The Real Housewives of New Jersey will cease to exist if Teresa Giudice, Melissa Gorga, and Margaret Josephs are on the Season 15 cast.
For the first time in a long time, the network and producers are bracing for a mass cast overhaul, but the above three cast members shouldn’t be a part of the new era because they can’t let go of grudges.
We’ll start with the OG of the Garden State-set entry in the Real Housewives franchise.
Teresa has had the most consistent run of any cast member. She gets embroiled in toxic feuds and goes out of her way to stir the pot to keep cashing those Bravo checks.
But reality TV has moved on a lot since her table-flipping freshman turn on the show in 2009. Instead of straight-up toxicity, fans are more immersed in engaging storylines that serve as escapism.
There must be enough fun so the show doesn’t feel toxic, for it to work. When was the last time Teresa brought fun to RHONJ?
Throughout the series, she views it as a chess game and continually seeks new ways to take down her enemies. This mindset is tiring and no longer befitting of being charted on the show.
If Teresa is wise, she will leave of her own volition because she will likely get the pink slip if she holds out for a return.
Look at it this way: Teresa’s salary doesn’t come cheap, and ratings are flatlining.
Longer-serving cast members must go to reduce the budget
Weak ratings don’t sustain these high cast salaries, so something’s got to give. Now is the perfect time for the show to let Teresa go because the tide has turned on her quite a bit this season.
Even the biggest Teresa defenders can’t deny that she’s no longer fun to watch.
Her sister-in-law, Melissa, isn’t much better. Yes, Melissa will film with anyone because her best attempts to have a storyline independent of Teresa have fallen flat.
Melissa has got to be far easier to work with from a producer standpoint because of the above, but sadly, she doesn’t have any skin in the game on the show anymore.
Teresa acted like she didn’t exist this season, allowing friends of the housewives Jenn Fessler and Jackie Goldschneider to have more impactful storylines.
Given Melissa’s salary, which has got to be high considering her 11-season tenure, producers will be wondering whether they can get more bang for their buck with the newer ladies and some fresh faces.
Firing Melissa would also be another way to give the show a new lease on life because her storylines don’t feel genuine, and every time she brings her family into the show, it feels like she’s lobbying for a spin-off.
It’s not a good look.
Margaret is a great short-term villain
As for Margaret, we can’t deny that she plays a great reality TV villain, but all good housewives need to be paused at some point.
Margaret was more toxic than ever this season because she came prepared with receipts to take down whichever housewives got in her way in her vendetta against Teresa.
The issue with someone like that is that the show remains poisonous because one wrong move and Margaret can expose you for something.
Margaret had many great moments this season, but her demands that Dolores Catania switch her phone on in the Off the Rails special so she could send her some screenshots confirmed there’s no saving Margaret.
For someone unafraid to hurl screenshots at people, why doesn’t she provide proof that Luis Ruelas went after her son?
Luis is understandably a polarizing figure due to his actions on-screen, but it’s suspect that Margaret isn’t providing anything of substance here.
Plus, given that she had the cast at her home before the reunion in what Jackie has described as a “takedown,” we wonder if that idea to smear Luis’ name came from that meeting.
All we need is for Margaret to share a screenshot as proof, so it’s disconcerting that she won’t.
Either way, the show needs a refresh, and parting ways with Teresa, Melissa, and Margaret is the only next step that makes sense.
Jennifer Aydin, Danielle Cabral, Dolores Catania, and Rachel Fuda could be the sole holdovers from RHONJ Season 14 because adding three or four new faces to that mix could make a show.
Yes, bringing Danielle and Jennifer back is big, but maybe they’d work through their issues without the other three ladies trying to use them in their petty drama.
The Real Housewives of New Jersey is currently on hiatus. Stream Seasons 1-14 on Peacock.