by Bravo in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The eleventh season premiered on February 17, 2021 with the entire cast, from the ninth and tenth season, back for the eleventh. The twelfth season premiered on February 1, 2022 with Traci Johnson added as a ’Friend of the Housewives’ with the same main cast returning for the fourth consecutive season - a first in the franchise.
The thirteenth season premiered on February 7, 2023, with new full-time housewives, Danielle Cabral and Rachel Fuda joining the cast, as well as Jennifer Fessler appearing as a ’Friend of the Housewives’, alongside newly-demoted and former housewife, Goldschneider.
Cast[]
Housewives | Seasons | ||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | ||
Dina Manzo | Main | Guest | Main | ||||||||||||
Teresa Giudice | Main | ||||||||||||||
Jacqueline Laurita | Main | Friend | Main | ||||||||||||
Danielle Staub | Main | Friend | |||||||||||||
Caroline Manzo | Main | ||||||||||||||
Melissa Gorga | Guest | Main | |||||||||||||
Kathy Wakile | Guest | Main | Friend | ||||||||||||
Teresa Aprea | Main | Guest | |||||||||||||
Amber Marchese | Main | ||||||||||||||
Nicole Napolitano | Main | Guest | |||||||||||||
Dolores Catania | Guest | Main | |||||||||||||
Siggy Flicker | Main | ||||||||||||||
Margaret Josephs | Main | ||||||||||||||
Jennifer Aydin | Main | ||||||||||||||
Jackie Goldschneider | Main | Friend | |||||||||||||
Danielle Cabral | Main | ||||||||||||||
Rachel Fuda | Main | ||||||||||||||
Friends | |||||||||||||||
Kim DePaola | Guest | Friend | Guest | ||||||||||||
Kim Granatell | Friend | Guest | |||||||||||||
Rosie Pierri | Guest | Friend | |||||||||||||
Traci Johnson | Friend | Guest | |||||||||||||
Jenn Fessler | Friend |
Episodes[]
Season | Episodes | Season Premiere | Season Finale | Reunion | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 10 | May 12, 2009 | June 18, 2009 | June 23, 2009 June 25, 2009 | |
2 | 18 | May 3, 2010 | August 23, 2010 | August 30, 2010 September 6, 2010 | |
3 | 21 | May 16, 2011 | October 9, 2011 | October 16, 2011 October 23, 2011 | |
4 | 24 | April 22, 2012 | September 23, 2012 | September 30, 2012 October 7, 2012 October 14, 2012 | |
5 | 22 | June 2, 2013 | September 29, 2013 | October 6, 2013 October 13, 2013 | |
6 | 19 | July 13, 2014 | October 19, 2014 | November 2, 2014 November 6, 2014 November 11, 2014 | |
7 | 18 | July 10, 2016 | October 30, 2016 | November 6, 2016 November 13, 2016 | |
8 | 16 | October 4, 2017 | January 10, 2018 | January 17, 2018 January 24, 2018 | |
9 | 18 | November 7, 2018 | February 13, 2019 | February 20, 2019 February 27, 2019 March 6, 2019 | |
10 | 19 | November 6, 2019 | February 26, 2020 | March 4, 2020 March 11, 2020 March 18, 2020 | |
11 | 15 | February 17, 2021 | May 12, 2021 | May 19, 2021 May 26, 2021 | |
12 | 16 | February 1, 2022 | April 26, 2022 | May 3, 2022 May 10, 2022 May 17, 2022 | |
13 | 19 | February 7, 2023 | May 23, 2023 | May 30, 2023 June 6, 20230 June 13, 2023 |
Trivia[]
- The first Real Housewives franchise to include main cast members that are related (through blood and marriage).
- Two sisters in Caroline and Dina Manzo;
- Two sister-in-laws in Melissa Gorga and Teresa Giudice.
- Two twin sisters in Teresa Aprea and Nicole Napolitano.
- Two cousins in Kathy Wakile and Teresa Giudice.
- Another set of sister-in-laws between: Jacqueline Laurita and Dina and Caroline Manzo.
- RHONJ is the first series to include two main housewives that are identical twins.
- Has, from the first season, featured a predominantly Italian-American cast.
- First series of its kind to include two main cast members sharing a tagline and title card in the series' intro.