According to multiple media reports, Bravo is forgoing its usual reunion for Season 14 of RHONJ because the reunions are designed to bring resolution and the season finale purportedly makes it clear "there is no path forward."
While The Real Housewives of New Jersey is still relatively early in its Season 14 run, things are purportedly going to escalate so badly that by the time the finale drops, it will hit like a bomb. And things are reportedly so bad, Bravo has opted not even to film a reunion.
An insider for the show told People exclusively that the reunion was scrapped because the idea of these sit-downs with the cast, and host Andy Cohen, is to offer resolution between seasons, and "there is no path forward in that type of setting."
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View StoryThe insider says the network is trying to figure out a "different concept" to wrap up the season.
While tension has been growing more and more taut within the cast -- and particularly sisters-in-law Teresa Giudice and Melissa Gorga -- for years now, and especially since the last reunion, things apparently reach a new crescendo this year.
E! News is reporting from their own insider that this decision comes on the heels of a huge fight during a "dramatic all cast dinner" in the season finale. RHONJ is just a few weeks into airing the most recent season, but filming has reportedly wrapped.
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View StoryThat insider says that the decision to forgo a reunion for the first time ever will make more sense once viewers get the chance to see what all goes down. Giudice and Gorga reportedly do not interact at all this season until this final sit-down. TooFab has reached out to the network for comment.
Tension has been rising between Giudice and Gorga for years, with the family members recently cutting the other out of their lives entirely. For the past two years, the show has had split panels at BravoCon because of this divide -- so has it reached a point the show can't continue with both women?
There was speculation after Season 13 that one or the other might be dropped. Giudice is an OG cast member of the series, with her sister-in-law joining shortly after her. While their relationship has been frought with tension over the years, it's never been as bad as things have gotten in recent seasons.
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View StoryThe rift has expanded beyond those central two, as well, with things taking a turn for the worse with Giudice and her cast-mates after her husband, Luis Ruelas, hired a private eye to investigate them, among other individual antics that Giudice and Ruelas deny.
In the past, Bravo has addressed irreconcilable cast issues by simply revamping the cast, or rebooting the franchise altogether. In other words, if these ladies can't get on the same page, they could find themselves sitting on the outside looking in. Or more likely, since they are good TV, continuing their antics divided across more than one show.
Just four episodes in to Season 14 so far, The Real Housewives of New Jersey continues Sundays at 8 p.m. ET on Bravo.