Is the Real Housewives of New Jersey headed for a reboot or a cast shake-up?
After the explosive season 14 finale that aired on Bravo Sunday night, that’s the question on every viewer’s mind.
If viewers were looking for hints that this could be the end of the current RHONJ cast as they know it, the clues were there. New Jersey put itself on the Real Housewives map when it launched in 2009 after veteran star Teresa Giudice famously flipped a dinner table in the season one finale, calling an ex-castmate a “prostitution whore!” And that was only the beginning of the endless memes, Bravo merch and headline news to come out of what was then the fourth city to launch in the hit reality TV franchise.
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Flash-forward to Sunday night’s finale and, not only did Giudice lob another “whore” insult — this time, at her estranged sister-in-law and co-star Melissa Gorga — but the entire cast came together for another dinner table sit-down. This one, dubbed the “Last Supper” and intended for the divided cast to air their grievances and attempt to move forward, began with a glass of water being thrown across the table.
The key difference, however, is that this could be the end — or at least, the end for some.
Giudece’s table flip launched 14 seasons of drama that played out both on- and off-camera, following the years that she and her family broke apart after her brother, Joe Gorga, and sister-in-law Melissa Gorga joined the cast, then reunited after Guidice and her husband dealt with the deaths of their parents, their divorce and separate prison sentences.
But when Giudice brought her second husband Luis “Louie” Ruelas into her life, she and her in-laws began to fracture once again, leading into this irreparable 14th season where she and Gorga have been so estranged that this explosive finale was their first time sitting down to film together all season.
Dolores Catania is the veteran castmember who has tried to bring about some peace between her warring friends. The cast, meanwhile, has been split into two teams, one backing Giudice and the other backing Gorga, though inner feuds have also exploded. The finale played like a clip show of sorts, reminding viewers where everyone stood and their history, implying how the legacy of the show is at stake.
On one side sat Giudice with longtime ally Jennifer Aydin and friend of the cast Jackie Goldschneider, the latter who flipped to Giudice’s side this season in one of the more unexpected moves. On the other were veterans Gorga and Margaret Joseph, along with newer castmembers Rachel Fuda and Danielle Cabral, the latter who was pushed to Gorga’s side after a feud with Aydin. Friend of the cast Jennifer Fessler went into the meal as a neutral co-host.
But despite Catania and Fessler attempting to set the tone as a meeting of closure, where everyone could have their last say — “say their piece, give their last rites and we’ll all move on” — the drama quickly escalated when below-the-belt insults were lobbed, leading to glass being thrown by Cabral at Aydin and prompting Giudice and Gorga to escalate their own drama as they took sides. After Giudice screamed “whore, whore, whore, whore” at Gorga — and Gorga fired back with a knowing look and request to tell her daughter, Giudice’s niece, what she just said — it was clear that any resolution would not be possible. Producers intervened, and Fessler, at that point, exited the meal, saying the others may be used to this type of violence, but she is not.
When the women eventually reconvened at the table, Joseph and Giudice attempted to hash out the legal drama between them that has mainly been playing out off-camera, stemming from Giudice accusing Joseph of colluding with Ruelas’ ex-wife for an alleged smear campaign. This drama dates back to last season — which saw a cast “takedown” meeting before that reunion and Ruelas allegedly hiring a private investigator to collect information on the cast. Back at the dinner, Joseph outed Goldschneider as being the one who first met with Ruelas’ ex. Despite this shocking bombshell, Giudice defended her new ally and all of the women threw their hands up and stormed out: Goldschneider was alone, Giudice with Aydin and Gorga, Cabral, Fuda and Joseph united. The meeting, Gorga summed up, was a complete failure.
Left at the table was Catania, who let what just happened marinate. After sipping from her martini, she said: “This group is no longer a family. How did it all come to this? People just don’t know how to stop hating. It just built up, and everybody cuts so deep. It’s so… it’s toxic. I look at this sit-down like a death.”
Leading up to this ending, Bravo and Real Housewives executive producer Andy Cohen had announced that, for the first time ever, RHONJ would not be having a reunion special. When viewers see the finale, they would understand why, Cohen had said. Now that the finale has aired, the decision makes sense. Could Cohen, who hosts all of the Housewives reunions, have brought the women together? Most likely not.
Instead, Bravo got the women back together for a finale watch party that was taped in July. As The Hollywood Reporter previously reported, the women returned to the restaurant from the finale — Rails Steakhouse in Towaco, New Jersey — and split into rooms based on their alliances to screen the final episode, while Bravo’s cameras were rolling. In Giudice’s room were Aydin and Goldschneider. Gorga’s room was Joseph, Fuda, Cabral and Fessler. Catania went back and forth between the two rooms. The special airs next Sunday, Aug. 11, which will serve as the final episode of the season.
Bravo has not commented about how it plans to handle season 15 — and likely won’t be commenting soon. As is typical with Bravo series, casting discussions don’t begin until the currently airing season has wrapped. But the unusual ending to the 14th season has sparked weeks of speculation around if the RHONJ cast will be getting a reboot or shake-up. Sister series The Real Housewives of New York City went through its own recent cast reboot, and Vanderpump Rules is currently on a hiatus following its post-Scandoval season and divisive reunion, so viewers know that, at this point, anything can happen.
On the finale’s post Watch What Happens Live show, Cohen described the finale as feeling “pretty final,” but he and guest Catania didn’t shed any further insight into the future of the series and instead unpacked the unresolved events. Cohen also clarified in his most recent comments on his SiriusXM radio show that nothing has been decided. “We are going to reimagine the show in some way,” he said.
