RHONJ Star Says Her Ego Will Be ‘Very Bruised’ If She’s Cut From Show

Heavy/Bravo/NBCUniversal RHONJ stars

“Real Housewives of  New Jersey”  star  Jennifer Fessler admitted her ego will be “bruised” if she’s cut from the Bravo reality show.

Speaking on the “Two Jersey Js” podcast she co-hosts with Jackie Goldschneider, the RHONJ “friend” said it would be “hard” if she’s told she won’t return for season 15 amid rumors of a cast shakeup.

“The truth is, like when I found out I was going to be a ‘friend of’ instead of a full-time Housewife, my ego was just so bent out of shape,” Fessler admitted in September 2024. “So if I picture a scenario where I get told ‘Listen, Jenn, we’re going on without you, you know, thank you for coming, and you know, see you never,’ that, I think that my ego would be very bruised.”

Fessler joined the RHONJ cast as a “friend” in season 13 after previous appearances as a “guest.”

While Fessler noted she has a wonderful, full life outside of the show, she added, “I think it’ll be an ego problem for me. That’s the biggest thing. And I think I can overcome that. Though, like, it’ll be a while of ‘How dare you?’ And ‘Was I not good enough?’ Or you know, ‘Why me?’ And depending on how it all pans out, then I think my life will move on and I’ll be hopefully you know, I’ll be Jenn Fessler. And I was happy before and fulfilled and I’ll be happy and fulfilled after.”

Jackie Goldschneider Said She’s Not as ‘Obsessed’ With Being on the Show Anymore

BravoJackie Goldschneider and Teresa Giudice.

Goldschneider also weighed in on the possibility of being canned from the franchise she has been a part of since 2018. When Fessler speculated that it would be harder for Goldschneider to leave because she has been on the show for longer, the mom of four begged to differ.

“I don’t know about that, because after my second year on the show, I was way more like obsessed with it than I am now,” Goldschneider admitted. “Like after my second year, I was like more and more like I couldn’t get enough. I want all of it, like every extra activity. And now I’m kind of like I feel very fortunate.”

She continued, “Like I would like to come back if the show comes back, but like I feel very fortunate that I had like almost seven years of excitement and, like, I feel like I could do something with those open doors now. Like I wouldn’t be as devastated, I think
now, as I would have been if it all got taken away after two years.”

Goldschneider previously told Access she hopes to return to RHONJ, but not to the toxic environment that dominated season 14.  “Of course, I love the show,” she told the outlet. “I think if a few things changed I would definitely come back. But I just hope overall that the show comes back.”

The Status of RHONJ Remains in Limbo

Ralph Bavaro/BravoTeresa Giudice, Jennifer Fessler, Jackie Goldschneider, and Rachel Fuda.

Bravo put RHONJ on pause after filming for season 14 ended with a deeply divided cast—and violence at a finale luncheon that Fessler, one of the mediators, walked out of.

“Real Housewives” executive producer Andy Cohen said during an April 2024 episode of “Andy Cohen Live” that it “isn’t a sustainable universe to have kind of two camps on the show.” Cohen has talked about recasting RHONJ and has not ruled out a complete reboot of the show.

In an earlier interview, Fessler told SiriusXM’s “Reality Checked” that she doesn’t think fans would be happy with a full cast revamp. “I think that viewers are so invested in Jersey,” she said on the podcast. “They don’t want to see it, you know, in the shape that it’s in right now, [but] if I’m making the decision, it’s not a complete reboot.”

In addition to Goldschneider and Fessler, the 14th season of RHONJ starred Teresa Giudice, Melissa Gorga, Margaret Josephs, Dolores Catania, Jennifer Aydin, Danielle Cabral, and Rachel Fuda.