Teresa Giudice and Melissa Gorga at BravoCon 2019.Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty
Bravois sticking with what works when it comes toThe Real Housewives of New Jersey.
Amid speculation that the upcoming 14th season of the reality hit would feature a cast shakeup amid theseemingly endless feudbetween sister-in-lawsTeresa GiudiceandMelissa Gorga, PEOPLE has learned that the network has made return offers to both women — as well as to the rest of their season 13 costars.
Verbal offers went out this week to Giudice, Gorga,Dolores Catania,Margaret Josephs,Jennifer Aydin,Rachel FudaandDanielle Cabral.Jackie GoldschneiderandJennifer Fesslerwill once again be Friends of the franchise.
No contracts have arrived yet, but filming for season 14 is said to begin in August.
Rachel Fuda, Margaret Josephs, Melissa Gorga, Dolores Catania, Teresa giudice, Jennifer Aydin and Danielle Cabral.Andrew Eccles/Bravo
Season 13 ofRHONJproved to be big business for Bravo, with total viewership up 10 percent since season 12 and viewership in the key demo of adults 18–49 up 16 percent, according toVariety. That made it the most-viewed season overall since season 7 and the top-rated season in the demo since 2020.
Part 3 of the reunion, which aired on June 13, did gangbuster numbers, scoring a new record for the network with 3 million total viewers and 1.5 million viewers in the key demo of adults 18-49. It’s the most-watched episode ofRHONJsince 2016 and the top episode in the demo since 2020.
Much of the drama in season 13 hinged onthe ongoing tensions betweenTeresa, 51 — who shares daughtersGia Giudice, 22, Gabriella Giudice, 19, Milania Giudice, 17, and Audriana Giudice, 13with exJoe Giudice, 51 — and the Gorgas, including Melissa’s husband (and Teresa’s brother)Joe Gorga.
Years of misunderstandings plus business dealings between Teresa’s then-fiancéeLuis “Louie” Ruelas, 48, and Joe Gorga, 43, had put a strain in their relationship, but things only got worse throughout the season when attempts were made to repair it. The season ended with Joe and Melissa, 44, deciding not to attend Teresa’s wedding after it was revealed Teresa and Louie had met with Joe behind Melissa’s back to tell Teresa’s brother about cheating rumors they’d heard involving Melissa (Melissa has vehementlydenied the “baseless” allegations).
For that point on, lines were drawn between Teresa and Melissa. The two traded insults on social media and on their respective podcasts. They were even split into separate panels onBravoConback in October to mitigate the noise.
Melissa Gorga, Andy Cohen, Teresa Giudice and Jennifer Aydin at the Real Housewives of New Jersey season 13 reunion.Jocelyn Prescod/Bravo
Jocelyn Prescod/Bravo
That left even Cohen, 55, wondering how Teresa and Melissa might be able to co-exist on the show — an issue he discussed in interviews in May while promoting his newDaddy Diariesmemoir.But despite reports that the show went on “pause” so casting changes could be made, Cohen said the break was natural.
“It’s not really on pause. That was a little blown up. We always take a break between seasons, and then suddenly it made it look like we were in the middle of production and we shut the cameras down. All it is is , we’re just taking a second between seasons,” he said onThe Elvis Duran Showlast month. “And when you see part 3 of the reunion, you’ll say, ‘Oh I understand why they’re taking a second.’ That was a bloodbath, let’s take a minute and let everyone catch their breath before we send cameras in. And that’s me saying something; typically you would send cameras in the next day, but it was too hot. Too hot to handle!”
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The Real Housewives of New Jerseycan be streamed in full on Peacock.
source: people.com
