The Real Housewives of New Jersey girl gang is already entangled in a chaotic friend group drama. A dramatically canceled trip was a shocking realization for the season 14 cast members that their friendship might just be over. Anyway, the repetitive format, never-ending verbal fights, and beefing with each other for no reason have been tiring for the Bravo fans to watch.
There have been rumors surrounding a potential reboot and possible new faces for the franchise. Cast members including Danielle Cabral, Teresa Giudice, Margaret Josephs, Melissa Gorga, Jennifer Aydin, Dolores Catania, Rachel Fuda, Jennifer Fessler, and Jackie Goldschneider are all questioning whether their friend group can survive any longer.
During season 14, episode 12, Dolores Catania tells her boyfriend Paul “Paulie” Connell that the much-anticipated girl’s trip to the Berkshires has been canceled. This decision was made after Dolores was informed about a house fire at the place they were about to stay.
A “divine intervention” or a missed opportunity to mend friendships?
Dolores shared that the house she chose for her friends was perfect, but admitted that it was terrifying to imagine what would’ve happened if they were already there. Dolores was sure she couldn’t find a house like that again, which is why the girl’s trip was canceled:
“Umm, well, the house that we were going to go to, for the girls trip I planned just burned down last night.”
With the constant drama in the friend group, Dolores’ boyfriend Paulie thought it was a sign from the universe for them not to go. Maybe he was hinting at the ongoing fights, one of them which even got physical last time. Dolores agreed that it might not be the best time for her to plan something like this. Paulie stated:
“I mean, if the house burned down, that’s kind of a sign, no?”
In a confessional interview in episode 12, Dolores Catania opened up about the situation and how her friend group was falling apart. She wanted her girls to be respectful and talk to each other in a civil way by remembering the good times with one another. All she wanted was “peace” and admitted that it was unrealistic for every costar to be best buddies. However, Catania was upset seeing how the group division had done irreversible damage to the strong connection they had. She said:
“You can’t love each other for that many years and then just completely turn it off, then try to disrespect what you had. It’s just sad.”
With Teresa Giudice and Margaret Josephs’ friendship almost at an end, Catania tried to do her best and not offend any of them. Jennifer Fessler told Margaret that Teresa had invited all friends alongside an attorney to expose Josephs. This angered Margaret and she couldn’t understand why a meetup was being held to “talk sh*t behind her back.”
According to Teresa, Josephs had hurt her family and was linked to the drama involving Luis “Louie” Ruelas. Cast members who attended this meeting include Jennifer Aydin, Dolores Catania, Danielle Cabral, Jackie Goldschneider, and Gia Giudice. Fessler decided to back out at the last minute stating that she didn’t want to be a part of a “bash party” as titled by Josephs.
During the meetup, a question regarding the trip came up, and that was when Dolores told everyone that the Berkshires’ house had “burnt down.” Aydin considered it a “divine intervention” as the group was hardly getting along right now, it would’ve been a chaotic mess if they traveled together.
For Dolores however, this was a missed opportunity for Teresa and Margaret to make up for all that had happened. She wants her friends to get along and be on good terms even if their friendship dynamic can’t go back to exactly how it was. The canceled girls’ trip makes the viewers question the future of the Bravo show and if it’s losing its audience with the same old drama.
Now that the Real Housewives of New York City cast has been completely changed, there are plans to do the same with the New Jersey spinoff. However, nothing has been confirmed yet but executive producer Andy Cohen did hint, at a possible reboot to revive the show’s essence. Apart from that, the reunion episodes won’t be filmed for season 14, a rare decision for the Bravo production to make.
To many viewers, this looks like an attempt to save the show from losing its originality and authenticity, being an unscripted series. Meanwhile, others are not in favor of no reunion. Cohen, on the other hand, reassured the fans that the finale episode would be good enough to wrap up season 14.
Until now, there has been no confirmation of the plans for season 15. In a conversation at Sirius XM’s Andy Cohen Live, on Monday, July 15, 2024 episode, Cohen said their main focus is to wrap up the current season in a way that satisfies the fans. He said:
“We haven’t even started talking about next season. We want this one to end. We’re gonna let it sit and then we will get into it, so that’s where we are with that.”
Let’s see whether the OG cast will get a chance to rebrand themselves and bring an interesting approach for the next season, or will a new friend group introduce themselves to the Bravo audience. Whichever decision the production takes, some fans will miss their favorite cast members while others are open to watching a new friend group and getting to know more about them.
Fans can stream the Real Housewives of New Jersey every week on Sundays at 8/7c exclusively on Bravo. All newly released episodes are available the next day on Peacock TV.