You know, for being such an important guy who has so many important jobs, Jim Marchese sure has a lot of free time to gossip about Real Housewives of New Jersey. Do not even get me started on his Twitter activity. Oy. Most recently, Jim chatted with AfterBuzz TV about all the drama, his friendship with Bobby Ciasulli, the casting process, and more. And he did not hold back!
When asked if Real Housewives of New Jersey was the first reality TV experience for him and his wife, Amber Marchese, Jim said, “My first. Amber actually appeared on Restaurant Stakeout. But this is my first exposure to the wonderful world of reality TV.”
“Amber was contacted in February,” continued Jim. “They didn’t really tell us the name of the show at the time or any of the details. We ended up coming on board March/April of 2013. It was exciting for her and a real nice opportunity for me. My role was going to be very limited – just around my wife, around my children, and to help my friend at the time Bobby.”
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How does Jim feel about his edit? “I’d really like to thank all the producers because they portrayed me as such a kind, sweet, loving, gentle person. I’m sure everyone’s seen the sweetest side of me and all the sweet things we do as a family.” He’s obviously being a smart ass. And he thinks he’s funny.
“In all seriousness, it has been pretty ridiculous,” continued Jim in the interview. “We filmed starting in late November and all the way through February. I’ve just basically seen the choice snippets they’ve used throughout the first four – or actually six – scenes and it’s been a little difficult to watch honestly. I know what really transpired in those situations and I’m very fully aware of what was going on, what didn’t go on, and what the backdrop was. I understand what they’re doing. I’m going to be the villain this year and I’m okay with that. I just wish the people watching the show would understand that that’s my job. I’m the villain this year. It doesn’t mean I’m really an evil person. They could give me a little bit of a break. I’m just trying to have a little fun and trying to keep them entertained.”
Does Jim blame “bad edit” like every other reality TV star? “I would never put myself in these situations. I had spoken to Bobby about three hours before the [first responder’s] party and he assured me nothing was going to happen and he assured me everyone was in good spirits. If I had an inkling that there was going to be an issue, we wouldn’t have shown up.”
“I’m not going to say I blame editing or I don’t blame editing,” continued Jim. “They have to compress a lot of activity into a very short time period. The producers don’t have the ability to show you all of the backdrop, all of what occurred, so it’s really hard to say. I think that there’s a lot of people out there who understand the idea that my wife’s hair was just pulled out – I was pretty angry. And I think they can appreciate the fact that if I didn’t want to go bowling with a bunch of complete strangers, that’s not an unusual thing.”
Jim went on to complain about things which were NOT shown from the party. “The home audience didn’t see Joe Gorga swinging his finger in my face and calling me names and calling me an asshole and a jerkoff. They cut all that out. Then they just had Rino come over and it looked like I just started with Joe. I can understand why it would look bad. That I had an issue with, and quite frankly, I called production and I yelled at them. I said, ‘You know, that’s not what transpired. It’s not appropriate.'”
“All I kept thinking is, ‘Am I going to allow my four children to see me act like a complete animal on TV like the Joes did at a christening?’ No. I was never going to let that happen, so I got frustrated,” explained Jim. “I kept saying, ‘You don’t want to go there, Joe. It’s the United States Attorney office, the same guys in Newark who are prosecuting your brother in law…’ He kept saying, ‘What’s an ass? What’s a USA?” He was very difficult … And that’s when I yelled in his face. I actually thought it was kind of funny but people didn’t get my sense of humor. That I was done. That he couldn’t understand the concept that if same people who prosecute Joe and Teresa Giudice work with me on cases, it’s probably not a good idea for us to be hanging out, bowling.”
How would Jim describe his Real Housewives of New Jersey experience? “The whole experience has been really bizarre for me. I never wanted to be an actor. I never wanted to be famous. I don’t really care much for the limelight. I enjoy private time with my family so it’s been kind of weird.”
“It’s not been a windfall of money I can assure you. Like any business, you lose money the first year. So it’s not been something financially prudent. If anyone wants to be on reality TV, it’s not there to make you money I can tell you that,” continued Jim. “But for the kids, it’s been great. For Amber, it’s a dream of hers. And I think that is the most wonderful thing I can do. For me, it’s been pretty much a nightmare. I never wanted to be a part of it. I was only supposed to film with her and Bobby a couple scenes. I got sucked in. Once I got sucked in and they painted me the villain, so be it. I can be a villain. I’m okay with that.”
Speaking of Bobby, Jim dissed his ex-friend left and right. “What most people don’t know is, Bobby‘s really not a fireman. He’s not a blue collar guy. Bobby’s worth half a billion dollars. Bobby’s family owns the largest auto group in the state of New Jersey. He’s a volunteer fireman. He joined the department a month or two before we started filming because he wanted to have an on-camera persona. He’s a good guy in a lot of respects but he wanted to be famous and he was willing to sacrifice myself and my wife to do it. There are hard feelings and I won’t forgive him for what he did.”
“I don’t know if you know this and everyone jokes with my wife and says, ‘oh, it’s the cancer card,’ but my wife had seven surgeries – complete reconstruction of her back and her chest,” shared Jim. “Bobby knew full well that physical confrontation such as the one that occurred in his home… for you and I, we could get a bruise. For her, she could have ripped some of the reconstruction. That’s a serious situation. It’s taken a lot of time to rehab to get her back to where she’s strong and healthy. The fact that he would put her in that situation for five minutes of fame, it doesn’t make sense to me. I don’t understand priorities like that. He’s wealthy. He’s so wealthy it’s not funny. All he wanted to be was famous. I mean, he could have brought Bravo if he wanted to and filmed himself, he didn’t have to sacrifice my wife and I.”
Jim went on to say that Bobby and Nicole Napolitano only met during the casting process! “Bobby met Nicole at our casting call. He didn’t know her beforehand – that’s a complete lie. They met literally at the casting call. He actually sought them out because we knew of them from around town and we needed additional people to bring on the show. Amber was contacted because of her relationship with Melissa. She was actually contacted by a casting company and then once they found out about her relationship with Melissa, they were pushing her forward.”
According to Jim, producers still needed more women for the show at this point. “They wanted someone who was over the top. Friends of ours from town said, ‘Well there’s these twins. They’re really outspoken, they’re crazy.’ Bobby said, ‘I can find them. They’re always at the Dunkin’ Donuts where I hang out.’ He literally went to the Dunkin’ Donuts, picked them up, and brought them back to his house. They signed contracts with us and we ended up submitting them and he ended up dating Nicole because of it.”
“So they all literally came through Amber and I,” added Jim. “Bobby wanted a very big role. We were going to bring him on just as our friend, and he was like, ‘I don’t want to be your friend. I want more of a role.’ Here’s a little exclusive for you: he had carnal relations with several of the young ladies who we submitted for the show. Nicole was, like, third in line at that point. It was an ongoing joke, because I was like, ‘Bobby, you can’t sleep with every girl we submit.’ It was kind of an ironic thing. He wanted to be on the show so bad, whoever looked like they were going to be next, that’s who he started dating. Nicole got picked up, so, love at first sight I guess.”
Does Jim believe Rino slept with Santa? “First off, someone’s saying I told Victoria Gotti this. I don’t know Victoria Gotti – never met her, never talked to her. I was as shocked as everyone else was. I found out that night when my wife came home from Victoria’s house. At first we really thought that they were playing with us. Honestly. I was like, ‘This is just too over the top.’ After doing a little digging, I’m sad to say I feel it is true.”
“Viewers will see later on in the season, there’s a little confrontation coming with myself and the twins and their reaction told me all I needed to know,” said Jim. “Also, there are a lot of people from Brooklyn in our area and apparently Rino tells everybody everything from the Russian stripper pushing his kids on the swing to the relationship with Santa. He was blunt about it. If you would ask me, I’d say 90% I believe it’s true based upon everything I’ve heard and based on what Rino’s told me and based on what Bobby’s told me.”
Jim said he hasn’t talk to Rino or Bobby since the “bogus” first responder’s party. “It was a pure set up. It was an unadulterated set up to have my wife assaulted and to have me picked on. If you watch closely, Dina Manzo‘s laughing in the background as my wife is having her hair pulled out. If you watch closely, Joe Gorga gives Bobby the signal and says, ‘Let’s go upstairs and tour the house.’ But yet they’re in the kitchen, so they never really toured the house. When I come up the stairs, Bobby says, ‘It happened already.’ I played that back about five times. And the look on his face already suggested he knew what was happening. It was clearly a set up. We weren’t there five minutes. We didn’t even have one drink. It was so clear that’s what they were gunning for. It’s a shame. I think it actually hurt the show because they never actually got to see any of us be friends.”
Is there anything else Jim would like to add? “I’d like everyone to know that I do not clean aquatic animal vaginas, so please keep those tweets to a minimum.”
Speaking of Twitter, Jim is not a fan. “I don’t think someone should anonymously be able to insult you. If they want to say it and give their name, I’m okay with that. But, if they want to sit behind a fake name and address and say nasty things, I’m not a big fan of that. I joined only because my wife was catching so much heat. They were being so cruel and abusive. Amber had nothing to do with what I said, yet people were being disgusting to her. I purposely went on and went at people pretty hard. I have no problem explaining my position. If they insult me, I’m going to insult them back and block them. I honestly don’t care. If you’re not going to be adult enough to have a conversation, then I’m going to treat you as you treat me. Beware if you come.”
“I really wish everyone would understand that for me this is a show,” concluded Jim. “It is reality TV, but it’s not my reality. My reality is my wife and my children and being a father is the thing that matters to me most. And being a husband. If you see me being flippant or see me being a little rough on it or even what people may consider to be a prick, it’s a role.”
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Photo Credit: Bravo
