Amber Marchese Confirms Lyme Disease Diagnosis

Amber Marchese has been diagnosed with Lyme Disease.

The former The Real Housewives of New Jersey star opened up about this illness and what it means for her in an interview with Entertainment Tonight.

A doctor informed Marchese of the news last week.

“About two weeks ago, I had flu-like symptoms which included a low grade fever, headache, aches, chills, join pain and awful neck pain,” Marchese told ET, adding by way of explanation:

“I posted my condition on social media and a friend suggested I get tested for Lyme disease.

“She shared with me her struggles with Lyme disease and we shared many of the same symptoms.”

Marchese is a 38-year old mother of two.

She is currently undergoing treatment for breast cancer.

In the Entertainment Tonight interview, the reality star said she requested the Lyme Disease test while at her oncologist’s office, during a round of chemotherapy… and the tests came back positive.

“I am very fortunate as I caught it so early that no treatment is necessary,” she added. “But we are going to monitor it.”

Marchese is the latest member of the Bravo family to have come down with this health issue.

The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Yolanda Hadid has been battling the disease for years, recently admitting that two of her children – Bella and Anwar Hadid – are also coping with the ailment.

We wish them the best and we also send our best wishes to Amber Marchese for a full recovery.

Brooks Ayers and Jim Marchese: Still Bitter, Planning Tells-Alls

“It’s a small universe for husbands who are abused by Bravo!”

Those are the words of a disgruntled Housewives husband who blames his storyline on “editing.”

Jim Marchese does not give a rootin’ tootin fig about what Andy Cohen and Co. think of his idea: A gathering of tell-alls from disgruntled former Housewives stars.

On November 10th, Amber Marchese confirmed to People Magazine that she and Jim wouldn’t be returning to The Real Housewives of New Jersey.

Brooks Ayers recently reached out to Jim about shopping a tell-all after admitting that he had faked cancer treatment documents.

“Basically he and I connected on Twitter,” Jim told Radar Online.  “He started retweeting some things, and we talked on the phone in the last two weeks.”

“He was interested in talking about ideas for a book.”

Prior to their Twitter meet-cute, the two men had never met.

“It was really the fist time we spoke,” Jim said. “It was more introducing each other because he doesn’t watch New Jersey and I don’t watch OC.”

Ayers joins a list of jilted househusband, one which I would love to see.

“It’s funny because he’s not the first one to reach out to me: But he’s the first one to make it public on Twitter,” Jim continued.

“To put it this way, pretty much every disgruntled Bravo husband or housewife has reached out, so I have struck quite a cord with the community because apparently not everyone drinks the Kool-Aid.”

Dahhhhh!

Amber Marchese: Leaving The Real Housewives of New Jersey

After just one season, Amber Marchese has decided not to return to The Real Housewives of New Jersey.

In a statement to People Magazine, Marchese gave her reasons for leaving the show, which she accuses of not allowing viewers to know the real her.

“Jim and I have been giving Real Housewives of New Jersey a lot of thought and given the current state of affairs regarding our personal lives and the direction of the show, we officially decided to move on,” the statement reads. “The show was not what we expected it to be, and I want to pursue more suitable endeavors.”

Marchese famously butted heads with twins Teresa Aprea and Nicole Napolitano.

“I was picked on a casting call while pursuing acting, and the person that was presented was created for the show,” she said.  “I had little control over content, situations, or what they decide to show the viewers.

“Even my relationship with the twins was created. I recruited them for my storyline after I was chosen,” she says. “I only met with Teresa Guidice and Dina Manzo for filming purposes. I never built a friendship with them as we were nothing more than co-workers. I wish them all well and the best of luck, although, my husband does not share my sentiments.”

Marchese documents her second battle against breast cancer as a blogger for People.

“I just want to thank everyone who has supported me and has shown nothing but kindness through my difficult times. It is a dream as an aspiring actress to get a lead role, but as with all careers, as one door closes, God willing, another one will open,” she says.

“For anyone following my story, I plan on continuing my blog. God bless to all!”

Radar Online reports that no one has signed a contract for season 7.  The only ones who are all but guaranteed to return are Melissa Gorga, Jacqueline Laurita and Teresa Giudice, who will be released from prison on December 23rd.

Remember Kim DePaola?  The chick who tried unsuccessfully to elbow her way into the cast?  She’s “been talking to the head producer” about returning.

According to Radar, “They want Kim on.”

So DiPaolo is the Kristin Cavallari of RHONJ.  Good for her.

Amber Marchese SLAMS Teresa Giudice Over Spin-Off

The Real Housewives of New Jersey’s Teresa Giudice might still be locked up, but her family is still the subject of Bravo’s newest spin-off, Real Housewives of New Jersey: Teresa Checks In.

Certainly, the Giudice family – who found fame and jail time through greed – are happy about the publicity.

But not everyone is supportive of the new spin-off the features Teresa’s family, including her three children.

Fellow NJ housewife Amber Marchese and her husband Jim Marchese opened up to Radar Online about the Giudice’s decision to feature the family on television while Teresa is in jail.

She claims the Giudices are “exchanging their kids’ mental health for a paycheck!”  And we have to agree.

Teresa’s children – Gia, 14, Milania, 9, Gabriella, 8, and Audriana, 3 – were the focal point on the show that Jim called “dark endorsement of criminal behavior and exploitation of children.”

Of course, it wouldn’t be drama without a volleying of insults.  Teresa isn’t there to fight back or flip tables, so Andy Cohen stepped in to augment the drama.

Cohen reminded Amber and Jim that they, too, put their children on television.

But Amber claims the situations are entirely different.

“I usually remain silent regarding all Real Housewives of New Jersey shenanigans, especially Andy and Bravo’s judgments of what makes ‘RHONJ‘ great, however he publicly criticized my decision to include my children on the show,” Amber stated.

She added, “They crossed a line and so now, they get my iron fist response!”

Amber reminded Andy Cohen that her children were only filmed during family gatherings: 

“Jim and I, as parents only had our children participate in family events, such as ginger bread house making, a fall harvest party, and a cute kid’s commercial for our family business.”

“We never had them in ‘adult situations’ or speaking about ‘adult issues.’” Like prison?” she snapped back.

“We have all had difficult times in our lives: Melissa and Joe [Gorga] moved into a rental for a while; Jackie and Chris [Laurita] spend thousands on care for their son; and Jim and I have had our challenges,” Amber empathized.  

But she reminded Cohen, “We are not having our children eat of off ‘Gucci plates,’ nor are we living in a home that the mortgage is unpaid.”

Not only did Amber slam the Giudice’s lavish and fraudulent lifestyle, she claimed Teresa and husband Joe Giudice aren’t invested in the interest of their own children.

“One of the things about Melissa, Jackie and I remains constant: we focus on our children and their best interests,” she said. 

“The same cannot be said for Teresa and Joe G. They are literally exchanging their children’s mental health for a pay check!”

Not only did she bash Teresa calling her a sh*tty mother, she also called her a sh*tty friend: “Melissa and I have been friends for about 15 years and Jacqueline and I for a year and a half or so. I have first hand witnessed how Teresa has treated her friends and family.”

She continued, “Teresa used me, pretending to be my friend, but all the while she was setting me up to take the brunt of the Victoria Ghotti scandal!”

“It was no accident that Teresa picked me to go with her to hear that disgusting rumor about the twins, and it also was not a coincident that Tre was not in Florida when it came out.”

Amber took a beating on her first season of the show.  But now she is ready to stand up for herself.

“I have remained silent on this subject for so long because karma seemed to be taking a life on its own for all of the awful things she has done to people,” Amber said. 

“She is sitting in jail. But the truth of the matter is, she went to great lengths to humiliate the twins and their families; she has been cruel to Melissa, and she has been cruel to Jacqueline. That is the absolute reality of this all.”

“I always say, you cannot always tell who the anchor truly is in a family or group of friends, until they are gone,” she concluded. 

“It is no coincidence, there has been no drama in the last eight months [of Teresa’s prison stint] and all of us are still friends!”

It’s also probably not a coincidence that this drama is emerging in the final months before filming for Season 7 begins.

The Real Housewives of New Jersey is slated to begin filming after Teresa is released from prison next month.  And the cameras can’t roll without the drama.