| The Real Housewives of New Jersey | |
| |
| Country of Origin | United States |
| Original Language | English |
| Number of Seasons | 8 |
| Number of Episodes | 99 |
The Real Housewives of New Jersey is an American reality television series that debuted May 12, 2009 on Bravo. It is the network's fourth installation of the Real Housewives franchise. RHONJ chronicles the lives of wealthy Italian-American women living in New Jersey and heavily revolves around their family dynamics. Teresa Giudice, Nicole Napolitano, Teresa Aprea, Melissa Gorga, Dina Manzo, and Amber Marchese makeup the current cast of RHONJ.
Production
The Real Housewives of New Jersey was first announced when Bravo released its 2008-2009 programming on April 15, 2008. It was later announced that the series would debut on May 12, 2009, with Caroline Manzo, Jacqueline Laurita, Teresa Giudice, Dina Manzo, and Danielle Staub as the cast. For the first time in the franchise, the series followed housewives who are related to one another: sisters Caroline and Dina were married to brothers Albert and Tommy Manzo, and Jacqueline Laurita is married to Caroline and Dina's brother, Chris Laurita.[4] Dina and Tommy Manzo would later end up divorced. With the first season averaging 2.55 million total viewers, Bravo announced the renewal of the second season on October 6, 2009. The second season premiered on May 3, 2010, with Dina Manzo departing the series after the seventh episode of the season.
The third season renewal was announced on August 31, 2010. It was later revealed on September 7, 2010, that Danielle Staub would not returning to the show. Season 3 premiered on May 16, 2011, with a 90-minute episode as well as new housewives Melissa Gorga and Kathy Wakile. The third season delivered the highest rated season premiere in the network's history and the highest rated season premiere in The Real Housewives franchise, but was later surpassed by The Real Housewives of Atlanta. After season 3, The Real Housewives of New Jersey was the only The Real Housewives series within the franchise that features a main cast who are all married until The Real Housewives of Miami also met the criteria starting with its third season. Season 4 was announced on June 7, 2011, with the fourth season premiering on April 22, 2012. All of the Season 3 housewives returned. Bravo announced that the fifth season would premiere June 2, 2013, with the season four cast returning. Kim DePaola and Jennifer Dalton have joined as "friends of the housewives".
Season 7
Since the encarceration of Teresa Giudice began in January 2015, much speculation has risen regarding the future of the series. An obvious delay has occurred in the production of RHONJ leading many to believe that it will so until the release of Giudice in late December.
Amber Marchese confirmed to People Magainze on November 10, 2015 that she was not returning to RHONJ for its, presumed, seventh season while simultaneously blasting the series for having fabricated her relationship with other cast members.
On February 8, 2016, Bravo officially announced that RHONJ was in full production and that full-time housewives for the seventh season include Melissa Gorga, Teresa Giudice, and Jacqueline Laurita.
Housewives History
| Seasons | |||||||
| Housewives | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| Current | |||||||
| Teresa Giudice | Main | ||||||
| Jacqueline Laurita | Main | Recurring | Main | ||||
| Melissa Gorga | Main | ||||||
| Former | |||||||
| Caroline Manzo | Main | ||||||
| Danielle Staub | Main | ||||||
| Kathy Wakile | Main | Recurring | |||||
| Dina Manzo | Main | Guest | Main | ||||
| Teresa Aprea | Main | ||||||
| Nicole Napolitano | Main | ||||||
| Amber Marchese | Main | ||||||
| Friends | |||||||
| Kim DePaola | Guest | Guest | |||||
| Kim Granatell | Recurring | Guest | |||||
| Jennifer Dalton | Guest | ||||||
| Penny Drossos | Guest | ||||||
| Victoria Gotti | Guest | ||||||
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 | TBA | June 2, 2013[66] | TBA | TBA | |
Trivia
The first Real Housewives franchise to include main cast members that are related (through blood and marriage).
- Caroline and Dina Manzo (sisters)
- Melissa Gorga and Teresa Giudice (sisters-in-law)
- Teresa Aprea and Nicole Napolitano (twin sisters)
- Kathy Wakile and Teresa Giudice (first cousins)
- Jacqueline Laurita (sister-in-law to 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.