Bethenny Frankel & Family's West Village Stroll

Bethenny Frankel and Jason Hoppy take a stroll with their daughter Bryn through the West Village on May 24, 2011.

Credit: Zimbio

Photos by FlynetPictures.com

Dina Manzo: Project Ladybug Ladies Night Out

People came from all around to support Project Ladybug at its annual Ladies Night Out gala at the Brownstone on Monday.

The event, titled, "Wine, Women and Shoes" brought vintners and shoe designers from across the country, and Project Ladybug supporters from across the region.

The Project Ladybug Fund at St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital is a 501c3 nonprofit started by Franklin Lakes resident Dina Manzo, former cast member of Bravo's Real Housewives of New Jersey. The charity’s mission is to enrich the lives of children with life-threatening conditions.

Credit: New Milford Patch (Rebecca Abma & Daniel Hubbard)

Teresa Giudice & Hubby Hit The Beach In Miami

The couple that tans together, stays together.

Real Housewives of New Jersey star Teresa Giudice hit Miami Beach with her 'juicy' husband Joe over the weekend.

The mother of four girls wore a sparkly green bikini as she and her hubby enjoyed the warm weather and cooling off in the water. The pair were down in Florida as a part of the reality star's book tour for her family cookbook, Fabulicious!

Credit: Pop Eater (Katelyn Mullen)

Melissa On Make Up W/ Teresa: 'Not Happening'

After last week's blowup at the christening in the premiere episode, Real Housewives of New Jersey fans got a taste of the drama to come.

Zap2it has already spoken to new housewife Melissa Gorga about the details surrounding her joining the show and how she felt about her son's christening being ruined, but we still have a whole season ahead of us.

In this part of their interview, they spoke to her about the chances of reconciliation this season and what we can expect as the season unfolds.

Teresa has had a rough year. Did you reach out to her when all that bankruptcy stuff was going down?

Um, yes, actually I did. I did call her a couple times, but she was always in denial and didn't want to talk about it. And you know the relationship I have with her I didn't want to throw it in her face. I didn't want to call too much and too often, because there was a new story every single day. You know, her husband's going to jail, her husband's doing fraud, and I was like, 'What am I going to do? Call every time I see something in the paper?'

In the premiere, Teresa says she was happy when you married her brother and wanted a relationship, but you acted cold with her. Is that true?

No. I have both sisters down The Shore and she was going to be the only sister that I had. And I really did want a relationship with her. And I feel we did try in the beginning. And she did try. But little by little, the things she would say, the way that she was was very different from the way that I was and we started to bump heads. And as Joey and I started to become more successful, I think she started to change and her personality toward me started to change. And she looked at me as a competitor instead of a sister-in-law and that's when things just started to go downhill and all of that was just bizarre to me, because I have none of that going on in my family. And I have two older sisters and cousins everywhere, so I'm not used to that.

What can we expect of you this season?

You're going to see a lot of my interaction with my husband. He's hysterical I have to say. He and I together are a power couple and we're great and we really compliment each other well throughout the whole season. So, you're going to see a lot of me and my husband. A lot of me being a little bit of everything where I cook, I clean and now I'm going on this journey to be a singer. And I have incredible producers who have worked with Brittany Spears and Beyonce coming into my home and I sing next to a piano a capella. And you're going to see my journey all the way up to my first performance, to my first live singing performance. So, it's an amazing journey you're going to take with me on the whole ride of my music career.

Credit: Zap2It (Jethro Nededog)

Melissa Gorga Considered Leaving RHONJ

Is the newbie star of Real Housewives of New Jersey, Melissa Gorga, not tough enough to run with the Garden State's most famous table flipper?

Melissa – sister-in-law to Teresa Giudice – told Billy Bush and Kit Hoover on Friday's Access Hollywood Live that she considered leaving the series after a fight broke out at her son's baptism reception.

"That was crazy!" she said of the fracas that started after her husband, Joe Gorga, called his sister Teresa "garbage," which incensed Teresa's husband, Joe Giudice, and led to the massive brawl featured on the show's season premiere.

"It was sad," Melissa continued. "It's obviously not because Teresa came over and said hello. It's deep, it's deep and I think you're going to see play out on the rest of the show."

The new "Housewife" claimed she doesn't want to be a wedge between her husband and his sister.

"I do not want Teresa and [my husband] Joe to be apart," she told Billy and Kit. "I want them to be together and I'm kind of stuck between a brother and a sister who are having this quarrel… This happens in everyone's families. How many people get along wonderfully with their sister-in-laws? I don't know many!"

The mother of three, who dismissed claims that she's jealous of her sister-in-law and also denied ever asking Teresa to arrange for her to become a cast member, explained why she wanted to leave the hit Bravo series after the baptism melee.

"It was hard to watch, it's still hard. You know from the second I saw it, right after the baptism happened. I wanted off the show. I called the producers, 'This is crazy, I can't do this.' But, it happened. I'm in it now," she explained.

Is the worst behind the "Housewives" of New Jersey?

"That was the roughest episode… it gets better," she said. "You're going to see our relationship mend and you're going to see ups and you're going to see downs, it's a rollercoaster ride."

Credit: NBC Connecticut (Access Hollywood)

Teresa & Melissa's Post-Christening Reunion

When Teresa Giudice and her sister-in-law Melissa Gorga reunite on Monday's Real Housewives of New Jersey just days after their explosive spat at Gorga's son's christening, the mood is anything but light.

While Giudice tries to make nice when she connects with Gorga at a fashion show, Gorga wants nothing of it.

"She acted exactly how I expected," Gorga says in a sneak preview from Monday's all-new episode. "I knew she'd walk in there [offering] hugs and kisses and try to make conversation as if we didn't just have an explosive christening. I knew she'd do that."

Giudice tells Us Weekly she has few memories of the christening day, which ended in her husband and brother hurling expletives and punches in a brawl that rivaled Danielle Staub's infamous 2010 hair-pulling incident.

"It's still a whole blur to me," Giudice says of the christening. "I blacked out that day and it's still blurry to me. It was a crazy day."

As the clip above shows, Giudice still holds a grudge against Gorga -- especially when she tries to befriend Caroline Manzo.

"Melissa doesn't faze me," Giudice says, before her jealousy rages when Gorga chats up Manzo.

"Melissa and [Giudice's cousin Kathy Wakile] can kiss up to [Caroline] all they want, I know she's really my friend!" Giudice snaps.

Credit: Us Magazine

Danielle Staub Getting Sued For $375,000

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Danielle Stuab Stops Stripping, Seeks Help

Former Real Housewives of New Jersey star Danielle Staub tells PEOPLE she walked away after her stripping appearance and is seeking treatment for psychological problems rooted in childhood sexual abuse.

"I have addictions with love and low self-esteem, and I need help!" Staub, 48, says after photos of her dancing nude at Scores in New York appeared on the Internet.

"My low self-esteem derived from childhood sexual abuse has messed with my mind and self-worth, and over the years I thought about getting help but pushed it deep into the depths of denial," she says. "For years I have had the suicide hotline on my cell phone and would like nothing more than to free myself from this constant pressure.

"Seeing how I have hurt myself and my family this time," she continues, "I can no longer push it behind me."

The reality star, who is currently working on a new show with Heidi Montag and Jake Pavelka, says she has "sought out" Dr. Drew Pinsky for assistance.

Staub says she was "coaxed" into signing the appearance with Scores by her past handlers, but adds, "I have to own my mistakes and can't blame others." She says she has since "walked away" from the deal.

Credit: PEOPLE (Jennifer Garcia)

Teresa Giudice's Fall-Out With Her Co-Stars

When Bravo's Real Housewives of New Jersey returned on May 16, stay-at-home mom Teresa Giudice was forced to step in as the breadwinner when financial troubles hit. But that's not all that's changed! Behind the scenes, "Teresa has taken the place of fired villain Danielle Staub," an insider reveals to Life & Style. In fact, the insider says Teresa's acting like such a diva that the entire cast has turned against her -- even former best friends Caroline Manzo and Jacqueline Laurita.

After she and husband Joe filed for bankruptcy, Teresa formed a plan to become the most valuable star on Housewives. "She says Jacqueline's boring and Caroline's old," another insider tells Life & Style. "She thinks they can't do the show without her."

Stirring the pot even more, in the foreword of Teresa's second book Fabulicious!, she takes a public dig at Caroline, criticizing her cooking and the fact that she does her grown sons' laundry. "On this book tour, Teresa plans to take the feud further, attacking Caroline while she's not there to defend herself," says the second insider. The insider says Caroline and Jacqueline feel she's become so intolerable, "they don't know how much more they can take. This isn't the woman Teresa used to be."

Credit: Life & Style

Melissa Gorga: Inside Shocking Family Fight

Teresa Giudice and sister-in-law Melissa Gorga's on screen fight during the May 16 premiere of Real Housewives of New Jersey has been called one of the worst fights in TV history, but the feud is even worse off screen! New Housewives cast members, Teresa's brother Joe and wife Melissa, sat down with Life & Style for an exclusive interview and photo shoot to reveal what really went down that shocking night and the history of their family drama.

"I was so upset," Melissa tells Life & Style about the brawl at her son's christening. "Teresa's never given us any respect. She was being fake, just acting nice for the cameras."

In fact, screen time may have been Teresa's main motivation for attending the family affair at all. "My sister didn't even want to be there," Joe tells Life & Style. "She'd just signed her Housewives contract that morning or the day before because she was mad that we were on the show." Melissa, Joe and their three children live in a 15,000-square-foot custom-built mansion in Montville, N.J. "I think when Joe and I started making a lot of money is when she really lost it," Melissa says. "She was used to being the biggest and the best, and then when I came in, she felt threatened. She doesn't want anyone to one up her. Teresa's fine with you as long as you're one step below."

Things got so bad, the Gorgas found themselves ushered into corners during Housewives tapings, barred from book signings and 300-person premiere parties and their daughter excluded from birthday parties. But the most hurtful was when his sister tried turning their parents against Joe and his wife. "Teresa would tell our parents 'Melissa this,' 'Melissa that' or 'Joey didn't do this,' and my parents have never been the same," Joe confides. "Her husband talks about me to them all the time, too."

Still, they both hope someday the family fighting will end. "Things couldn't get any worse, so I'm hoping it only gets better post-show. Maybe we can become a family again," Melissa tells Life & Style. Joe adds," I have wonderful kids, a beautiful house, the whole package-- but I don't have my family. I'm crying out for my family."

Credit: Life & Style

Do You Miss Danielle Staub On The RHONJ?

Season 3 of the Real Housewives of New Jersey started on a dramatic note Monday night – with an epic brawl at Teresa Giudice's nephew's christening.

Plus, there are two new Housewives – both related to Giudice – in the mix now that the show's villain, Danielle Staub, is gone.

While Giudice is certainly a drama magnet, Staub, in an interview with E! Online, recently predicted that ratings would suffer in her absence.

"I brought the [drama]," Staub, 48, said. "People either loved me or hated me, but they were paying attention. This [season] is just full out nasty family fighting. Everyone's got that. Where's the element of surprise there?

Do you miss Danielle Staub on the Real Housewives of New Jersey?
Yes, I miss her drama
No, there's plenty of drama without her

View Results

Credit: PEOPLE (Sarah Durham Wilson)

Teresa Giudice: First Episode - 'Heartbreaking'

If you thought last night’s premiere episode of Real Housewives of New Jersey season three was shocking, you weren’t the only one! Even Teresa Giudice was shocked by watching her family fight on TV.

“I’m sorry I can’t start this blog with all kinds of excitement, because I don’t feel like there was much to celebrate in this first episode,” Teresa wrote on her Bravo blog. “It was beyond heartbreaking to watch.”

For Teresa, the first episode and the entire season have been difficult to film.

“My brother and I have always been close. Yes, when he got married things changed, but we were still close,” she explained. “The whole idea of a full-blown feud is crazy to me. I think you can tell by how shocked I was at the christening that this was an unexpected problem.”

And according to Teresa, everything was fine between them before that day.

“A month earlier, Joe and Melissa [Gorga] were at Audriana’s first birthday party with us. Gabriella, Milania, Antonia, and Gino go to preschool together. They see each other every day,” she said. “If we weren’t speaking, I would never have gone to their son’s christening.”

Watching the fight on tape was very upsetting to Teresa.

“To see what happened when I wasn’t in the room, to watch my brother run after my ailing father and insult my mother — it’s just too much. My family doesn’t deserve this,” she wrote. “I’m not going to trash anyone in my family or pick through every one of Melissa’s lies. I’ll let her speak for herself, and you can decide whatever you want to believe.”

“I know who I am. I love my family. I love my friends. And I love my fans,” she concludes. “I’m so proud of my wonderful husband, Joe. He always stands up for me and my family, and he kept his cool.”

While Teresa may not want to pick apart Melissa in her blog, Melissa doesn’t seem to feel the same way with her Bravo blog.

“She has never been happy for her brother or cared about anything good going on in his life or his children’s. She only wants to discuss her life and only cares about herself,” Melissa writes about Teresa. “She kept us as far away during Season 1 and Season 2, because I think she knew this would happen when they found us. Karma is a bitch. Family comes first for me, but unfortunately it does not for her, and it never will. It’s just not who she is, and that’s OK, but don’t think we are going to go on national TV and be fake with you. We are not fakers, sorry.”

Credit: OK! Magazine

Teresa Giudice: NJ Housewives Viewing Party

Teresa Giudice and hubby Joe Giudice attended the "Real Housewives of New Jersey" Season 3 viewing and "Fabulicious" Cookbook launch party at Tribeca Night Club on May 16, 2011 in Fort Lee, New Jersey.

Credit: Wire Image

Melissa Gorga Talks About Son's Christening

If you've just watched the Season 3 premiere of the "Real Housewives of New Jersey," you may still be in shock at the violent and emotional events that broke out at new cast member Melissa Gorga's christening party for her son.

"When it was going on," Melissa tells Zap2it. "I was screaming at the producers and I was saying, 'Put your cameras down! This is my son's christening! This is not funny.' I was freaking. I didn't sleep for a week after that christening."

In fact, Melissa tells us she has no regrets about joining the Bravo show... except for letting the cameras shoot at that event.

"It's very hard on me, very bittersweet," she says. "I love to see my son's christening day, but to see my husband in such pain was agonizing to me to me to watch. And to just see that be the memory of my son's christening day is devastating. But, it's the reality. I've learned to face it and realize it happened. And I'm moving past it now."

Melissa tells us she believes fellow cast mate and sister-in-law Teresa Giudice only came over to her and her husband, because the cameras were shooting. And while that may have launched the evening's tragic events, she says it goes much further back than that.

"It goes very deep and it runs deep," she says. "So, it's going to play out and you're going to see exactly why my husband did what he did and reacted the way he reacted and why we're so bitter with her. And we're done with the whole front she puts up and we're not going to do it for the cameras. So, I think it's going to play out and you're slowly going to see our stories unfold."

The scene quickly becomes a jumbled mess of tilted cameras, yelling and screaming, and it becomes difficult to figure out what's going on. So, we asked Melissa if there's anything she wanted to clear up about the events of the night.

"I do want to say after watching it that the way that you see my husband," she tells us. "You are going to see so many different sides of my husband and that was my husband in amazing pain, ridiculous amounts of pain and emotion. And I feel it comes through."

Credit: Zap 2 It (Jethro Nededog)

Danielle Staub -- RHONJ Will Flop Without Me!

The third season of Real Housewives of New Jersey kicks off tonight on Bravo, and two new ladies will be introduced to the Garden State crowd. But former Housewife Danielle Staub thinks the new season will be an epic flop without her.

“It’s not going to have the ratings,” Danielle told E! Online of the third season. “I brought the [drama]. People either loved me or hated me, but they were paying attention. This [season] is just full out nasty family fighting. Everyone’s got that. Where’s the element of surprise there?”

And don’t expect Danielle, who is rumored to be dating Ray Jay, to watch the new season either.

“It was becoming nonproductive for me,” she said. “I’m so much, so much more less stressed. I mean Bravo was amazing, the producers were amazing, but you know the cast, there’s no resolve with them… I think it’s time for everyone to see who truly the crazy ones are.”

The ladies who are featured on the show stopped by the set of the TODAY show this morning, and shared why they think you should tune in to the action.

“It’s really deep,” said newcomer Melissa Gorga of the first fight of the season that happens at the Christening of her son on tonight’s premiere episode. “It’s real. There’s a lot of emotions going on. It’s unfortunate. The cameras caught it all. It happens.”

Credit: OK! Magazine (Brittany Talarico)

'Real Housewives of New Jersey' Premiere Party

Caroline Manzo, Jacqueline Laurita, Melissa Gorga, Kathy Wakile, and Albie Manzo joined Simon van Kempen to kick off the new season of Real Housewives of New Jersey with a premiere party at the Brownstone.

Credit: Wayne Patch (Rebecca K. Abma)

Teresa Giudice at The Grove: Table Flipping 101

"The Real Housewives of New Jersey" star Teresa Giudice stopped by The Grove to give "Extra's" Mario Lopez a taste of her new cookbook, "Fabulicious!" -- and to show him the fine art of flipping a table!

As for the upcoming season of "Housewives," Giudice said, "It was really hard this season for me because things happened that blew me away. My sister in law, my brother's wife is on the show!" She continued, "It was ... I don't know what happened. Me and my brother (sic) were like best friends and then I think after he got married things changed."

Look for all the "Jersey" action when "The Real Housewives of New Jersey" premieres tonight on Bravo.

Credit: Extra TV ()

Teresa Doesn't Want to Show This to Her Kids

No Danielle? No problem! Despite the departure of series antagonist Danielle Staub at the end of Season 2, there's no shortage of drama ahead for the Real Housewives of New Jersey. Case in point: the reality show's third season premiere (Monday at 9/8c on Bravo). The episode welcomes two new cast members — Teresa Giudice's sister-in-law Melissa Gorga and cousin Kathy Wakile — but keeping it in the family comes at a high price as a fight breaks out at a baptism. Giudice talked with TV Guide about how her sister-in-law and cousin joined the show, the tension with her brother, Joe, and the "heartbreaking" portrayal of her family this season.

It's made clear in the first episode you don't get along with Melissa and Kathy so how did they come to join the show?

Teresa Giudice: I got the phone call from Bravo. I didn't even know that they were going to be on [the show]. I was like, "Wow." It was weird because I was talking to my cousin, and she never told me. I saw my brother a month before we started filming and there was no mention of anything. So I was pretty shocked.

Do you think Bravo approached them specifically because of the tension within the family?

Giudice: I heard through the grapevine that they wrote letters trying to get on the show. Last year at the reunion show when I pushed Andy Cohen, Danielle had mentioned my sister-in-law's name, but they cut that part out. I was shocked. It was weird — Danielle is talking to my sister-in-law?

Knowing your strained relationships with Melissa and Kathy, did you ever consider not coming back to the show?

Giudice: They always say, "Don't mix business and family together." That's my take on it. Not that I didn't want to come back — I never expected what was going to happen. Not in a million years did I expect that to happen. I was like, "All right, let's just do this." ... My brother and I were like best friends and even when Joe and Melissa got married, I was so happy for them. I asked Melissa to be Gabriella's godmother. If I didn't like her, I would have never done that. I was thrilled for them. But after that, things changed. I was also very close with my cousin and then, I started working and started doing the show and things change. I guess that's when she started becoming close to Melissa. That's fine, I have four daughters. I have a lot going on.

Was there a part of you that hoped filming the series may help bring your family together?

Giudice: I didn't know what to expect just because I was shocked that they didn't tell me they were in it. That was weird to me from the beginning. .... It breaks my heart for my parents, for my children, it's not the way our family is. It's devastating to me.

A lot of people assumed there would automatically be less tension this season with Danielle gone. How has filming been overall?

Giudice: Danielle was a stranger and this is family, so it's harder to me. You'll just have to see how it plays out throughout the season.

How is the dynamic between all five Housewives considering your tension with Melissa and Kathy?

Giudice: [Caroline and Jacqueline] are just meeting them now. I'm not the type to go up to them and say, "Don't speak to them." Of course they are going to interact with them. But they're my family, so I know the history. Jacqueline and Caroline are newbies to my family.

Credit: TV Guide (Kate Stanhope)

Meet The 2 New Housewives of New Jersey

There are several things the Real Housewives of New Jersey are not shy in using, their hairspray, their cleavage and their kids. 

These reality TV stars (except for Dina Manzo – who kept her girl out of the spotlight after season 1), don’t seem to have issues highlighting their children on the show. From Teresa’s daughter’s modeling and acting, to Danielle Staub’s daughter’s singing to Jacqueline Laurita’s daughter’s hair pulling….it’s all there for the cameras. 

Now that there are two new ‘Real Housewives’ on the show, that means two new sets of kids. So who are there new lovely ladies from Jersey and who are their kids? Melissa Gorga is already part of the family. Her hubby Joe just happens to be Teresa Giudice’s brother. One word to describe her? “Sassy.” 

They have three children – Antonia who is five, Gino who is three, and baby Joey who is just 11 months. With youngsters like that, I wonder if Teresa and Melissa will compete to see whose kids get the most airtime.

Kathy Wakile is ALSO already part of the family, she just happens to be Teresa’s first cousin. She has two children but they are on the older side with Victoria being 17 and son Joseph is 15. But she apparently “carefully monitors her children’s social lives,” so you know there may be some drama there!

Credit: Fame Crawler

NJ Housewives Is Less "Dark" Without Danielle

With Danielle Staub long gone from The Real Housewives of New Jersey, Jacqueline Laurita and her costars are no longer running scared.

When the Bravo show premieres its third season Monday, fans will still see their fair share of drama, but as Laurita tells Us Weekly, this time it'll be served up family style.

"It's not the same type of drama than when Danielle was on [the show]," Laurita tells Us of the group dynamic in the wake of villain Staub's September 2010 departure. "I think that was a little more dark, and now [we as a cast] have less of a fear of life. It's more like 'Oh my God, what's my family member going to say about me?' because your feuding with them. This drama went on before with Danielle but you couldn't see it because Danielle's drama overshadowed what was going on in our lives."

In the mix for season three are Teresa Giudice's cousin Kathy Wakile and sister-in-law Melissa Gorga, whose family gets in a massive blowout with the Giudices on Monday's premiere.

No tables are flipped at Gorga's son's christening, but Giudice tells Us that the fight was so epic she "blacked out" and has few memories of the day.

"It's still a whole blur to me," Giudice says. "I blacked out that day and it's still blurry to me. When I watch the episode I'll see what went on because I still don't [remember]. It was a crazy day."

As their families feud, Gorga says she's working to mend her relationship with Giudice. "We're family [and] we're always going to be in each other's lives. We have kids that are cousins," Gorga tells Us.

"You can't chose your family."

Get more juicy premiere dish straight from the ladies ahead of The Real Housewives of New Jersey's first episode May 16 at 9 p.m. (EST) on Bravo.

Credit: Us Magazine