Shocking news to report today concerning the Real Housewives of New Jersey, as a new report is stating the show is currently at risk of being cancelled.
The reason? It all has to do with the ratings. The latest issue of Life & Style magazine (out on newsstands today) states that Bravo is currently unhappy with the performance of the show.
The network pulled out all the stops for season 8, even bringing back professional troublemaker Kim DePaola to stir up drama, but it didn’t work. The ratings never got above 1.44 million viewers per episode, which is way down from the season 7 peak of 1.94 million and the nearly 4 million viewers per episode the show used to draw during the height of its popularity.
“Bravo is aware that the ratings for this season sucked,” an insider tells the mag of why she show might not return next season.
“Cast members haven’t heard yet from producers about being asked to do another season,” reveals a second source. “It’s kind of in limbo right now.”
Following the end of the latest season, the RHONJ producers have been exploring story-lines for season 9 but haven’t been impressed with any of them so far. And due to this, they are also considering just holding off on filming until Teresas Giudice’s incarcerated husband Joe Giudice is released from prison.
“They’d love to hold of until Joe is out of prison,” the insider says of Joe who isn’t due to be released until 2019. “But they can’t wait that long for another season.”
While the NJ ratings fair better than let’s say a franchise like the Real Housewives of Potomac, ultimately these things come down to cost and profit. The RHONJ cast gets paid way more money than the newer RHOP cast members so Potomac might be more profitable for Bravo, despite lower ratings.
Following Siggy Flicker’s announcement that she had quit the show, the producers also have to deal with finding a good replacement for her. There were reports that Bravo was considering bringing back Caroline Manzo and Jacqueline Laurita so it’s possible they could be on the upcoming season…that is if it isn’t cancelled.
Photo Credit: Bravo
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