Jacqueline Laurita Reveals The Truth Behind Her RHONJ Exit!

Last month, Jacqueline Laurita officially confirmed that she was not returning to The Real Housewives of New Jersey and revealed that she was not going to appear in the upcoming eighth season. During a recent interview, the mother-of-three is revealing more details behind her departure from the Bravo hit reality series.

“Bravo gave me a start date that we would be filming,” Jacqueline told Hollywood Life. “They had me on the group text with the girls. They got our storylines together and everything was ready to go. Then, two days later, they told me their concerns.”

Apparently the network was worried that Jacqueline’s relationships with some of the housewives were too “severed” to actually make a show.  “The show is about an ensemble of women who hang out, it was going to be hard to have that,” she said, adding, “They were worried about how we were going to make that work.”

However, the network did offer her an interesting alternative. “Bravo did offer me a part time spot on the show,” Jacqueline admitted. “They said, seeing how I meshed with the girls, I could be a full time, but they didn’t guarantee it. For me, part time wasn’t worth the aggravation.”

Chris chimed in when he said that what you see is what you get with Jacqueline. “The bottom line is, she’s not going to pretend to get along with someone that she doesn’t get along with,” Jacqueline's husband Chris said about his wife.

According to Laurita, the network still asked her to film scenes for the show's upcoming eighth season. “They’ve asked me to film, but I’m not going to,” she said. “I don’t like the fact that I’d have to try out again, because they can use you all season; you could be their sacrificial lamb and they may not even use the footage. I didn’t feel like that was fair to me to give seven years of my time to then have a lesser everything than the other girls.” Preach, girl.

After the news had spread that Jacqueline would not be returning to the show, there was major speculation that her cast-mates, — two in particular — had something to do with her shocking exit. Fans thought that Teresa Giudice, 44, and Melissa Gorga, 38, were behind the cast shakeup. So, we had to ask Jacqueline her thoughts about the rumors.

“They tried [to influence the decision to have me gone],” Jacqueline said. “But, I don’t think anyone has that kind of power.” While Jacqueline didn’t name anyone in particular, she admitted that although some of her relationships were non-existent, she still would’ve filmed with the girls and shied away from confrontation. However, “I think that maybe the housewives didn’t want to [film with me].”

Now that Jacqueline's spot is open, Laurita also dishes on the return of her nemesis, Danielle Staub, who has been spotted filming the show for the upcoming new season.

“I know she’s filming,” Jacqueline said. “But I don’t think it’s been confirmed that she’s a full time,” Jac continued. “From what I’m hearing they’re using her as a friend/part time.” Not to mention, there’s been major speculation that there is a new cast member named Margaret joining the ladies, who has also been spotted filming the show.

“She’s been harassing me for years,” Jacqueline told Hollywood Life about Staub. “She doesn’t intimidate me at all. I have nothing to apologize to Danielle for. She has contacted people on social media to make up fake accounts to harass me. I have screenshots of it, because these people have turned on her and sent me everything through DMs. She was trying to make up stories and doing anything to defame us.”

Although Jacqueline turned down Bravo’s part time gig, both she and Chris didn’t rule the show out completely. “We’ll see what happens… You never know where it’ll go,” Chris said. Jacqueline agreed, when she added, “You never know what the future will hold.” The couple admitted that they’ve been approached by multiple networks!

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