Andy Cohen Explains RHONJ Reunion Cancellation, Shuts Down Cast Reboot

THE The Real Housewives of New Jersey are famous for their reunions. Now, 14 seasons later, the annual Jersey cast gathering after the finale has raised the stakes on what Bravo viewers expect from Andy Cohen-hosted gatherings. So it’s no surprise that the news of the current season canceling its reunion, for the first time ever, is making waves throughout the Bravo-verse.

Since the May 5 premiere, stars Teresa Giudice, Melissa Gorga and the rest of the cast have once again found themselves at the center of viral rumors about the casting divide. Soon, reports followed that the reunion series had been canceled because animosity between the cast had reached a fever pitch and a major casting shakeup was on the horizon.

On June 3, Real Housewives executive producer and Watch what’s happening live host Andy Cohen confirmed the reunion news, explaining that the finale functions as a season finale.

“It’s one of those classic Jersey finals that people will be talking about for a long time to come,” he said on the Radio Andy show. Reality checked. “When all of us producers saw the final cut of the finale, we all made the decision separately and then we talked. We all had the same thought, which was that the finale is sort of the finale and the reunion all in one.

Alongside currently estranged sisters-in-law Giudice and Gorga, the cast includes Jennifer Aydin, Dolores Catania, Margaret Josephs, Danielle Cabral and Rachel Fuda, as well as cast “friends” Jackie Goldschneider and Jennifer Fessler.

“This epic final group encounter feels like the Last Supper and is just so Jersey,” Cohen added of the Real Housewives series that made folding tables famous. “When you see it, I think you will feel complete. I really do.”

He said Bravo would do something else in place of the reunion, for a non-traditional ending. Exactly what it is has not yet been announced.

Then, speaking to his friend Anderson Cooper for a storytellers panel at the 2024 Tribeca Festival on Wednesday, which The Hollywood Reporter attended, Cohen shut down recent reports of any major casting shakeups, which generally claimed only half the cast would remain, or a reboot similar to The Real Housewives of New York (the only other franchise series to ever cancel a reunion, which predated the shakeup).

“There was a lot of casting news reported today. None of this is true,” he said. “We haven’t even started discussing casting for next season yet.”

By speaking to Entertainment tonight Ahead of the panel, he added: “Everything you read about what Jersey will be like for next season and for the next six months, I would say, is wrong, so don’t believe it.”

Typically, the reunion would be filmed now, six weeks before the season ends and when production begins to lock in for the following season. “You’ll understand when you see the finale why we’re not doing a reunion,” he told Cooper.

When asked if RHONJ will last forever, despite the current drama, Cohen replied: “I hope so.”

Adding: “We are working very hard to maintain the Housewives fresh and interesting. We take people out sometimes, and we bring them back and, you know, it’s become its own kind of self-generated ecosystem in a weird way. This Bravo world of people on film – these are very dramatic people that we cast, and they live very dramatic lives. And we’re often the most surprised by what’s happening on the ground while we’re filming.

The news follows another Bravo hit Vanderpump Rules by taking the summer off and delaying production on season 12 after an equally controversial reunion, which will give the cast members time to live out their lives before deciding if they want to return.

During the conversation with Cooper, Cohen also assured the Bravo audience that BravoCon will return next year after taking a year off (“I hope it’s in Vegas, but I don’t know where it’s going be,” he said) and once again brushed off legal issues emanating from former housewives.

“We continue to do exactly what we do,” he said, “because the truth is the truth, and we take pride in the way we carry ourselves and the way we produce these shows. And that’s all. We just keep going.

Caitlin Huston contributed to this report.