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Why Did Jacqueline Laurita Leave ‘The Real Housewives of New Jersey’? Her Departure Explained
She’s still bringing the drama! Jacqueline Laurita left The Real Housewives of New Jersey in April 2017, following the show’s seventh season. However, her name was continuously brought up during the season 13 reunion, which aired in 2023.
Teresa Giudice claimed that Jacqueline and her husband, Chris Laurita, can corroborate that Melissa and Joe Gorga “were hanging out with people that helped put us in jail.” Melissa, for her part, shot back with apparent text messages that Jacqueline had sent to former RHONJ star Jackie Goldschneider calling Teresa a “a lowlife trash bucket,” in part.
Previously, Teresa and Jacqueline weren’t on good terms. However, they publicly made up in February 2023.
As for the reason Jacqueline left the RHONJ cast all those years ago? Keep reading for all the details.
Why Did Jacqueline Laurita Leave ‘RHONJ’?
When the Bravo show premiered in 2009, she was a full-time cast member, which lasted until season 5. For RHONJ season 6, Jacqueline was a “friend of the Housewives,” but only for one season. When the seventh season premiered, she was reinstated for her final go-around as a Housewife.
“Unfortunately, I will not be returning,” she told Entertainment Tonight in April 2017. “I think the feeling [from the network] is that I no longer have an authentic connection with two of the season’s cast members.”
Jacqueline was seemingly referring to Teresa and Melissa, saying, “I no longer fit in with the group.” The former New Jersey resident went on to claim that her part on the show was “depending on how my story unfolded and if I meshed with the group.”
So, she decided to leave.
“I just felt that after being on the show for seven years and putting my time and everything into that, to not have a confirmed full-time decision, with that feeling that I had to kind of tryout again, it just didn’t feel right,” Jacqueline explained to ET. “We didn’t even talk money. We didn’t even get that far!”
Would Jacqueline Laurita Return to ‘RHONJ’?
At the time, the former Bravo star made it clear that the door was open for her to return, noting that being a full-time cast member is “worth the aggravation.”
However, it seems her feelings have since changed.
“I don’t live in New Jersey. I’m not going to go be on the Housewives of OC. I’m at a different stage in my life,” she shared on the “Behind the Velvet Rope With David Yontef” podcast in May 2023. “I would love to do [Peacock’s Real Housewives: Ultimate Girls Trip]. It’s a week of my life. Right now, realistically, I can’t do it. I don’t have someone to watch my son for a week while I’m off on an island somewhere. … Maybe one day.”
Jacqueline added, “My life is so much more peaceful … I don’t know how I lived in that world.”
