Latest ‘Real Housewives of New Jersey’ episode filmed in Norwalk
Fans of the “Real Housewives of New Jersey” may have noticed some familiar sites in the episode that aired on April 21 called “Sinking Ships.”
The cast took a trip out to Norwalk on Sept. 23 for a joy ride on the yacht belonging to Emily Liebert, the ghost writer for “housewives” Teresa Giudice and Margaret Josephs.
Liebert, a Westport resident and bestselling author, and her family, have a yacht called The Frivolous at the Norwalk Cove Marina. (And she seems to have multiple “housewives” connections as she recently posted a photo on Instagram with “Real Housewife of Orange County” Braunwyn Windham Burke.)
Aboard the boat, the women enjoyed catering from Norwalk’s Knot Norm’s. Jay LeBlanc, owner of the eatery, said Liebert is a fan of his lobster rolls and asked the restaurant to put together platters of lobster rolls, fried chicken rolls and charcuterie. LeBlanc delivered the food to the yacht and was filmed, but his shots did not make the cut.
“But the food did, so that’s all that matters,” he said. “It was awesome though when they called and were like, ‘Would you like to cook for the Jersey Housewives?’ Everyone was really nice and the ladies enjoyed the food.”
Viewers may have also have spotted — however briefly — a glimpse of Jason Trimbach of Norwalk Island Charters LLC. Trimbach was contacted by Bravo to charter a small boat and Trimbach’s captain services to trail alongside the yacht and get footage of the housewives. However, Trimbach said the footage did not end up making the cut, and in the episode, Trimbach and the crew boat are passed off as a few guys waving at the women rather than the film crew.
“They changed the narrative,” said Trimbach, to “’Who are those guys waving at us?’ They turned it into a bit for the show.”
With the Bravo film crew on board, Trimbach had to be in constant communication with the captain of The Frivolous to safely get close to the yacht. He said they would do four or five different takes to get different shots and angles.
“I know the captain of the boat of the yacht that was being driven and the owner of the boat (Liebert’s husband) was in another boat nearby, and so we were just kind of all out there to monitor and keep other boats away so [the yacht] didn’t get rocked too much,” he said.
LeBlanc was in the kitchen working when the episode aired last night but said friends kept sending him screenshots and video clips. Trimbach watched and said his wife was more excited than he was and kept pausing to get a better glimpse.
“It was fun. I had a good time doing it,” said Trimbach. “I enjoyed the experience of filming a TV show from my boat and having a bunch of housewives waving at me.”