Fall TV Blog

Get ready for more table flipping — and some political backstabbing! The Real Housewives of New Jersey will return for a second season, while a new group of women in D.C. will become Real Housewives, Bravo announced today.

The Housewives of New Jersey’s season 2 will air in 2010, but the network hasn’t announced which of the women from its first season — Danielle Staub , Dina Manzo, Jacqueline Laurita, Teresa Giudice and Caroline Manzo — will be back.

Meanwhile, the network also revealed that it has chosen Washington D.C. for its next Real Housewives location. That show, the network’s fifth franchise, will also air in 2010.

“A place for power and politics, Bravo scouted the D.C. area to identify the city’s alluring and discriminating residents, the women who have their pulse on the most important cultural events, political galas, gallery openings and fundraisers in Washington society,” Frances Berwick, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Bravo Media, said in a statement. “The season will bring viewers inside the lives and homes of movers and shakers in the community, all connected in different ways to the political arena. The D.C. wives, cast to be determined, will move comfortably from fundraisers to discussing everything from the economy to high fashion.”

The Real Housewives of D.C. follows the women of Orange County, New York City, Atlanta and New Jersey. –Jason Lynch

Tell us: Which is your favorite Housewives show?

Bravo

After the tearful cliffhanger that was last week’s reunion special (What DID Danielle allegedly try to have done to Dina, anyway?), Bravo execs must have felt the season needed to end on a sweeter note. And nothing brightens the mood like Gia Giudice—her lips shellacked in red gloss—shaking her 7-year-old fanny to “C’mon N’ Ride It (The Train)” in the middle of the Chateau (the Franklin Lakes beauty salon being to these Housewives what Cheers was to Norm and Frasier).

In fact, last night’s epilogue seemed designed to show each of the Housewives in her best light—softening the edges of some (even viewers who took Danielle’s side during the Dina-vs-Danielle smackdown had to smile at the sight of the latter tenderly bathing Grandma Wrinkle in the kitchen sink—“She smells like rotten cheese,” Dina said—as her baffled new housekeeper looked on) and downplaying the shrieking rage of others (Who could remember that table flip when Teresa was busy being “fashion forward” and dropping $2,000 and change after giving a Pretty Woman-esque fashion show at her favorite boutique?). (more…)

More of Danielle Staub’s past has been uncovered! But this time, it’s not much of a secret.

Before the Real Housewives of New Jersey star — whose criminal past was discovered by her costars — put Franklin Lakes, N.J., on the map, she visited the fictional town of Pine Valley when she appeared in a scene on All My Children in 2001.

Staub, a former model, shared the scene with hunky actor Josh Duhamel, who played Leo du Pres on the ABC soap from 1999 to 2002.

Staub doesn’t have many lines in the video clip, which was posted on SoapNet.com, but her delivery isn’t bad as Nora, a sexy Italian on a date with Jackson Montgomery, played by Walt Willey.

Tell us: Are you surprised to see Danielle on All My Children? Should she have stuck with acting instead of reality TV?

Could there be some catharsis for the stars of The Real Housewives of New Jersey after all the table-flipping, backstabbing and drama? On Thursday’s reunion special, the second part of an already emotional meet-up, Dina Manzo and Danielle Staub attempted to make peace.

After revisiting the memorable dinner party scene, Danielle’s fraught criminal past (not to mention her traumatic personal history, starting with her apparent abuse as a child) and tearful recriminations (quibbling over who was responsible for flashing the book Cop Without a Badge all over town), Staub seemed to finally believe that it was indeed Dina’s sister Caroline Manzo who exposed everything.

“I stand corrected,” she told the ladies — and host Andy Cohen. But Staub was quick to blame her behavior on misinformation. “I can’t apologize for people feeding me things and turning me against Dina,” she said. “What I can say is that I’ve evolved from that. I’m a different person now and I see now that I shouldn’t have done and listened to other people.”

Dina’s reaction? “I accept her apology,” she said. “If this is what she learned and this is what came out of this horrific situation, then everything happens for a reason and I’m happy for her and her kids.” (more…)

From Franklin Lakes, N.J., to Orange County, Calif., New York City and Atlanta, The Real Housewives franchise has brought out the best — and worst! — of housewives across the country. (And now they’re looking in Washington D.C.) But if New Jersey’s Danielle Staub is correct, Bravo’s leading ladies are “just allowing everyone to see what goes on all over the place” — which begs a very important question:

Michael Caulfield/WireImage

In previews for Thursday’s second installment of The Real Housewives of New Jersey reunion, it appears that things heat up when the discussion centers on Danielle Staub’s past.

Now, with the emergence of legal documents uncovered by TheSmokingGun.com, it looks like her past may be much more checkered than the 46-year-old New Jersey Housewife has been letting on.

According to documents filed in Miami’s U.S. District Court, Staub — then known as Beverly Ann Merrill — and Daniel Aguilar, her alleged drug dealer boyfriend at the time, were arrested by the FBI in June 1986 for holding a man they blamed for a botched cocaine deal for $25,000 in ransom.

While Staub has insisted her involvement in the incident was minimal, the documents state that she went so far as to place a phone call to the man’s father to ask for the money — and threatened “injury or death” to the man if it wasn’t delivered.

The documents go on to reveal that Staub was arrested at a Miami apartment, where police also discovered six kilos of cocaine and $16,000 cash, and that Staub cooperated with the FBI in exchange for a more lenient punishment. (more…)

One week after the epic finale of The Real Housewives of New Jersey aired on Bravo, Danielle Staub, an expecting Teresa Giudice, sisters Dina and Caroline Manzo and new mom Jacqueline (who was still a week away from her due date at the time) came together at an undisclosed location in New Jersey for Bravo’s reunion show, which aired Tuesday night. Here are some of the highlights:

• In “bubbies” news, Dina said she’s going to get a breast reduction. “They’re just really annoying,” she said. “There’s a fine line between tasteful and tacky.” And Danielle claimed to have a “very sick bubbie.” She explained: “My left one has been encapsulated for about four years. It causes me a lot of pain . . . It never took into its pocket properly. I was looking at losing my breasts all together.”

• Viewers wrote in, according to host Andy Cohen, wondering about Dina’s husband since he’s hasn’t appeared on the show. “He doesn’t really exist,” she joked. “No, he’s working all the time and we have very [little] time together. We have breakfast every morning together and we have date night every Thursday . . . We have the whole night to be boyfriend and girlfriend, so that’s our special time and we didn’t feel we needed cameras in our face.” (more…)

The show may be over — but the drama is far from finished. While stars of The Real Housewives of New Jersey will reunite Tuesday (Bravo, 9 p.m. ET), PEOPLE sat down with Caroline Manzo and Danielle Staub — separately! — on the same day to discuss their feud. Here, in their own words, the reality stars explain why they made the decisions they did in the show’s confrontational finale — and attempt to get at the truth behind the sensational claims in the book Cop Without a Badge. – Mark Dagostino & Brian Orloff

Where They Stand Now
Caroline: She’s invisible to me. I never had a relationship with her, I never wanted to have a relationship with her and due to her behavior, I will never have a relationship with her. She’s a pathological liar. She is manipulative. She is an opportunist. She has no conscience; she has no morals.
Danielle: Why would I lie? If you’re going to call me a pathological liar, challenge me. I’m a human being, and on the inside my heart aches just like theirs does. Just because there’s so many of them that doesn’t mean that their pain is any more important than mine. (more…)

Tuesday’s jaw-dropping finale of The Real Housewives of New Jersey was among the most memorable — and bleepable — of any Housewives season yet. Brimming with highlights — from Teresa’s table flip (now a certifiable viral sensation) to Caroline’s shocking admission of guilt in exposing the infamous book, Cop Without a Badge, the episode brought the drama and surprises in spades. On Thursday, Bravo re-aired the episode — this time with additional footage, commentary from the castmates (and their children), background and split-screens. After watching the extended scene, five things resonated:

Caroline’s Texting: When Danielle coolly placed the book on the table (pointed, like a weapon, at Dina and Caroline), the elder Manzo sister was busy tapping away on her phone. With whom was she conversing? We learned, on Thursday, that Caroline was chatting with her absent husband, Albert, assuring him that the dinner was going smoothly. Only, it wasn’t. Had Caroline’s husband been there, her son Albie assured viewers, none of the drama would have gone down. (more…)

On the explosive season finale of The Real Housewives of New Jersey, Dina Manzo found herself in the middle of a melee after her costar, Danielle Staub, accused her of unearthing an embarrassing book and her sister, Caroline Manzo, took the blame for it. Now, Dina tells PEOPLE that she never denied talking about Staub’s past with friends and family and admits she was part of bringing the book to light. She also talks about what it was like having kids in the room during the fight and how she gets along with her nemesis now — as well as her sister-in-law Jacqueline Laurita. – Brian Orloff

Were you surprised when Danielle brought the book to dinner?
Nothing surprises me from her. It was in poor taste. Our kids were there. I guess in watching the show now, I didn’t know how much she exposed her kids to and now I see it. So, it’s not shocking at all that she’d do that in front of her kids. Although it did seem like [my daughter] Lexi was in the room, Lexi was not in the room. I asked her to leave when Teresa asked her children to leave. Whenever I look at that footage and I see her daughters in the background, I just cringe. (more…)