''The Real Housewives of New Jersey'' (abbreviated ''RHONJ'') is an American

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

series that premiered on May 12, 2009, on

Bravo Bravo(s) or The Bravo(s) may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music Groups and labels *Bravo (band), a Russian rock band * Bravo (Spanish group), represented Spain at Eurovision 1984 *Bravo Music, an American concert band music publishing company ...

. Developed as the fourth installment of ''

The Real Housewives ''The Real Housewives'' is an international reality television media franchise, franchise that consists of 57 programs; 11 The Real Housewives#Installments originated in the United States, American installments, 20 The Real Housewives#Installments ...

'' franchise, it has aired twelve seasons and focuses on the personal and professional lives of several women residing in the U.S. State of

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

. The cast of the upcoming thirteenth season consists of

Teresa Giudice Teresa Giudice ( , ; ; born May 18, 1972) is an American television personality best known for starring in ''The Real Housewives of New Jersey''. Besides appearing on the show, Giudice wrote multiple ''New York Times'' bestseller cookbooks and ...

Melissa Gorga Melissa Ann Gorga ( née Marco; born March 21, 1979) is an American television personality, author, singer, designer and businesswoman. She is a member of the cast of '' The Real Housewives of New Jersey'', joining the show in its third season i ...

Dolores Catania Dolores Catania (''née'' Spagnola; born December 28, 1970) is an American television personality, philanthropist, and entrepreneur. She is best known as a main cast member of ''The Real Housewives of New Jersey'', appearing in that capacity sinc ...

Margaret Josephs Margaret Katona Josephs (born April 9, 1967) is an American fashion designer, entrepreneur and television personality. She is the owner, founder and designer of a lifestyle brand called Macbeth Collection. She has been a main cast member of the ...

, 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 Claudine J. "Dina" Cantin (, formerly Manzo and Ioannou; born March 7, 1972) is an American television personality and entrepreneur. She is most known for appearing on ''The Real Housewives of New Jersey'' as an original main cast member, appeari ...

Jacqueline Laurita Jacqueline Elizabeth Laurita (née Grippe, formerly Holmes; born April 26, 1970) is an American television personality, known for starring in ''The Real Housewives of New Jersey'' (2009–14, 2016). Career Since 2009, Laurita has appeared on '' ...

, Caroline Manzo and

Danielle Staub Danielle Staub (born Beverly Ann Merrill; July 29, 1962) is an American television personality. In May 2009, she came to prominence after being cast in the reality television series ''The Real Housewives of New Jersey'', as a main cast member fo ...

; and subsequent housewives

Kathy Wakile Katherina Wakile (''née'' Pierri; born October 4, 1965) is an American reality television personality. She starred in the Bravo series ''The Real Housewives of New Jersey'', which features the lives of her and her family members. Early life W ...

, Teresa Aprea,

Amber Marchese Amber Marchese (born August 13, 1977) is an American television personality and entrepreneur. She is known for starring in the reality television series ''The Real Housewives of New Jersey''. Career Amber appeared on the sixth season of Bravo's ...

Nicole Napolitano Nicole Napolitano Mauriello is an American television personality and entrepreneur. She is best known for starring in the reality television series ''The Real Housewives of New Jersey''. She is the twin sister of Teresa Aprea. Career Napolitano's ...

, and

Siggy Flicker Sigalit "Siggy" Flicker (née Paldiel; born June 1, 1967) is an Israeli American relationship specialist,

. The success of the show has resulted in the spin-offs ''

Manzo'd with Children ''Manzo'd with Children'' is an American reality documentary television series on Bravo which premiered on October 5, 2014. Bravo announced the series in April 2014, making it the first spin-off show of '' The Real Housewives of New Jersey''. T ...

'' and ''

Teresa Checks In ''Teresa Checks In'' is an American reality television series which premiered on the Bravo cable network, on October 11, 2015. The three-part television special chronicles the life of the Giudice family and how its members dealt with the afterma ...

''.

Current cast

Main *

, 2009—present *

, 2011—present *

, 2016—present *

, 2017—present *Jennifer Aydin, 2018—present *Danielle Cabral, 2023—present *Rachel Fuda, 2023—present Friends of *Jackie Goldschneider, (Main: 2018—2022) 2023—present *Jennifer Fessler, 2023—present

Overview and casting

Seasons 1–5

''The Real Housewives of New Jersey'' was announced by

on April 15, 2008. The first season premiered on May 12, 2009, and starred Caroline Manzo,

and

with Dolores Catania as a friend of the housewives. For the first time in ''

'' 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

and

. 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 friend until Season 7 where she would become a main cast member. The fifth season premiered on June 2, 2013. Jennifer Dalton joined the cast as a friend. Caroline Manzo and Laurita left the show after the fifth season.

Seasons 6–10

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

, Teresa Aprea and Nicole Napolitano. Wakile was demoted to a "friend of the housewives" role, while Laurita also appeared as a guest. 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

and

Siggy Flicker Sigalit "Siggy" Flicker (née Paldiel; born June 1, 1967) is an Israeli American relationship specialist,

as new cast members, Dolores Catania was a friend of the show for the first four seasons and was originally cast for the show in Season 1 but backed out due to personal reasons. Kathy Wakile and Rosie Pierri appeared as "friends 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

as the new cast member. Flicker left the show afterwards. 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.

Season 11–present

Filming for the eleventh season was postponed by Bravo in March 2020 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. 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. On December 21, 2022, it was announced that the thirteenth season would premiere 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 former housewife Jackie Goldschneider.

Timeline of cast members

Episodes

Broadcast history

''The Real Housewives of New Jersey'' airs regularly on

in the United States; most episodes are approximately forty-two minutes in length, and are broadcast in

standard definition Standard-definition television (SDTV, SD, often shortened to standard definition) is a television system which uses a resolution that is not considered to be either high or enhanced definition. "Standard" refers to it being the prevailing sp ...

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 children Albie and Chris had a web series spin-off alongside their roommate and friend Greg Bennett, ''

Boys to Manzo ''Boys to Manzo'' is an American reality television web series that began airing from May 30 to July 10, 2011, on the official website for Bravo. A spin-off to '' The Real Housewives of New Jersey'', the series features Albie and Chris Manzo, the ...

'' which premiered on May 30, 2011. Caroline Manzo, who was part of the original cast of the show, quit the series due to involvement in the production of a new show, ''

''. The show premiered on October 5, 2014 on Bravo. The reality series follows the daily life of Manzo and her family, and lasted for three seasons. In October 2015, a three episode spin-off, entitled ''

'' premiered. It featured the life of the Giudice family during the aftermath of Teresa Giudice's being sentenced to prison. The series featured cast members of ''The Real Housewives of New Jersey'', Melissa Gorga and Rosie Pierri. In December 2018, an after show featuring season 9's cast was released online through Bravo.com and

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

. 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

starred in the first season of the spin-off ''

The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip ''The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip'' (acronym ''RHUGT'') is an American reality television series that premiered on Peacock on November 16, 2021. The series follows several women from ''The Real Housewives'' franchise as they vacation toge ...

'' on

Peacock Peafowl is a common name for three bird species in the genera ''Pavo (genus), Pavo'' and ''Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae, the pheasants and their allies. Male peafowl are referred to as peacocks, and female pea ...

, traveling to

Turks and Caicos The Turks and Caicos Islands (abbreviated TCI; and ) are a British Overseas Territory consisting of the larger Caicos Islands and smaller Turks Islands, two groups of tropical islands in the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean and n ...

alongside several other Housewives cast members from other cities’ franchises.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Real Housewives of New Jersey, The 2009 American television series debuts 2000s American reality television series 2010s American reality television series 2020s American reality television series Bravo (American TV network) original programming English-language television shows Television productions suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic Television shows filmed in New Jersey