Why the Real Housewives of New Jersey Aren't Holding Anything in Their Intro

If you're a longstanding Bravo fan, a burning question may have been clawing away in the back of your brain for quite some time now. No, I don't mean "Why do they always book houses for cast trips without enough bedrooms?" or "Can we just skip the go-carting and go straight to the gossip?" The question I've been pondering is, "Why aren't the cast of The Real Housewives of New Jersey holding anything in their show intro?"

Fans of The Real Housewives are used to the infamous intro packages that air at the beginning of every episode and include the cast taglines for the season. The intro then usually ends with the cast in a line, with each holding some sort of object. This all started with The Real Housewives of Orange County in 2006, where the women all held oranges. As the franchises continued to roll out, the new women were each given items that (to some degree) represented their cities. New York City housewives were holding apples. Atlanta housewives were holding peaches. Beverly Hills housewives were holding diamonds. The now defunct Dallas women were given stars (for the Lone Star State), Salt Lake City got snowflakes (it's snowy there) and Dubai got stacks of gold (they're rich, duh!). Miami and Potomac went the alcohol route carrying mojitos and champagne, respectively.

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However, during this whole time the women in The Real Housewives of New Jersey, which launched in 2009, haven't been holding a darn thing. Instead, they just stand there awkwardly with their hands on their hips, the only franchise (aside from the one-season wonder D.C.) to come empty-handed.

Why aren't the RHONJ women carrying anything? There seem to be plenty of great options. A wine glass? A pizza? A tomato? A strand of hair extensions you yanked off someone else's head?

Related: The 10 Biggest, Wildest Fights from 'The Real Housewives of New Jersey'

So why exactly aren't the RHONJ women holding anything in their hands? Parade sat down with Andy Cohen at an event promoting Fresca's line of alcoholic beverages Fresca Mixed and asked him why the women are empty-handed.

"We couldn't think of something for the New Jersey housewives to hold in Season 1," Cohen said. "They were gonna hold flowers, and they probably should have because New Jersey's the Garden State. We thought about like horse heads or something mob related, but that seemed a little dark, so...here we are."

Having now gone 14 seasons without Teresa Giudice wielding a severed horse head, it seems unlikely that she'll start carrying one anytime soon, but that doesn't stop me from hoping this will one day come true.

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