Real Housewives Smackdown

By Lauren Clay

When I walked through the doors of Bergen PAC on October 17, I wasn’t sure what the night would bring, I only knew that I was there for a night of “Dishing and Debates” with cast members from the Real Housewives of New Jersey and New York. My first thought was that I’d be witness to a night filled with catfights, so imagine my surprise when the night turned out to be less Jerry Springer and more The View.

Before the women even went on stage, the audience was told to cheer for who they were there to see – New York or New Jersey. It was no surprise when New Jersey won that competition by a mile. From that moment on, I knew Jersey had this debate in the bag.

Jill and Alex from New York were the first to take the stage. Even from far away I could tell that these women were all about appearance and glamour. They both looked beautiful, but I was secretly hoping that the New Jersey women would outdo them. I was not disappointed. Caroline walked out first and looked very striking in an understated but gorgeous dress. Then Teresa entered and wowed everyone in a sparkling silver mini-dress and matching heels. When she announced that just had a baby five weeks earlier, I was in total shock. If only all women could bounce back that quickly from a pregnancy, but we can only dream.

The one thing I liked about all of the women was their strong sense of pride for where they come from. When asked what they thought the big differences were between New York and New Jersey, I think Caroline said it best:

“New York has the glitz and the glamour, but on New Jersey, we’re not afraid to go on TV without makeup. We’ll put it all out there – the good, the bad, the ugly, the happy, the sad – I think we have no fear. What your see is what you get.”

When asked about why they love New Jersey, Caroline talked about how in New Jersey, “everything is a blink away” – she can be in Manhattan in 15 minutes and the shore is only 45 minutes away. Jill chimed in by praising New Jersey for not taxing clothes.

Although the night didn’t turn out to be quite the debate I thought it would be, it was a lot of fun to say the least, especially during the audience Q & A, which turned into people asking questions about the upcoming seasons and Jill, in true New York style, cutting in to say “she can’t talk about that, you’ll have to watch and find out.”

All in all, it was a great evening and in my opinion, the Jersey women represented us well and proved what I’ve known for years – New Jersey is definitely better than New York.