Heavy/Getty Jacqueline Laurita, Kathy Wakile, Caroline Manzo, Siggy Flicker, Danielle Staub
“The Real Housewives of New Jersey” fans and stars have agreed that some cast changes are needed after season 14, which saw many of the stars not speaking to one another after over a decade of ups and downs in the relationship between Teresa Giudice and Melissa Gorga, and other interpersonal conflicts that arose during the season.
After a surprise appearance on “Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen” on July 14, fans began to wonder if former RHONJ star and Giudice’s cousin Kathy Wakile might be ready to return to RHONJ next season. The next day, July 15, Cohen responded to a fan who asked him just that on his SiriusXM show RadioAndy.
What Does Andy Cohen Think of Kathy Wakile’s Potential for an RHONJ Return?
Live on air, Cohen responded to a fan named Brandy who said, “We miss [Kathy]. We miss [her sister] Rosie. If there’s any opportunity to bring her back to our screens, we would love that. However, is this like a gateway for her to return to us in some type of part-time or full-time status? We want to know because we miss them, and we love them.”
“Well, it’s funny that you say that,” Cohen answered. “I wanted to bring this up because I went online this morning and I saw — last night on ‘Watch What Happens Live,’ the doorbell rang and Kathy Wakile showed up with cannolis — and the speculation online that I read this morning was that it was some sort of subliminal signal or we were testing the, we were just, you know, testing things to see how people responded to seeing her in the clubhouse as a possible return to Jersey. There was no intention behind her visit besides seeing an old friend and we wanted to surprise Gary Janetti, who we know loves her and her cannolis, and so we just thought it would be fun if we had a vintage housewife come through the door, so that was what was behind that.”
What Will Happen With RHONJ?
Cohen went on to discuss the future plans, or lack thereof, for RHONJ on-air, adding, “Everyone is speculating that it was kind of a soft launch to getting her back. We haven’t even started talking about next season. We want this one to end. We’re gonna let it sit and then we will get into it, so that’s where we are with that, but thank you. She did get a lot of love. I will tell you that. She got a lot of love.”
Cohen previously opened up about the future of the franchise during a June 2024 interview on Jeff Lewis’s show “Jeff Lewis Has Issues”.
“I think anything is an option,” Cohen said, before sharing that at present, he sees, “four different ways that we could go with that show. And I think you could probably figure out what they are. We are going to let this season play out. We will all talk. We’ll do the focus group stuff. We’ll do all the stuff we do. And we’ll probably do a bunch of casting. And we’ll take our time.”
RHONJ airs Sundays at 8 p.m. Eastern on Bravo.
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