‘RHONJ’ Danielle Cabral Opened Up About Appearing on MTV’s ‘True Life’: ‘I Went Through Hell’
On this season of The Real Housewives of New Jersey, Danielle Cabral joined the cast, along with Jennifer Fessler and Rachel Fuda.
Jennifer Fessler, who already had an established friendship with Margaret Josephs, appears as a “friend.” She is a 53-year-old mother of two grown children and CEO of F.Major, a line of “comfortable” high heels.
Rachel Fuda is a 31-year-old mom of three young daughters. She and her husband, John, run Valet King, a business that provides valets, concierge staff, security, car washes, and detailing. In 2016, the couple also opened Mob Burger, a Mafia-themed pizza and burger restaurant (“We’ll make you a burger you can’t refuse”) in Wood-Ridge, NJ.
The third addition to RHONJ is Danielle Cabral, who once appeared on MTV’s True Life.
Who is Danielle Cabral?
Cabral is a 37-year-old mother of two children, Valentina and Dominic, who she shares with her husband, Nate.
Cabral revealed she is distantly related to two OG Jersey housewives, sisters Caroline and Dina Manzo. It’s a little hard to follow, but Danielle’s father, Phillip DiPietro, married Cammy DiPetro, the ex-wife of Caroline and Dina’s brother, Anthony Laurita. She is a few branches away on the family tree.
The new RHONJ owns the online children’s boutique Boujie Kidz, which she opened in 2018. She also refers to herself as “The Boujie Mama.”
The mom of two is originally from Staten Island and has already clashed with RHONJ Jackie Goldschneider. The other women are very curious about Cabral’s strained relationship with her brother.
Before ‘The Real Housewives of New Jersey,’ Danielle Cabral appeared on MTV’s “True Life: I’m a Staten Island Girl”
RHONJ is not Cabral’s first experience on reality TV.
Cabral appeared on MTV’s True Life in 2006 in an I’m a Staten Island Girl episode. The show followed Cabral, who was Danielle DiPietro at the time, as she left Staten Island to live her dream of being an actor in LA.
She spoke with the Real Life with Kate Casey podcast about her experience, which wasn’t exactly good. She explained that True Life was before shows like Jersey Shore and was the first time the world was introduced to a “Staten Island Girl.”
“It didn’t go over well. I went through hell on Staten Island. It was torture,” she told Casey.
She went on to say, “I would walk into places, and people would throw things at me,” she said, and added that she has PTSD from the experience.
There was one line from the show that she says haunts her to this day. MTV played her line, “I drive a Lexus truck. Ask me how much it is. I don’t know.” Cabral claims they cut out the rest of her statement, where she continued, “But I want to know. I want to work hard.”
Because they didn’t air the rest of her line, she became known as a spoiled brat and had her car keyed.
Danielle Cabral goes to Los Angeles
On the other hand, the show got her out to California and more opportunities. She was out there for two years.
The cameras captured the Staten Island girl going out for auditions, where they loved her accent, but people back home thought she needed to get rid of it.
“No one even knew my name,” Cabral said. “They just called me ‘New York.’” She explained that it is very difficult to break into show business in New York and LA.
The former True Life star says she has gotten a much better reception now that she is on RHONJ. “It’s been the best part of this whole experience for me, the total 180.”
Cabral explains that now people tell her that they are so proud she is from Staten Island, and she loves it.
