Yahoo Movies Danielle Staub Says She's Leaving Bravo's Real Housewives of New Jersey — and 'Never Returning'
Danielle Staub is saying goodbye to The Real Housewives of New Jersey — for good this time.
During a Wednesday appearance on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, the mother of two announced that she will no longer be appearing on the hit Bravo series, telling Cohen, “I will be never returning as a Housewife again with the Jersey girls.”
“I have, over the past 12 years and 10 seasons, been a part of this whole franchise and I’ve been very happy to rally and stand on a platform and be here with all of you,” said Staub. “But it is time for me to leave and do something that I want to do that makes my heart happy every day.”
Her announcement left Cohen shocked. “This is entirely your move, I just want to point that out,” he said. “I didn’t expect you to say the word never, I’ve got to digest this during the commercial break.”
Staub was an original Jersey Housewife when the franchise kicked off back in 2009, alongside Teresa Giudice and relatives Caroline Manzo, Dina Manzo and Jacqueline Laurita.
The 57-year-old’s colorful past fueled much of the drama in RHONJ‘s first season, culminating in a tense finale dinner that saw Giudice famously flipping a table in anger.
With no friends on the show by the end of season 2, Staub left the franchise. She popped up on other reality shows, including VH1’s Famous Food in 2011, before returning to RHONJ in season 8 as a Friend of the Housewives. Having since made up with Giudice, Staub has appeared on the show for the past two seasons.
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But Season 10 of the series, airing now, has been particularly rocky for Staub.
Just last week, a verbal argument between her and cast member Margaret Josephs turned physical when Staub grabbed Josephs’ ponytail from behind and pulled her toward the ground.
The incident left much of the cast against Staub, except for Giudice, who has stood by Staub’s side.
Staub and Giudice appear to have since had a falling out following the filming of the current season — the two unfollowing one another on social media. Reasons for their friendship fracture is expected to play out in the rest of the season.
Prior to Staub’s time on RHONJ, she was a working actress, appearing in a recurring role on ABC’s All My Children.
With RHONJ now behind her, she told Cohen in her Wednesday interview that she is now going to focus her time on starting her own cooking channel, something she has teased to her Instagram fans over the past few months.
“Cooking is therapy to me so I’m basically calling it Cooking Therapy,” said Staub — who, due to an allergy, primarily focuses on making gluten-free and dairy-free meals. “I find my peace in the kitchen. … I’m going all in on food. Food is sexy.”
Staub’s also maintaining a friendship with ex-husband Marty Caffrey after their nasty divorce.
“He’s been very supportive of me,” Staub said on WWHL. “The best thing that came out of all this is the relationship between him and I. He’s one of my dearest friends and I treasure that.”
The Real Housewives of New Jersey airs Wednesdays (8 p.m. ET) on Bravo.
