Summary

In an exclusive interview with Collier, Alexa Fraser recalls how Caroline Manzo warned her not to join RHORI due to the drama and manipulation involved.

Producers persistently pursued Alexa for the show, even after multiple rejections.

Alexa was hesitant due to the questionable authenticity and casting choices for the show.

Alexa Fraser may be married to celebrity psychic Matt Fraser, but it didn’t take a sixth sense to know The Real Housewives of Rhode Island wasn’t for her. In an exclusive interview with Collider, Alexa reveals that producers approached her multiple times to join the upcoming franchise, but she turned them down each time. Her decision was ultimately cemented after speaking with Caroline Manzo from The Real Housewives of New Jersey, who told her to avoid being on the series.
“We’re good friends with Caroline Manzo, and we align a lot with her and her values,” Alexa tells Collider. “She’s very family-oriented and a great person and part of the OG Housewives. They were sold something different, no one knew what Housewives were at that point, so she probably didn’t know what she was getting into. But I will say I was on a two-hour conversation with her the day before meeting with the president [of the network].”
Caroline Manzo Advised Alexa Fraser to Avoid ‘RHORI’

“You will blow up your life.”

Even though her gut told her to pass on RHORI, and she’d already told numerous casting agents she wasn’t interested, she wanted advice from Caroline. “She blatantly said, ‘Do not do it,'” Alexa recalls. “You will blow up your life. These shows are not good. And she was telling us the ins and the outs, and how producers cut and slice and make her react to things that she didn’t want to react to.” Alexa adds that Caroline also told her production will do anything they could to produce drama. Collider contacted Bravo about potentially casting Alexa on RHORI, and they had no comment.
Alexa also questioned the authenticity of how the show will be portrayed, sharing that the cast names that they floated while courting her for the show weren’t her friends. “I truly do not know who the cast is, but I know of some [of them] just because it’s Rhode Island, but no, I do not know anybody personally, but one is like 55 years old, and I’m 26!” Alexa exclaims. “They were begging me to go to lunch with these girls. ‘Can you just meet them so you form a relationship?’ I said no. I’m not going to fake it, it’s just not me. Maybe these girls can do that and be fine with it, but that is not me.”
‘The Real Housewives of Rhode Island’ Producers Asked Alexa Fraser To Join the Show Many Times

RHORI producers asked Alexa to join the show several months ago, which culminated with a meeting with the president of the network, she says. She was fully aware the series was being cast because she saw casting call memes in her social media algorithm but never gave them much thought – until producers started calling her. She initially received an email and a social media direct message about the show that didn’t specify it was a new Housewives series. Alexa knew she wasn’t interested, so she didn’t pursue the messages.

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However, Alexa couldn’t ignore the outreach once a producer texted her around the holidays. At this point, she describes the message as “practically begging” her to respond to them about this show. This was the third time she’d been contacted and husband Matt advised her to simply hear what producers had to say. “I jump on the phone and they basically sell me as it’s a Rhode Island Italian family reality show of aspirational families in Rhode Island and we think you’ll be perfect for it. So I’m like, ‘To be honest with you, Matt and I have a lot going on and I’m really not interested in doing something like this at the moment.'” At the time, Alexa was in her second pregnancy and was caring for their toddler son.
While she made it clear that she wasn’t interested, Alexa agreed to meet with a casting director, which is when she was clued into the show being a Housewives iteration. “I’m on the phone with this casting director, and now they’re kind of selling me a different show. Now it’s about women in Rhode Island and Italian women and families. Now [the casting director was] kind of like throwing out some names, and I’m like, ‘Oh, I don’t think I fit with that.'”
‘Bravo Loved You’ Producers Told Alexa Fraser

Alexa was familiar with one of the potential cast members, but producers wanted them to appear much closer than they really were. “These names that you’re throwing out, they’re whack jobs in Rhode Island,” she says. “They don’t have good reputations. They’re nutty, they’re like who was getting arrested, who’s having affairs with their employees.” She told the casting agent she wasn’t a fit because she’s in a loving, committed marriage and her priority is her family. Alexa said: “I do not want to be a part of something that’s going to be drama, that’s going to be crazy. And actually what I ended up saying at the time, I said, ‘This sounds like Housewives.’ And they couldn’t confirm or deny it at that time.”
At this point, producers weren’t giving up on Alexa even though she exhaustively turned down being on the show. Shortly after she guessed it was a Housewives show, producers insisted that “Bravo loved you” and again arranged another meeting with her. “I do the second interview and I think they even wanted Matt for the second interview,” she recalls. “Now they’re being blatantly honest, but now there’s starting to throw NDAs [nondisclosure agreements]. ‘We really need you guys to sign this contract.'” Again, Alexa put the brakes on the meeting, reminding producers they reached out to her and she wasn’t signing anything.
The president of the network wanted to meet with her, which is when she consulted with Caroline. “Oh my God, I will tell you I have never been pursued so aggressively, not even by a man, not even Matt,” Alexa says. “I mean, to show up to my home, like they were basically willing to do anything. Even the president even told me, ‘If you get a lobotomy by tomorrow, and if you come back to us, you always have a spot, we will accept you.'”
No date has been announced for when The Real Housewives of Rhode Island will premiere.