‘RHONJ’ Alum Kathy Wakile Thought She Was Auditioning for a Cooking Series
It’s been some time since The Real Housewives of New Jersey has seen Kathy Wakile on their screens. Wakile starred on the show for three seasons and documented her fragmented relationship with her cousin, Teresa Giudice. She’s since opted for a life outside of the cameras. Her relationship with Giudice has never been repaired, which Giudice says is due to the show. While most people would jump to be part of such a franchise, Wakile didn’t. She didn’t even know she was auditioning for RHONJ.
Kathy Wakile thought she was auditioning for a cooking show and turned down ‘RHONJ’ several times
Wakile was shocked when she learned she’d been in the running for the Bravo reality series. “They reached out to me for Season 3, and I actually thought they were casting for a different show because I had always cooked, and I baked, and I went to cooking events, and food shows and things like that. So I thought that they were reaching out to me to cast me in a cooking show because they had mentioned other shows that they’d cast for, and it was for TLC and Food Network shows,” she told Behind the Velvet Rope podcast.
During the auditioning process, she even had the casting crew stay for dinner, and they filmed her cooking most of the time. But once they told her it was for RHONJ, she paused. She says they asked her multiple times before she finally agreed.
In fact, she says she didn’t sign her contract until the day before she filmed her first scene. The contract turned out to be a simple participation release to agree to have her appear in the show.
She quit the show after an intense scene with Teresa Giudice
Wakile became a part-time cast member in season 6. At the time, Giudice’s now ex-husband Joe was serving time in prison for bankruptcy fraud. Wakile asked for a sit down with Giudice, who initially declined before changing her mind.
In an interview Bravo, Wakile spoke on the importance of having a meeting with Giudice, even having to cut her family vacation short to attend the meeting around Giudice’s schedule. “It was just that I didn’t want to play anymore. I didn’t want to engage anymore. It wasn’t getting resolved. Nobody wants to see this anymore. People want to know that there’s hope for a resolution,” Wakile explained.
But during the meeting, Giudice was adamant that she didn’t want a relationship, noting she wanted to “cut the cancer” out of her life. Wakile was hurt by her cousin’s analogy.
“I’m done with filming, done with this relationship…nobody calls me cancer, [I’m] just done because I’m far from it,” Wakile declared.
Teresa Giudice has vowed never to reconcile with Kathy Wakile
Giudice was never happy about her family joining the show, explaining that she never wanted fame to come between them after she witnessed what happened with her co-stars, the Manzos. Seasons 3 and 4 showed the Giudice’s, Joe and Melissa Gorga, and Wakiles’ estrangement.
During BravoCon 2019, Giudice explained why she was longer in contact with the Wakilies. “My family came on the show behind my back, and that was the worst thing that could have ever happened to me,” Giudice claimed. ”That’s why I don’t speak to Kathy anymore. I’ll never speak to her or Rosie [Pierri] ever again because I don’t want family like that. But my brother and Melissa, for my parents, of course, I forgave them.”
In response to Giudice’s interview, Wakile told Us Weekly in 2019 that Giudice’s theory is false. “First of all, I never approached Bravo to do the show. Second of all, I never did it behind anyone’s back,” she said. “I followed the protocol that Bravo set before me, you know? And so to keep pushing that and saying that, that I went behind Teresa’s back and … Enough already. I wish everyone well.” She does admit that she did not tell Giudice about the casting until the deal was signed. She regrets not telling her.
