Reality television has always brought a sense of drama and suspense to its programming that leaves viewers invested. This can be brought about in several ways. Maybe a singer won’t bring the vocal strength they need to win the season of American Idol. Perhaps a couple will break off their engagement and never walk down the aisle on 90 Day Fiancé. There could even be a child whose dreams will be crushed in an episode of Dance Moms.
For fans of The Real Housewives franchise, the drama comes from the relationships between the women on the show.
Those relationships can be quite catty and viewers find their antics very entertaining. However, with the latest season of The Real Housewives of New Jersey, that cattiness has turned serious. It had become so unbearable that Andy Cohen revealed the planned reunion was canceled.
Famous cast member Teresa Giudice later revealed to Cohen how she planned on stealing the show at the now-scrapped reunion.
Teresa Giudice Told Andy Cohen What She Planned On Doing At The Reunion Before It Was Canceled
During the season 13 Real Housewives of New Jersey reunion, John Fuda showed an envelope with alleged proof that Giudice’s husband, Luis Ruelas, had been investigating his family. However, he never opened the envelope. Fuda is the husband of cast member Rachel Fuda and the two have been in a feud with Giudice, much of which has played out on camera.
During an appearance on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, Giudice revealed her plans for the now-canceled RHONJ reunion special. Her plans seemed to reference Fuda’s infamous moment from the season 13 reunion.
“It’s too bad we aren’t having a reunion because I was going to bring an envelope and I was going to take something out of the envelope. I was going to bring it tonight, but I want to make sure we have a reunion.”
Cohen then teased, “Maybe we’ll have you back before the end of the season.”
The cancelation of the Real Housewives of New Jersey reunion special came as a shock, since it’s the first time in the show’s history a reunion has been axed.
It is also only the second time the Bravo network has done this in the history of the entire Real Housewives franchise.
The choice to cancel the reunion came after the network watched the season finale.
“Pretty much everything I had to say, everyone’s going to see it this season,” Giudice said. “So everyone’s going to have to tune in and watch.”
There were a lot of rifts among Giudice, Fuda, as well as their other co-stars Melissa Gorga, Dolores Catania, Margaret Josephs, Jennifer Aydin, Danielle Cabral, Jackie Goldschneider and Jenn Fessler. These conflicts continued to drive the women apart and contributed to a fractured season of the show.
“A reunion is meant to have resolution and it’s clear in the season finale that there is no path forward in that type of setting,” an insider told People. “So the network is figuring out a different concept to wrap up the season.”
“You don’t know who I am?”
Giudice doesn’t seem to be interested in resolution with Fuda, saying, “He accused my husband of reaching out to my ex that was in jail and why would he do that?”
“They threw the first punch, so I’m going to finish the fight,” she added. “Trust me.”
‘Real Housewives Of New Jersey’ Fans React To The Reunion Being Canceled
After news of the reunion’s cancelation broke, fans took to Reddit to vent their frustration.
“Honestly this just ruins the whole season,” one fan wrote, “because if you can’t even get them onboard to go to a reunion, it’s pretty obvious that this just going to be both sides going into their camps sniping from the side with no real payoff.”
They continued, “The whole point of the reunion is to get everyone to confront each other at the end even if they avoided it all season.”
Many fans were saying that New Jersey is the one city in the Housewives franchise they were ready to see fade away.
“I’ve watched every season of every Housewives in real time- except this season of Jersey. I just can’t,” someone wrote. “I’m only listening to recaps.” “I am done with this city, I love jersey and will consume the lowest of trash tv but no reunion?” another wrote. “I’m not wasting and investing my time for their to be no resolution. Genuinely both Teresa and Melissa have ruined any aspect of the show.”
Others had specific theories as to which cast members were ruining the series.
“Honestly at this point it’s not even Teresa and Melissa themselves that are ruining it – it’s Marge,” a fan commented. “She’s fighting a one-sided proxy war for Melissa against Teresa & co and has for seasons now. I’m not a Teresa stan either, I really do not care about her, but for the most part post-prison she very, very rarely goes on the offense against the women and doesn’t f*** with people until they f*** with her.” Someone else agreed, “Yeah I wish more people could see that Marge is the problem…. Bravo needs to cut her after this season.” Another fan wrote, “Thank u! Bye Marge can’t stand her.”
After a record-breaking low in viewership for Season 14 of The Real Housewives of New Jersey, was Margaret Josephs’ feud with Teresa Giudice to blame?
“It’s probably for the best I can’t even go in and read the comments the fans have been just as exhausting as some of the members of the cast,” someone commented. “Andy himself mentioned they won’t do a full reboot like RHONY again. They may just do something like RHOA . I think Marge and the two newbies (especially the Fudas) have to go. They will also most likely pick between Melissa and Teresa (keeping one) and build from there.”
Andy Cohen Insisted The Show’s Finale Would Be Enough To Satisfy Viewers Without A Reunion
Instar
During an episode of Radio Andy’s Reality Checked, Cohen discussed the cancelation of the reunion.
“It is one of those classic Jersey finales that people will be talking about for a long time to come,” Cohen said. “When all of us producers saw the last cut of the finale, we all came to the decision separately, and then we talked. We all had the same thought, which is the finale is kind of the finale and the reunion all in one.”
While fans might have been initially disappointed by the news of the reunion being scrapped, Cohen reassured them that the finale would feel complete.
“This final epic group encounter feels like the Last Supper and is just so Jersey,” Cohen said. “When you see it, I think that you’ll feel complete. I really do.”
According to Cohen, the network would set up a non-traditional ending in lieu of a reunion. When speaking to Anderson Cooper during a Storytellers panel at the 2024 Tribeca Festival, Cohen shut down rumors of casting issues.
These reports claimed only half of the show’s original cast would remain and that a reboot was in the works.
“There was a lot of casting news that was reported today. None of it is true,” Cohen said. “We haven’t even started discussing casting for next season yet.”
Cohen spoke to Entertainment Tonight ahead of the panel and said, “Anything you read about what Jersey’s going to be for next season for the next, I would say six months, is fake, so don’t believe it.”
When speaking to Cooper, Cohen repeated his belief that the finale would be more than enough to satisfy viewers.
“You will understand when you see the finale why we’re not [doing a reunion],” he said.
When Cohen was asked if The Real Housewives of New Jersey would continue forever, despite the drama, he replied, “I hope so.”
“We work very hard to keep the Housewives fresh and interesting,” he added. “We pull people out sometimes, and we bring people back and, you know, it has become its own kind of self-generating ecosystem in a weird way. This Bravo world of people on camera — they are very dramatic people that we cast, and they live very dramatic lives. And we’re often just the most surprised by things that are happening in the field while we’re shooting.”
The future of BravoCon has also been speculated by fans after it took a year off.
However, Cohen reassured fans that BravoCon would be returning next year.
“I hope it’s in Vegas, but I don’t know where it’s going to be,” Cohen said.
Brandi Glanville accused Andy Cohen of wanting to force her to be intimate with his employees.
Cohen also took the opportunity to brush off legal issues and allegations from former cast members.
“We keep doing exactly what we’re doing,” Cohen said, “because the truth is the truth, and we are proud of how we conduct ourselves and how we produce these shows. And that’s it. We just keep going.”