Teresa, Jacqueline and Caroline

We’ve heard of several shakeups on the Real Housewives series. A couple of weeks ago the news came out that Jill Zarin, Cindy Barshop, Kelly Bensimon and Alex McCord had been fired from the “Real Housewives of New York.” It’s clear that producers want to bring in new blood to fuel fresh conflicts. I think McCord summed up the series best when she said “If people continue to behave in a way that’s shocking, then how can it do anything but get darker… It’s gotten more and more toxic.”

Now there’s news that Caroline Manzo and Jacqueline Laurita has been fired from the Real Housewives of New Jersey. Of course they were, they were the most level-headed and likable castmembers on that show.

Just weeks after we broke the news that Jill Zarin, Kelly Bensimon and Alex McCord were fired from “The Real Housewives of New York,” we can exclusively reveal that Bravo is discussing making some big changes with the cast of the New Jersey “Housewives” franchise, cutting both Jacqueline Laurita and Caroline Manzo from the show.

“Jacqueline and Caroline were told months ago that they wouldn’t be returning for a fifth Season if they didn’t bring the drama,” a network insider tells me. “This season has been dominated by Melissa [Gorga] and Teresa [Giudice] drama and season four, that they are filming right now, is going to be no different.”

Manzo, who has served as the voice of reason among the group since day one, has always refused to be involved in any of the set up drama that has translated into huge ratings for the show. Similarly, Laurita’s entire story line, which involved her troubles with her daughter Ashley, has disappeared following Ashley’s departure from the show.

“Producers have been showing all the ladies private footage of what they have all been saying behind each others’ backs hoping to bring Jacqueline and Caroline into the drama,” an insider tells me. “But so far, they have kept their cool on camera and saved the drama for Twitter, not TV.”

Laurita also refused to attend the reunion taping for the season currently airing, further hurting her chances of being invited back after she completes the next three weeks of filming for the upcoming season.

“Jacqueline refused to come out of her house the day of the reunion taping,” an insider tells me. “Bravo’s car sat in the driveway all day and she just refused to leave her home even if it meant she was violating her contract.”

However, unlike the fired New York ladies, this parting appears to be mutual. Manzo’s sister and Laurita’s sister-in-law, Dina Manzo, told me just a few weeks ago that other women currently on the show were not having fun anymore and might follow her lead and say goodbye.

[From The Huffington Post, Rob Shuter’s column]

I’ve watched RHONJ in the past, but haven’t been keeping up with it this season. From what I’ve read there’s been drama over Melissa Gorga being accused on the show of having a past as a stripper, which Jacqueline objected to and claimed was a setup by Gorga’s enemy, her sister-in-law Teresa Guidice. (These two articles have the background on that.) Jacqueline later called Teresa “scum” on Twitter, and is said to have leaked the photo of Teresa’s husband at dinner with another woman as payback. Then Jacqueline refused to attend the Real Housewives of New Jersey reunion, so word is that she quit Real Housewives, not that she was fired.

As for this story that Caronline and Jacqueline couldn’t “bring the drama,” I’m more interested to what this reveals about the entire franchise. I’ve mentioned that I don’t watch it anymore after Russell Armstrong of RHOBH killed himself and the show continued to chug along with its excesses and in fighting, giving little attention to Russel’s death and continuing to air the scenes where his now widow was distraught in the weeks leading up to it. This just brings it home to me that the show is almost entirely manufactured, which I have no problem with when it comes to regular dramas or soap operas, but these are real people who are getting hurt. We may not like them, but that doesn’t make it right. Good for Jacqueline for standing up for herself.

Update: Bravo denies that either Manzo or Laurita is off the show. They issued a statement that read, in part, “All five cast members will be featured on season four.”