Danielle Cabral may be trying to put on a brave face, but it’s clear she’s on the outside looking in as The Real Housewives of New Jersey begins testing new cast members for its next chapter, and she wasn’t even asked to participate.
Speaking to Us Weekly on the MTV VMAs red carpet, Cabral admitted, “I wasn’t [asked to test shoot], but that’s OK. I think they’re getting it right.” That’s one way to spin it.
Instead of being part of the test shoot, Danielle is watching from the sidelines while Margaret Josephs, Dolores Catania, and Melissa Gorga, help vet potential newcomers. In typical Danielle fashion, she’s trying to appear unbothered. “The new is really cool, and I think everybody’s gonna be happy,” she claimed.
Danielle, who joined as a full-time Housewife in Season 13 and returned for Season 14, seemed to admit that change is necessary, but the irony here is striking. “We need fresh. We need new. We need something more than what we were dealing with,” she said. If she’s referring to herself as part of that “what we were dealing with” group, then at least she’s self-aware.
But the mixed messages don’t stop there. While hyping up the newbies she wasn’t allowed to film with, something newer housewives always do, Danielle gushed, “I’m excited about their potential in the friend group, because they’re cool. They’re really cool girls.” Making it clear Melissa Gorga and Margaret Josephs are keeping her in the know, perhaps she’s just trying to stay in the mix however she can.
It’s also worth noting that while Danielle teased that viewers would be “very happy with how Jersey is turning out,” she followed it up with a telling statement: “If that’s the case, if I don’t come back, it was a wild two rides. But if I do, I think you’re gonna see a different Housewife come back.” This reads more like someone bracing for rejection than celebrating an exciting new chapter.
Danielle insisted, “I’m not a deer in headlights, and I know what I signed up for now,” but her sudden sidelining suggests otherwise.
As Bravo told Us Weekly, “no official casting decisions have been made.” Teresa Giudice who is being considered did not test film as OG’s like Teresa Giudice, Tamra Judge, Kyle Richards, Kandi haven’t tested in years.
Danielle may want us to believe she’s fine being left out of the process, but if you have to keep telling everyone you’re OK, maybe you’re not.