With Danielle Staub long gone from The Real Housewives of New Jersey, Jacqueline Laurita and her costars are no longer running scared.
When the Bravo show premieres its third season Monday, fans will still see their fair share of drama, but as Laurita tells Us Weekly, this time it'll be served up family style.
"It's not the same type of drama than when Danielle was on [the show]," Laurita tells Us of the group dynamic in the wake of villain Staub's September 2010 departure. "I think that was a little more dark, and now [we as a cast] have less of a fear of life. It's more like 'Oh my God, what's my family member going to say about me?' because your feuding with them. This drama went on before with Danielle but you couldn't see it because Danielle's drama overshadowed what was going on in our lives."
In the mix for season three are Teresa Giudice's cousin Kathy Wakile and sister-in-law Melissa Gorga, whose family gets in a massive blowout with the Giudices on Monday's premiere.
No tables are flipped at Gorga's son's christening, but Giudice tells Us that the fight was so epic she "blacked out" and has few memories of the day.
"It's still a whole blur to me," Giudice says. "I blacked out that day and it's still blurry to me. When I watch the episode I'll see what went on because I still don't [remember]. It was a crazy day."
As their families feud, Gorga says she's working to mend her relationship with Giudice. "We're family [and] we're always going to be in each other's lives. We have kids that are cousins," Gorga tells Us.
"You can't chose your family."
Get more juicy premiere dish straight from the ladies ahead of The Real Housewives of New Jersey's first episode May 16 at 9 p.m. (EST) on Bravo.
Credit: Us Magazine