The Real Housewives of New Jersey, abbreviated RHONJ, is an American reality television series that premiered on May 12, 2009, on Bravo.

The cast of the recent fourteenth season consists of Teresa Giudice, Melissa Gorga, Dolores Catania, Margaret Josephs, Jennifer Aydin, Danielle Cabral and Rachel Fuda, with former housewife Jackie Goldschneider and Jennifer Fessler serving as friends of the housewives.

Previously featured cast members include original housewives Dina Cantin, Jacqueline Laurita, Caroline Manzo and Danielle Staub; and subsequent housewives Kathy Wakile, Teresa Aprea, Amber Marchese, Nicole Napolitano and Siggy Flicker.

[1] The first season premiered on May 12, 2009, and starred Caroline Manzo, Jacqueline Laurita, Teresa Giudice, Dina Cantin and Danielle Staub with Dolores Catania as a friend of the housewives.

For the first time in The Real Housewives franchise, the series followed cast members who are related to one another: sisters Caroline Manzo and Dina Cantin were at the time married to brothers Albert and Tommy Manzo, and Laurita is married to Caroline and Dina's brother, Chris Laurita.

[26] The ninth season premiered on November 7, 2018, with Jennifer Aydin and Jackie Goldschneider joining the cast and Staub returning as a friend.

[34] In June 2024, it was reported that there would not be a traditional reunion for the fourteenth season, making this for the first time in the show’s history.

[38] Since its premiere, the series has alternated airing on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday evenings and has been frequently shifted between the 8:00, 9:00, and 10:00 PM timeslots.

It followed the life of the Giudice family during Teresa's incarceration, including her nearly daily phone calls from prison, and featured Melissa Gorga and her husband, Joe, and Rosie Pierri.

[49] Giudice and Melissa Gorga starred in the first season of the Peacock spin-off, The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip.

[50][51] Teresa Gets Married, featuring the August 2022 nuptials of Giudice and Luis "Louie" Ruelas, aired on Bravo on May 23, 2023.