Why Caroline Manzo Will Never Return To The Real Housewives Franchise Again

After her latest appearance in a "Real Housewives" spinoff, Caroline Manzo is reportedly done with the franchise for good.

Manzo originally left "The Real Housewives of New Jersey" in 2013 after appearing as a full-time star on the first five seasons of the hit Bravo show. The network did offer her and her family a spinoff called "Manzo'd With Children" which premiered in 2014 and went on for three seasons before being canceled in 2017. In the time since, Manzo had been pretty adamant about staying off of reality television, choosing to be at home and help care for her granddaughter, Markie. Since Markie is old enough to go to school, Manzo has found herself looking for something to do — and reality television became an option again. 

After negotiations with producers, Manzo joined the Season 4 cast of "Real Housewives: Ultimate Girls Trip" on Peacock. The reality star packed her bags and headed to Marrakech, Morocco, to film — but she was back on U.S. soil much earlier than anticipated. Manzo also wants nothing more to do with "Real Housewives." And an uncomfortable interaction with one of her co-stars is reportedly to blame. 

After a reported encounter between Caroline Manzo and "Real Housewives: Ultimate Girls Trip" co-star Brandi Glanville, Manzo has vowed to "never, never, never" return to the "Real Housewives" franchise.

Although all parties have been fairly hush-hush about what exactly went down, a source told Page Six that Glanville allegedly made unwanted advances toward Manzo, kissing her and touching her without consent. "She put her hands on Caroline's breast area and vaginal area," the source explained. Glanville seemed to disagree with the report, tweeting, "Check your sources people!!!!" shortly after it was published. On March 30, Glanville spoke out again, saying that she and Manzo "were very intoxicated" during the alleged incident.

Manzo responded to Glanville's comments while with Tamra Judge and Teddi Mellencamp on "Two Ts in a Pod," calling the statement "disappointing." She also called the alleged incident "very traumatic," but that fans will see everything "play out" when the season airs. "I don't want to talk too much about [it] because I'm going through a lot with it and I'm processing it all," she said, also confirming that the investigation has been completed. Peacock initially released a statement to People in February 2023, confirming that an investigation was underway. "The safety and security of cast and crew while shooting is extremely important and we take all reports seriously. In this situation, production immediately launched a comprehensive review and is taking appropriate action," the statement read.

"Real Housewives" fans had been begging Caroline Manzo to return to the New Jersey series to face off with her former friend, Teresa Giudice. While we seemed to get one step closer with Manzo agreeing to join "Ultimate Girls Trip," we're now two steps back. With Manzo saying she will never return, fans will now be left with one question: "What if?" 

On "Two Ts in a Pod" with Tamra Judge and Teddi Mellencamp, Manzo admitted that she'd been asked numerous times to return to "RHONJ" after her departure. However, she said that the network would have to offer her "a number that was financially irresponsible to walk away from." With the severity of this alleged incident between her and Brandi Glanville, that number might not even matter.

The latest installment of "Real Housewives: Ultimate Girls Trip" also stars Vicki Gunvalson, Phaedra Parks, Gretchen Rossi, Eva Marcille, Camille Meyer, and Alex McCord. Season 4 has wrapped filming but a trailer has yet to be released, nor has Peacock announced a premiere date. We're all waiting for the season to air so we can put the pieces together and find out what really happened between Manzo and Glanville. And we can only hope that there's a reunion hosted by Andy Cohen to follow.