Jacqueline Laurita has discovered a new way to drunk rant – is this good or bad? She recently posted two videos answering viewer questions about her life, the show, and all things in between. Interestingly, Jacqueline ignored most of the questions about Teresa Giudice (she was asked over and over again where they currently stand) but she did address her situation with Dina Manzo, drop hints about the reunion, dish on almost landing a spinoff, and more.
Jacqueline is preparing for the Real Housewives Of New Jersey reunion, which films next month. Jacqueline predicts it’ll “be a good one” and “extremely eventful,” adding, “I think it’s gonna be pretty intense.”
CLICK THE CONTINUE READING BUTTON FOR MORE!
The remainder of the season is also really dramatic and will go in surprising directions, although Jacqueline warns, “they cut so much out” of the backstory. She’s annoyed that the viewers aren’t getting more information.
Jacqueline admits she was “surprised at Melissa” this season (she did not mean that as a compliment) and has not spoken to Melissa or Teresa since filming wrapped. She also has “no idea” how Juicy is doing in prison and Chris hasn’t spoken to him.
Jacqueline insists she’s no longer as emotionally invested in the show as she once was, and although she finds editing annoying sometimes, she understands it’s meant to be “entertainment.”
RELATED – Does Teresa Giudice Make Jacqueline Act Crazy?
“I found it really hard to express myself when I first started doing Housewives because I was always taught if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all. So I was very uncomfortable,” Jacqueline explains.
She bit her tongue a lot because she didn’t want to hurt people’s feelings or be mean. “It was really hard for me,” she continues. “But then after you’ve been on for a few years you’re just trained [that] if you’re thinking it to just say it, so that the viewers understand what you’re thinking. And it makes better TV.”
“It’s frustrating sometimes because things that air don’t really tell the full story of what happened in a scene, so there’s always more to the story that people don’t see,” describes Jacqueline. “But then I look at it as, it’s entertainment. If people are loving me or hating me – as long as they’re engaged in the show. I don’t have to deal with them in my real life. People are judging you for what they see and they’re not getting the full story, so I don’t get offended.”
“There’s things that I’m shocked, over the seasons, didn’t make the air. Cause I’m pretty open and I put a lot out there. I don’t really get embarrassed because everybody has shit in their lives, and has ups and downs. The people who are gonna be in my life, are gonna be in my life.”
“We don’t have any say in editing,” adds Jacqueline. The Housewives do not get to view unedited footage, only the final episode cuts.
Jacqueline maintains that reacting to the other women and the drama is her job, so she tries to be real in those moments, although she separates her real life from her TV life when the filming stops (yeah right, twitter queen!).
She disagrees that being required to discuss certain topics or instances makes the show scripted, or that producers influence the drama this way. “It’s pretty real. You’re just put in unusual situations you wouldn’t normally put yourself in, but whatever happens in those situations is real,” she clarifies. “It’s not scripted at all.”
“When you’re cast to film on a show, you’re cast to film together so you have to talk about each other. Would I be talking about certain cast members if I wasn’t on the show? Probably not,” Jacqueline says. “But when you’re all forced to film together things happen and you gotta talk about whatever’s going on in your life.”
“In a typical situation if I was fighting with somebody I’d probably just ignore them and walk away, but when you’re on TV and you’re being filmed – if I were to just walk away every time you guys would be bored to death. So you’re kind of trained to just, whatever’s on your mind, express yourself and think out loud.”
“Then of course you can’t just let it go, because you gotta film telling everybody whatever happened in the scene,” Jacqueline adds. “You gotta make sure that’s caught on camera so the viewers know what’s going on too. So that gets a little redundant.”
She is friends with some of the ladies in real life, naming Kathy, Rosie, Siggy, and Dolores, but others are just co-workers or acquaintances.
“I love Rosie,” Jacqueline gushes. “Rosie is amazing. I love Kathy and Rosie.”
She also adores the new girls Siggy Flicker and Dolores Catania.
“I love Siggy. She’s a very kind person. She’s very much like me season 1: she just wants peace with everybody, she just wants everyone to get along. She doesn’t really know the full history of everything and she’s just navigating her way through it. I think she’s a great addition to the show – her and Dolores. I actually pushed for them to be on the show. To be honest, I recruited them. They’re both great. I talk to Siggy and Dolores all the time.”
From what Jacqueline is hearing, both Siggy and Dolores will be asked back next season.
She describes her relationship with Teresa as “we’re like the sisters who rip each other’s hair out and the next second we’re hugging. It’s really weird.”
“Never say never,” Jacqueline shrugs of a future friendship with Teresa. “This is gonna sound crazy, but my favorite Housewife to watch is Teresa!” Jacqueline laughs. “I just think she’s so funny and she makes great TV.”
Jacqueline now takes her relationships with on-screen enemies in stride. “I wouldn’t quit if anybody returned on the show,” she promises. “Listen – I’m the last person to be afraid of confrontation. I never have a problem with confrontation. I do best with one-on-one confrontation, but I don’t get intimidated by people.”
“You’ve gotta film with those people even if you’re uncomfortable around those people,” Jacqueline says, “so that’s when things happen: because you don’t really wanna be there, but you gotta be there!” My, my – miss I once skipped a reunion has certainly had a change of heart! “I never regret things I do because it always leads to other things.”
Jacqueline was asked several times if she feels famous – she doesn’t. When she’s not filming, she primarily hangs out at home and with friends and family who know her well.
She explains that being part of RHONJ definitely creates a divide between her real life and her reality TV life, and certain aspects of her real reality are never seen. “I have a lot of friends who are not part of the show and would not be part of RHONJ in a million years. It’s hard hanging out with them when we’re filming, because we get so involved with filming.”
She also says filming never really wraps since they do “pick up interviews,” or the confessional one-on-ones, throughout the season so production can get soundbites from each woman that coincides with whatever scenes will likely make the final cuts. RHONJ is no longer actively filming that Jacqueline knows of.
Jacqueline also commented a bit on Caroline and Dina’s feud – she is not involved this time.
“Caroline and I are good,” she says. She talks to Albie and Chris more than Lauren.
“We’re peaceful right now, but I haven’t seen [Dina] in a few years. We haven’t talked at all.” Jacqueline isn’t sure if Dina and Chris are in contact, but they were recently on a “group text” thread, and Dina did a shout-out to promote The Little Kernel on social media. She is still close with Jamie Laurita, her BIL, and they talk frequently.
“It’s unfortunate with Caroline and Dina,” Jacqueline muses. “I guess it’s like that with a big family – it like goes in cycles. Never say never. Eventually people come around. Did you guys ever think Teresa and Melissa would be friends? She finally took my advice! I don’t care if it’s fake; it doesn’t matter. It’s so much better for the parents, the kids… It’s so much better for Teresa to have a relationship with her brother, and all she has to do is respect his wife to make it work.”
Jacqueline has not seen “freaking psycho” Danielle Staub, but she heard a rumor that her name is on Danielle’s “kill list.” (aka the list of people Danielle wants to murder). Jacqueline doesn’t think Danielle will ever return to Real Housewives Of New Jersey because she’s “sort of a liability” but says Danielle “begs” to return every season.
Moving over to the personal side of things, Jacqueline shares an update on Ashlee and the baby and talks plastic surgery, finances, spinoffs, and how she feels about Housewives from other cities.
Ashlee is doing great. She, Pete, and the baby are currently living with Jacqueline, and she’s thrilled. “I’m in love with Cameron! I just wanna kiss his face off. He’s the cutest little baby.” They’re each taking shifts watching the baby breathe while he sleeps.
She doesn’t know what she wants the baby to call her. “I’m still trying to find a name for myself. I’ve been joking around saying I’m ‘glam’ma, but I don’t know what to call myself. I thought of Gigi. Gigi sounds like someone with her face pulled back really tight and perky tits when they’re old,” Jaq laughs. “Yeah, I could take Gigi!”
Nick is also doing really well. He goes to school, has help at home, and is adjusting to Cameron. “I don’t know if he quite understands it yet,” Jacqueline concedes.
She denies any recent plastic surgery.
“I actually have not done one injection or filler since right before we were filming Housewives,” Jaq maintains. She demonstrates moving her eyebrows and explains that half of her face moves, while the other side has the remains of the fillers and is still semi-frozen. She is adamant that the only permanent surgery she’s done are nose, tummy tuck, and eyes. “It was free – who wouldn’t do it?!”
She’s also had a boob reduction three times. “They keep growing back so I’m gonna do it again,” she giggles.
Jacqueline‘s friendly with several other Housewives from other shows. “There’s women from each of the Housewives that I talk to. Tamra and Gretchen, I love. Carole… and Kim Zolciak. I love Kandi – she’s a sweetheart.” She recently ate at Lisa Vanderpump‘s restaurant and really likes her. “I love Andy Cohen,” she adds. “I think he’s brilliant.”
The Laurita’s finances are also improving. “Things are definitely going better with us. Little Kernel is doing aaaaamazing – it’s in almost 4,000 stores already. BLK is finally making money!”
They’re still in their house but doing updates because they still want to sell. Jacqueline’s budget includes getting Starbucks only a couple times per week now [Side-Eye], but since Pumpkin Spice has been out she’s been getting it every day. The number one perk of being part of the show has been the connections she’s made in the autism community.
After leaving RHONJ, Jacqueline discussed doing a spinoff, but decided against it. “I just think that takes a lot of work with it just focused on you. I’d rather be part of a group to be honest with you. If I had a show it’d probably be called ‘Livin’ Laurita Loca’.”
Jacqueline also revealed her funniest moment that never made the air. “I shouldn’t even talk about it…” she begins, “but we did this Halloween thing one time and Teresa dressed up as Danielle Staub!”
RELATED – Danielle’s Daughter Says RHONJ Ruined Their Lives!
“She put underwear on with an earring, like her thing was pierced – like nude panties (over her clothes),” Jacqueline laughs.
“It was terrible!”
Other random tidbits – Jacqueline’s uncle was a piano player for Frank Sinatra. And she’s traveled the entire length of the Alaskan highway in an RV.
She’s also decided she’ll be doing weekly Facebook Live sessions after each episode airs.
TELL US – HAS JACQUELINE CHANGED? WOULD YOU WATCH A SPINOFF? ARE YOU SURPRISED SHE DOESN’T BLAME EDITING FOR HER BAD BEHAVIOR?
[Photo Credit: Tommy Garcia/Bravo]
