Credit: Instagram
The Real Housewives of New Jersey stars Jennifer Aydin and Jackie Goldschneider both addressed exiting the show this week after it was confirmed that Teresa Giudice, Dolores Catania, and Melissa Gorga would be the only returning cast members.
Jennifer appeared to throw a bit of shade following her departure as she made it clear she was now “moving on up.”
“Peace out everybody! It was fun while it lasted but we be moving on up…and out,” Jennifer wrote on Instagram on March 25, confirming she was not returning to the show.
She also discussed her departure from the franchise on her TV Gold With Jennifer Aydin podcast.
“I am not coming back to The Real Housewives of New Jersey,” she shared. “Thank you so much for everyone who is a fan of me and upset about that news. Listen, you guys are very passionate about this show. You guys are gonna have strong feelings about me, Margaret Josephs, all the cast members. I appreciate that. That’s great.”
She claimed she was called before the news of the show’s return broke, but she insisted that leaving the show “doesn’t change my life either way.”
“I kinda knew that already, though,” Jennifer continued. “[The producer said], ‘I kinda had a feeling that you knew, but you did give so much to the show, and we just felt it was right to call you.’ I was like, ‘OK, thanks, I guess?’ I appreciate that, and I said that to her, but in my mind, I was like, ‘You’re, like, two years too late.’”
Jennifer had been accused of sharing screener copies of episodes before they aired with a blogger, as well as texting with a blogger — things the network was not in favor of her doing.
On the podcast, she admitted she had “formed a relationship” with the blogger and was “talking” to them.
Jennifer added she was being “compassionate” toward the blogger, though, and insisted she was “conned.”
Jackie took to Instagram to also address her time on the show, but at first, she tried to make it seem like she was asked to return and turned down the offer.
“I just wanted to pop on to address the elephant in the room,” she shared. “Yesterday, when Bravo called me, they actually offered me a full-time role on the next season, and I was like, ‘You know what, the vibes are off.’ Yeah. That’s what I told them. Yeah. I said, ‘Yeah, the vibes are off.’ That’s when I said no… but in all seriousness, my kids filmed their 10th birthday on the show, and in two weeks, they’re turning 18. So it’s been a really long run. I mean, in fact, my second season on the show was when I had their 11th birthday party in my driveway and served pizza, and it was so much fun. So it’s been a really long, beautiful run — six seasons over eight years.”
She went on to note she was “so grateful” for her time on the show and “had a lot of fun.”
“And it left me with this big, beautiful platform to do really important work with and to do other projects with,” she continued. “And also, most importantly, it let me show eating disorder recovery in real time on national television. And for that, I will be forever grateful. I’m not worried for any of us. I know there’s tons of other shows out there right now. I’ve been getting calls from casting agents. I have a bunch of other projects lined up, so stay tuned for that.”
Jackie then addressed her last two years on the show, calling them “very dark.”
“The show got very dark,” she reiterated. “No one can deny that. And my last season on the show, there was a concerted effort by some people on the cast to ice out other cast members. And that whole thing ended up backfiring spectacularly.”
“So the moral of the story, kids, is play stupid games, win stupid prizes,” she concluded, clearly taking a dig at Margaret. “So stay tuned.”
Jackie did cop to joking about being asked to return to the show in her caption, writing, “I was NOT asked back full-time. That is a joke! I repeat that is a joke! Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.”