Andy Cohen: ‘RHONJ’ Won’t Get the ‘RHONY’ Reboot Treatment – Yet [Exclusive]
Update: A July 6 report revealed that Melissa Gorga will return to RHONJ, along with Teresa Giudice and the rest of the RHONJ Season 13 cast. Details surrounding contracts have not been finalized.
The Real Housewives of New Jersey was put on pause after an especially toxic season – something producers did to The Real Housewives of New York City before completely rebooting the series.
The stalemate between Melissa Gorga and Teresa Giudice poses unique problems for production because if they won’t film together and they want the series to be authentic, where do they go from here?
Could RHONJ return with both Gorga and Giudice? “Sure,” RHONJ executive producer Andy Cohen mused with Showbiz Cheat Sheet. “I think there’s a world where anything could happen.”
Despite being coy about who could come back, Cohen said RHONJ is not quite ready for a reboot like RHONY. “I don’t think we’re at that place yet,” he said. “I don’t think we need to. I think you could keep them both on and you could take one or the other off or you could take them both off. And the show would still be great.”
But Cohen did admit he lost his temper during the RHONJ reunion. “New Jersey was it was so intense. It was so exhausting. I lost my cool,” he said.
‘RHONJ’ is actually ‘not on pause,’ Andy Cohen insists
Cohen also addressed the rumor that RHONJ is on pause. “It’s not really on pause,” he recently said on the Elvis Duran show. “That was a little blown up. I mean we always take a minute 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 taking a second between seasons,” he insisted. Adding that the third part of the RHONJ reunion explains why production and the cast are taking a beat before filming the new season.
“That was a bloodbath,” Cohen said, referring to the RHONJ reunion. “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, we needed a minute.”
New ‘RHONY’ is ‘different’ but ‘great’ Andy teases
While RHONJ cools its jets, RHONY will return with a completely new cast on July 16. Cohen told Showbiz Cheat Sheet that the most asked question he gets is about the new RHONY. “The good news is it’s great. It’s a different show than the original RHONY,” Cohen explained.
“But it’s fun and it’s aspirational and fashionable and fun to watch and petty and everything that you love about the Housewives you’ll get from The Real Housewives of New York,” he said. Plus, the signature RHONY humor is back too.
“It is funny. I mean, you know, listen, it’s got big shoes to fill in that category, but it is funny,” he said.
And while RHONJ is not scheduled to be rebooted, rumors continue to fly surrounding who could return, who is likely off the show, and when production will pick up the cameras once again.
In the meantime, RHONY Season 14 premieres on Sunday, July 16, at 9/8c on Bravo.
