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.
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.
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 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. 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. Staub left the show after the second season.
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. 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; Giudice, Laurita, Caroline, Gorga, and Wakile returned to their primary capacities. The fifth season premiered on June 2, 2013, with all five housewives from the previous season returning. On October 13, Caroline Manzo confirmed her voluntary departure from the series to her BravoTV.com blog. Four days later, E! Online revealed that Wakile and Laurita would also not be returning to the series for the sixth season. Wakile confirmed her departure in May the following year.
Seasons 6–9 Following the exit announcements of Wakile and Laurita, it was announced Amber Marchese and twin sisters Teresa Aprea and Nicole Napolitano would be joining the cast. On October 29, Dina announced her return as a full-time cast member on social media. The sixth season premiered on July 13, 2014. Wakile and Laurita both appeared in a "friend of" capacity, while Giudice and Gorga remained as full-time housewives. In November 2015, Marchese announced her departure after only one season. In May 2016, Dina announced her second departure from the series.
In January 2016, NJ.com reported that Dolores Catania and relationship expert Siggy Flicker were set to join the show. On February 8, Bravo Media announced the series would return for a seventh season amidst Giudice's release from prison, subsequently affirming her return, as well as the full-time returns of Gorga and Laurita. On May 24, the season seven cast was revealed, consisting of Giudice, Gorga, Laurita, Catania, and Flicker. Ths seventh season premiered on July 10, 2016. Wakile returned, once again as "friends of the housewives", along with Rosie Pierri. Aprea and Napolitano also made a guest appearance. On April 3, 2017, Laurita announced she would again exit the series. In May, Wakile also revealed she would be leaving once again.
The eighth season was announced on April 27, 2017. In August, Bravo revealed that with the exception of the previously-announced Laurita, the entire full-time cast wwould be returning. Margaret Josephs was announced as a new housewife, as well as the return of Staub, who would serve in the recurring "friend" capacity. The season premiered on October 4, 2017. On December 22, during the airing of the season, Flicker announced her exit from the series.
In March 2018, Us Weekly reported filming for the ninth season was underway, with Giudice, Gorga, Catania, Josephs, and Staub participating. The season was announced by Bravo in the following month, on April 11. Two days later, it was reported that Jackie Goldschneider and Jennifer Aydin had joined the cast. In September, Bravo revealed the series regular 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.
Seasons 10–present Filming for the tenth season was revealed to be underway in March 2019, with all cast members from the previous season returning. The season premiered on November 6, 2019. On January 8, 2020, Staub announced her resignation from the show for the second time.
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. The twelfth season premiered on February 1, 2022, with Traci Johnson added as a friend of the housewives. 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 joining as a friend of the housewives, alongside former housewife Jackie Goldschneider. The fourteenth season premiered on May 5, 2024, with the entire cast from the thirteenth season returning. In June 2024, it was reported that there would not be a traditional reunion for the fourteenth season, making this for the first time in the show's history.
In March 2026, Josephs announced her departure from the franchise. That same month, Bravo announced production on the fifteenth season would begin in mid-2026, with Catania, Giudice, and Gorga returning as full-time housewives.
Cast
+ Main cast members Cast member Seasons 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Teresa Giudice colspan="14" Jacqueline Laurita colspan="5" colspan="1" colspan="1" colspan="7" Caroline Manzo colspan="5" colspan="11" Dina Manzo colspan="2" colspan="1" colspan="1" colspan="1" colspan="1" colspan="8" Danielle Staub colspan="2" colspan="5" colspan="3" colspan="4" Melissa Gorga colspan="1" colspan="1" colspan="12" Kathy Wakile colspan="1" colspan="1" colspan="3" colspan="2" colspan="7" Teresa Aprea colspan="5" colspan="1" colspan="1" colspan="7" Amber Marchese colspan="5" colspan="1" colspan="8" Nicole Napolitano colspan="5" colspan="1" colspan="1" colspan="7" Dolores Catania colspan="1" colspan="1" colspan="2" colspan="2" colspan="8" Siggy Flicker colspan="6" colspan="2" colspan="6" Margaret Josephs colspan="7" colspan="7" Jennifer Aydin colspan="6" colspan="1" colspan="1" colspan="6" Jackie Goldschneider colspan="8" colspan="4" colspan="2" Danielle Cabral colspan="12" colspan="2" Rachel Fuda colspan="12" colspan="2" Friends of the housewives Kim Granatell colspan="1" colspan="1" colspan="1" colspan="11" Kim DePaola colspan="1" colspan="2" colspan="2" colspan="1" colspan="2" colspan="6" Rosie Pierri colspan="2" colspan="4" colspan="1" colspan="7" Traci Johnson colspan="11" colspan="1" colspan="1" colspan="1" Jennifer Fessler colspan="7" colspan="1" colspan="4" colspan="2"
Episodes
Broadcast history The Real Housewives of New Jersey airs regularly on Bravo in the United States; most episodes are approximately forty-two minutes in length, and are broadcast in standard definition and high definition. 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.
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. Caroline Manzo moved on from the original show to her own spin-off, Manzo'd with Children, which premiered on October 5, 2014, on Bravo. It featured her daily life with her husband, sons and daughter and lasted for three seasons.
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.
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. An after-show for the tenth season started streaming online on December 11, 2019.
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.
Teresa Gets Married, featuring the August 2022 nuptials of Giudice and Luis "Louie" Ruelas, aired on Bravo on May 23, 2023.
References
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