Salaries of The Real Housewives of New Jersey

Teresa Giudice is the top earner among all the women who appear in the various franchises, taking in a whopping $600,000 per season! Countess LuAnn de Lesseps and Ramona Singer of The Real Housewives of New York City pull in a cool $500,000 each per season. After castmates Alex McCord and Jill Zarin got the boot last season, the two remaining NYC stars were given huge raises – nearly doubling their salaries, according to Star. Orange County’s Vicki Gunvalson, the only member of the Southern California show who’s been featured for all eight seasons earns $450,000 per season. Fan favorite NeNe Leakes, who now appears on NBC’s The New Normal and has previously appeared on Fox’s Glee, pulls in $350,000 a season for her loud-mouthed antics on The Real Housewives of Atlanta. [RadarOnline, December 19, 2012]

Salaries of RHONJ Cast Members for Season 4

Dp on September 27, 2012 said at Fame-Whorgas:

Caroline $265,000
Albert $12,000
Chris $35,000
Albie $35,000
Lauren $27,000

Teresa $355,000
Joe $38,000
Gia $5,000

Jacqueline $240,000
Chris $14,000
Ashlee (for season 3) $22,000

Melissa $65,000
Joe Gorga $45,000

Kathy $50,000
Rich $10,000
Victoria $8,000
Joseph $8,000

So I can understand why Caroline needs to think about it — it’s nearly half a million dollars to her family a year.

Shooting Schedule for Season 4

• Washington, DC Fancy Food Show – July 8, 2011
• Melissa takes Gabriella, Milania and Antonia to Sweet & Sassy for manicures and pedicures – July 11, 2011
• Jamie Laurita’s wedding – July 23, 2011
• Beatstock 2011 in Farmingville, NY – August 20, 2011
• Caroline’s Birthday – August 23rd or 24th
• Cast Arrives in California – August 28, 2011 (cast spends 2 nights at Half Moon Bay RV Resort and 1 or 2 nights at Cassini Ranch)
• Caroline’s Birthday Dinner in the Vineyard – September 1, 2011
• Final Dinner at the House with the Big Blow Up Between Caroline and Teresa – September 2 or 3, 2011
• Posche Fashion Show (Season 4 Finale) – September 27, 2011
• Taping of the Reunion Special for Season 3 – September 28, 2011
• Fashion & Beauty Week 2011 at the Pleasantdale Chateau – October 3, 2011 (Caroline, Jacqueline, Melissa & Kathy attend and blacklist Teresa and Kim D)
• Teresa’s Fabellini Launch Party (Taped for Season 4) – October 7, 2011
• Sirius XM Radio to Launch ‘Real Housewives Radio’ (Taped for Season 4) – October 8, 2011
• Jacqueline tweets that Teresa is scum, etc. during premiere of reunion 3 – October 16 & 23, 2011

Ratings for WWHL and The Real Housewives of New Jersey Season 4

Reunion Special Season 3, 3.4 million viewership (Part 1, October 16, 2011; Part 2, October 23, 2011)
Episode 1, 2.9 million viewership (High Tide, Low Blow) – Premiered April 22, 2012
Episode 2, 2.2 million viewership (Poker Face)
Episode 3, 2.5 million viewership (Third Eye Blind)
Episode 4, 2.3 million viewership (Drowning Pool)
Episode 5, 2.3 million viewership (Spoiled Sports)
Episode 6, 2.5 million viewership (Uncivil Union)
Episode 7, 2.3 million viewership (True Love, True Lies)
Episode 8, 2.7 million viewership (Best Friends for Never)
Episode 9, 2.9 million viewership (Public Display of Rejection)
Episode 10, 2.3 million viewership (Temporary Shrinkage)
Episode 11, 2.5 million viewership (The Sniff Test)
Episode 12, 2.6 million viewership (The Jersey Side Step Premiere)
Episode 13, 2.3 million viewership (Sit Down and Man Up)
Episode 14, 2.1 million viewership (Pack Your Baggage)
Episode 15: 2.2 million viewership (If This RV is a Rockin’)
Episode 16: 3.0 million viewership (Whine Country)
Episode 17: 3.1 million viewership (Hot Tub of Sour Grapes)
Episode 18: 3.0 million viewership (Dinasty of Denial)
Episode 19: 2.7 million viewership (Bald Canary Sings)
Episode 20: 3.4 million viewership (Strip Down Memory Lane)
Reunion Special: 3.5 million viewership (Part 1)
Reunion Special: 3.6 million viewership (Part 2)
Reunion Special: 3.3 million viewership (Part 3)
Lost Footage Episode: 1.6 million viewership

WWHL 1.7 million – Joe and Melissa Gorga; May 6, 2012
WWHL 1.7 million – Joe and Teresa Giudice; June 17, 2012
WWHL 1.4 million – Mike Tyson and Melissa Gorga with Joe Gorga as Guest Bartender; July 8, 2012
WWHL 1.5 million – Kathy Wakile and Vanessa Williams; July 15, 2012
WWHL 1.5 million – Caroline Manzo and Megan McCain; July 22, 2012
WWHL 1.3 million – Teresa Giudice and Renee Graziano; July 29, 2012
WWHL 2.4 million – Andy’s 1-on-1 interviews with Caroline Manzo and Teresa Giudice; August 26, 2012
WWHL 1.8 million – Teresa Giudice and Perez Hilton; September 9, 2012
WWHL 1.9 million – Jacqueline Laurita and Theresa Caputo; September 16, 2012
WWHL 2.0 million – Melissa Gorga and Mario Lopez; October 14, 2012
WWHL 1.1 million – Caroline Manzo and Yvette Nicole Brown; October 21, 2012

For season 2 ratings (before Melissa’s and Kathy’s first season), click here.

Season		Episodes	Season Premiere	Season Finale	Reunion Special
	1	10	May 12, 2009
	2	18	May 3, 2010	August 23, 2010	August 30, 2010 (Part 1 of 2)
	3	21	May 16, 2011	October 9, 2011	October 16, 2011 (Part 1 of 2)
	4	24	April 22, 2012	September 23, 2012	September 30, 2012 (Part 1 of 3)

The transcript below is the continuation of an interview conducted by the cousin of a former RHONJ post production supervisor. The cousin recorded the interview on September 17, 2012. The interview is a piece for another country on the reality of reality television and is not just about the RHONJ. The source forwarded parts about the RHONJ to Fame-Whorgas for publishing with the purpose of reading fan comments to get a different perspective on the transcript before publishing the piece on the country’s news website. My source saw that people were doubting the legitimacy of the interview when part 1 was published on September 23, 2012, so has given me permission to post the following:

“I was asked by my country’s main news website to write a piece on the reality of reality television. My cousin worked on RHONJ, so I asked for an interview. The interview was only given because RHONJ does not screen in my country, and I promised anonymity. We also don’t have any BRAVO shows on television here. I called my cousin in Washington and spoke for 20 minutes before realizing I would have to watch the RHONJ to understand what was going on and who was who. So I went online and watched every episode and called back a few weeks later. The second interview (which was recorded) was an hour and a half and mentioned numerous shows from TLC and Oxygen, but I have edited it down to the relevant parts, mainly due to privacy for my cousin.”

On Next Season

Q: “Cast changes for next season?”

A: “With the casting for the next season, that decision is made before the reunion episodes — we try to tie up any loose ends during the reunion to complete the women’s character arc and give the viewers a satisfying conclusion to the character that they have invested in over the series.

Q: “I know you said you’re not part of season 5, but can you tell me anything? I’m curious as to how the show would carry on after so much drama has spilled into the cast’s real lives.”

A: “I’m not involved next season, but I know Jacqueline and Kathy were not made offers, so Jacqueline won’t be back but look for Kathy to return in a limited capacity. Currently three women are under consideration to join the cast.”

A: “(edited*****************************) Caroline was made an offer to return and declined — it is possible she is waiting for a bigger offer ($$) or has something up the pipelines. She had only participated in season 4 so that her children would get exposure for their business ventures. She knew it (being a Real Housewife) would one day end, so she made sure her children had established themselves in their own businesses. I don’t like to have personal feelings about cast, but I do admire her — she had a plan going into season 3, and that was to use this platform to assist in setting up her children financially.”

(edited out)

Q: “Was Jacqueline fired for not attending the reunion (season 3)?”

A: “No, the producers didn’t want her there. The morning of the reunion, Jacqueline was threatening to expose Teresa and couldn’t be calmed down. (Names removed) had gone over to talk to her after she sent tweets which revealed plot points of the finale (edited*****************************). No one was to mention the fashion show, but Jacqueline kept saying she was finished and was going to expose Teresa at the reunion. Chris was worried about Jacqueline’s mental state, as she had not slept all night and been drinking a lot later in the night when all of the cast, minus the Giudices, met after the show for drinks. (Name removed) was more concerned about the reunion but knew it would confuse the large TV audience if Jacqueline was attacking her ‘friend’ (since the viewers were watching season 3). So, at the last minute, the call by the producers was that Jacqueline was not going to attend. The reunion episode was then edited with introducing what had happened at the fashion show to keep all of the twitter and blog fans happy and to tell them, ‘we know you are aware of what is going on, so we are going to mention it and move on’.”

Q: “And Melissa? Will she be back?”

A: “Yes (abridged due to privacy of source), she will definitely be back.”

Q: “Melissa’s sisters?”

A: “No, no, we get what they try and do on twitter and it takes the sparkle off the series; they won’t be housewives anytime soon.”

Q: “And you said earlier about Kathy not being asked back — so the big question is, do you know if Teresa is back next season?

A: “Teresa is 100% safe on housewives. I think you will find next season the format of the show will change dramatically.”

(edited out)

On September 25, 2012, the source e-mailed me this exchange with the producer cousin about the RadarOnline story: ‘Giudice Family In Talks With Bravo For Breakout Show‘

Q: “Is this true?”

A: “It’s true that they are looking at giving them a spinoff but Teresa will still be on season 5 of RHONJ with Melissa.”