April 26, 2021 • 49 mins
Wells is taking on some big Andy Cohen energy for this Housewives edition of the WellsCast. Jennifer Aydin from Real Housewives of New Jersey is here!
Find out some hidden secrets that never made the show. Jennifer reveals the rocky transition from Housewives fan to cast member.
And find out why Jennifer is the “Queen of Thrones”.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
What's going on? How's everybody, dude? It's got back from
a run and I run with Caral my bloodhound. We
got back and our other dog, or Sarah's dog, Boo
kind of princess out from the kitchen, and that little
stinker got in the trash. I'll tell you that story
(00:20):
and tell you a different story because maybe like a
week ago, you might have seen it on my Instagram
or on my TikTok. Was about a week ago. I
come home and I go into the kitchen and Carl
is nose deep in the trash. It's everywhere in the kitchen,
all right, so much trash strewn about. So Carl gets
(00:41):
into a lot of trouble. Okay, he gets yelled at,
he gets sent to his little kennel, gets reprimanded. I'm
sitting there thinking, oh my god, Boo is such a
good girl. She knew that what he was doing was wrong.
She has gone upstairs and she stayed out of the trouble.
And I was the night before that, I had been
cooking fish and so I had floured the fish and
(01:04):
pants here and everything. So there's a bunch of flour
in the trash. So I get a treat to go
upstairs to give the boot because she was such a
good girl. And I go upstairs and what do I see?
Oh yeah, her snout is completely white, like she's been
hanging out with Charlie Sheen all night long. Little stinker,
she got in the trash. So when I got back
(01:25):
from run the day, which, by the way, I've now
been diligent about closing the trash drawer so the dogs
don't get in it. When I come back today, I'm
near thinking I think that Coral was a Patsy. He
was a fall guy because boost somehow figured out how
to open up the drawer and get the trash owl.
(01:46):
It's called and do it this time, And we were
prancing down Ventura Boulevard. I don't know I'm telling that
story other than can't trust these dogs, you know what
I'm saying. All Right, let's uh, let's do the show.
This is the Wells Cast with Wells Adams and I
Heart Radio podcast. Yeah, welcome to the Wells Cast. Excited
(02:08):
for today's episode. I feel like Andy Cohen, you know,
anytime I get to do a housewife, I'm like, I'm
Andy Cohen, now taking your job, and we're going to
New Jersey. That's right. Today's episode stars one of my
favorite housewife, Jennifer Aiden, and she's going to dish out everything,
(02:29):
all the tea on her parents, having to bribe her
kids to do the show, how she met her husband.
She got dating tips for us. Oh yeah. Also, she's
got a new beauty pillow but she's slinging. She's one
of the realists of all the real housewives. This is
an episode you do not want to miss. Stick around
Jennifer Aiden right here on the Wells cast. Hello, Hello,
(03:06):
can you hear me? I can hear you? Can you
hear me? I can? They did it right? You did
it right? And you are I like this set up.
This is a badass set up. You look like a
queen on the throne right there. I am the Queen
of thrones. Well Adams, if you didn't know, then you
better ask somebody. The new Calisi now it resides in
(03:26):
New Jersey, apparently, you know what. I have a lot
of thrones in the house. And I don't know if
you watched my first season, but I went to China
to get furniture and my husband loves ornate regal furniture,
and I had a container to fill and they were
so great and the price going through so you know,
affordable compared to what we have here. And I was like,
(03:47):
just give me a ton of throne. And then it
became like a joke. Everybody was like, and you know,
my house was famous for having sixteen bathrooms, so I
talked about those being my thrones, so I'd laugh about it.
And now I just like somebody had tweeted me that
I was the queen of thrones, and I'm like, oh
my god, I love that. I'm gonna take that and
(04:08):
run with it. So here I am. You're the Oprah
of thrones. That's right, that's exactly what. Everybody gets a
throne in my house. We don't discriminate now, Jennifer Braden,
how are you doing. I'm doing great, Thank you. I'm
excited to be here. I've had a busy day. I
have a very busy day. Well that's okay. I made
(04:30):
time for you. Thank you. I won't keep you too long.
I mean, I guess, yes, you are the Queen of thrones,
but I guess you're also the queen of beauty pillows.
I am, I am this. My beauty pillow is a
non choking hazard. Which is a must in a beauty
pillow because there's others on the market that just have
a contraption against your neck. No, we don't want any
(04:52):
asshixiation happening. We want a nice, comfortable, cozy, snuggly beauty pillow.
And I have run right here. Pleasure asphyxiation has to
be consensual in the bed, I suppose. So you sent
me one of these ultimate beauty pillows and I absolutely
do appreciate it. But guess what, my fiance has already
stolen it, so that's hers. Now tell everyone how this
(05:16):
all came about. Well, I don't know if you know.
My husband is a plastic surgeon. One part of this
practice is also a medspot, so they do a lot
of facials. We do a lot of laser treatments, injectables
such as lip fillers, face fillers, and botox, and you know,
after care protocol one oh one is not to sleep
on your face when you get injectibles. It can move
the filler around. It could really leave you lopsided and
(05:38):
mangle looking. So you need to sleep off your face.
And it's very difficult for people who are not used
to sleeping on their backs. So I came up with
this concept to create a beauty pillow that you sleep
on top of your existing pillow. And what it does
is it's really so simple. It just cradles your neck
and it keeps your head and face elevated so that
(06:00):
your face is not touching the pillows. So even if
you were to sleep on your side, you still have
a great ample space so that your face is not
going to get all mushy throughout the night. And let's
say you get your lashes done, right. I'm sure you're
Beynestly gets her lashes done once in a while, and like,
let's say her eye makeup looks so great one day
and she kind of wants to keep it for the
next day. You sleep on this beauty pillow and those
(06:24):
lashes are going to stay in place all night. So
it's a must for your beauty regiment. I've been told
many a time by Sarah that she has to have
special pillows on the bed because of her eyelash extensions,
and then she saw this thing, so it's a match
made in heaven. That's why I came up with the
acronym l l B because it's lips, slashes, brows and
(06:47):
you can't see it with the glare, lip slashes, brows
and listen. This is like my first batch of ordered.
I think the next time, I'm definitely gonna put my
signature on it so that people can have a little
piece of me, which I know is their main goal
of course. So where do people grab the Ultimate Beauty
Pillow right now? The only place to get it is
through my husband's practice, Aidan Plastic Surgery. You can either
(07:09):
get it on their website or just call them up
and they'll ship one out to you. I'm working on
my website and we're going to relaunch it, you know,
hopefully by the summer. You could definitely go to my
Instagram which is jennifer Aiden. Just no um, underscores or
anything like that. Jennifer Aiden. Type it as it is
and then there's a link in my bio and you
(07:30):
could go to Shop jennifer Aiden. Also follow them and
as soon as it's available, the updates will be presented.
So follow Shop jennifer Aiden and you'll get to see
all the updates on when the pillow will be available.
So you got a sneak peek, well, I love it, Well,
I got a sneak peak for about seventeen seconds until
I under stend you another one because I don't want
(07:52):
you to get wrinkles. I know, and it's I'm on
the wrong side of thirty, Jennifer. I need to go
see your husband at ink. There you go. I mean, listen,
everything looks pretty good to me, but ask your fiance
whatever she wants. She's in a botox that out of
my face at some point. I know it's it's coming soon.
You grow together. You evolved together as a couple, so
(08:15):
I love it. Yes, we we grow together. We do
not age together. We stay the same age forever. Yes,
and make sure you get better with age instead of
you know, from, you don't want from. I know that
there's a limited number of them out there, but did
you send them to your cast mates? I gave it.
I gave it all to them off camera. Yes. I
(08:38):
actually gave it to them on camera this season as well,
but that clip got cut out. Yeah, you know, listen,
we got forty two minutes, and we got six women
that talk a lot and are very opinionated, so me
giving them my pillow may not have been at the
top of their list. That's okay, that's what you're for.
Are well. I'm a huge fan of all the Real Housewives,
(09:02):
to be honest with you, but you know the iteration
that you were on the New Jersey one, I feel
like gets the best one of all the Real Housewives.
Do you think that too? I mean, of course I'm biased.
I'm going to always say Jerseys number one in my eyes. Um,
but I I enjoy all of the franchises. Really. I
love Beverly Hills, I love Salt Lake City. That's a
(09:23):
new one that just came on the scene. You know,
love that very entertaining. Atlanta girls seem like they're bringing
it this year. So I really loved the whole franchise
as a whole. I've always been a fan like I was.
You know, I had five children, I don't know if
you know that, and all my children are two years apart.
So literally I was home, barefoot and pregnant watching the show, thinking,
(09:45):
oh my god, I could do that. People get paid
to do that. I do that every day. I've often wondered,
you know, as someone who is a part of one franchise,
are you ever like if I didn't live in New Jersey,
I would like to do I don't know the Atlanta
one or the Beverly Hills, Like have you ever thought
about that? Like, could you fit yourself in into like
another one of the shows. I would do Beverly Hills. Yeah,
(10:08):
that was My in laws live in California, so my
in laws have always since day one, wanted us to
move out to l A. So if we ever did
the l A thing, it would be Beverly Hills. The
show has been going since what two thousand nine, I believe,
so I only got on three years ago. This is
my third season, but we are in our season eleven
(10:29):
right now, so you know, come back eleven years and
if it's two thousand and nine, I trust you. You
jumped in in two thousand and eighteen. I imagine that's
a pretty daunting thing to do, to join a show
that's already successful with a lot of really big personalities.
Were you apprehensive to join in? I wasn't apprehensive to
(10:51):
join in, but it definitely was an interesting transition from
going as a viewer because aside from me having my favorites,
I all looked I looked up to all of these
women as characters on a show. So now I'm no
longer a viewer. I have to go in and I
am one of these women, so I have to have
(11:13):
enough guts to say my opinion rather than be super
nice just so that they like me. I'm not here
for them to like me. Hopefully we get along, of
course that's always the goal. But I'm also here to
say what comes uh, you know, what pops into my head,
and I do that very well, sometimes to my detriment.
It's an interesting transition, to say the least. But you know,
(11:36):
I was a little rocky at first, and then Teresa
gave me a lot of good tips and then it
was smooth sailing. And here I am season number three.
So I must be doing something right. You know. I've
done I think seven or eight reality TV shows, but
I live in a different space. It's just me that
has to kind of be on screen and be on
(11:57):
I don't have to involve my family or my friends,
and I think that that's something that would be tough
for me to come to terms with. One is like,
do I want to involve I don't have kids, but
if I did, do I want to involve my kids
or my spouse, or my parents or my siblings. What
is that conversation like for you? Before the show starts
(12:19):
because inevitably you being on also includes them being on. Well,
my husband wasn't a big fan, so if you watch
him my first season, you can actually tell his energy.
I mean, even though he doesn't say it, I know
his mannerisms and I know when he's uncomfortable. So he
wasn't a big fan. Only because there's a lot of
(12:41):
hate that comes with this platform as much as all
of the pros. You have to sit there and think
of the con So. But the thing is with me,
I've always lived my life pretty forthright, pretty candid. I'm
the type where if someone compliments my dress, I'll tell
them where I got it, how much I spent on it,
who to ask for? Tell them I sent you. That's
(13:03):
always been me. So if I'm always very truthful with
my life off camera, then why would it bother me
if I did it on camera? Um So, for me,
it was easy. M my husband, it took him a
while to get his feet with I think my children,
all of them were really too young to understand, um
(13:23):
the future about it because for them, you know, these kids,
they think it's cool to be on TV. And my
first season, they loved it. They loved filming of course,
like you know, now that it's my third season, now
it's a little bit more of a nuisance to them
also because they see how sometimes things could get spun
(13:44):
or um, you know, just maybe not shown in the
best light. So they're not liking it as much as
day one. My family, as far as my siblings, for
the most part, they're all very supportive. My parents were supportive,
um up until the season, because I did share, um,
something that's going on in my life that it's difficult
(14:06):
for my parents and they feel extremely embarrassed that this
is now on a TV show for everybody to say.
But see, I think that there's something that we can
learn from this. You know, it's not the end of
the world knowing that the person that you've been married
to for fifty years now you can't stand them. I mean,
they make sitcoms over this stuff. They don't sit here
(14:28):
and have panic attacks. You know. I think this is
normal growing pains. When you're in a relationship, you grow
together and sometimes you end up pickering all the time. Um.
For my parents, it got a little extreme, and I
thought the best thing for them was to just separate.
And the only way for me to do that was
to have my father come live with me, and then
the camera started rolling. I am on a show that
(14:51):
is about my reality, and I never knew that they
were going to even showcase that story. It's just that
the producers were filming my everyday life and was like,
what's your dad do in here every day? And I
was like, well, he lives with me now, so it's
like I can't hide him. That's not my style. I
don't like to hide anything because I'm not embarrassed about it.
We showcased it and my mom got pissed off. It's
(15:13):
not a unique story in our country. I think our
last president slept in a different room than his wife.
You know, like it's it's a pretty but but I
understand your parents didn't sign up to do a reality
television show. You did, so I can see how your
mother could be like, wait, hold on a second, I
don't know about this. Does your dad enjoy it? Because
(15:34):
he's much more in the focal point because well, he's
with you. My dad has been molded to become the
type of person that just doesn't complain. He doesn't complain,
he doesn't want confrontation. He's afraid that anything he says
is going to be rebutted or looked down upon or
found upon, because when him and my mother were always
(15:57):
in the same environment, every time my father would stay something,
my mom would say, oh, be quiet, John, or you
don't know what you're talking about, or shut up, and
these type of behaviors actually embarrassed my father. So because
my father is so used to it, he doesn't talk
at all. So I honestly don't even know what he thinks.
I have no idea, but he never complains, but yet
(16:18):
he never says anything that's really for it as well.
So with my dad, I really don't know how he thinks,
but I don't think he's happy about it, because sometimes
when I'm watching it on the screen and the scenes
come on where it's my parents, I noticed that he
walks out. So for him, it's tough. You know, they're
very old school. They're off the boat, they're from the
(16:39):
villages of Turkey on first generation here. They get it
that this is normal in America, but for them, it's
not normal. But it's almost like, what are you gonna do?
I'm not here to hide my life. I told my mom,
you should have been nicer to my dad, so I
didn't have to separate you, and then none of this
would have ever happened. They probably would have followed like
(16:59):
something going on with my children or something, because there's
always something going on with them. I mean, I have
five kids on a stay at home mom. I got
content that will keep you running all day every day.
Doesn't have to be my dad. Listen, I'm the youngest
of five, and we used to make a joke that, like,
our family would be the funniest reality TV show. So
(17:19):
I totally get it. Yeah, if you you would be
the funniest if you would be willing to do it
all on camera. And that's the key, very very true. Okay,
because my kids will sometimes start doing something and I
whip out the phone and then they stop. No, we
don't want it on your Instagram. We don't want I'm like,
are you kidding? In the TV? Gold Okay, you gotta
(17:42):
do this on camera. Don't be reserved. Just be yourselves.
Like when my husband was asking me, like, what do
you want me to say, I'm like, I want you
to say what you would say exactly you as you
would had the camera's not been there. So however you
do it, just just go it it, I trust you.
It's when they think of like what they think the
(18:04):
cameras want to see is I think when they get
in trouble. I've done enough reality where when people start
doing that, it seems so inauthentic. It seems like they're
acting or something. Immediately when that happens, the audience either
is like I don't like you because you're not being real,
or in the edit bay they'll cut it because they're like,
(18:24):
this isn't real at all. Like my first season, I
actually got a lot of criticism over the way that
my kids looked. They're like, you don't brush their hair.
They always look like they rolled out of bed. Listen,
my kids like elastic waste. They like T shirts and
elastic waste. The only time I dressed them up like
all fancy what they call it, is when we go
(18:46):
to church. When they wear something with a button or
button down or something poplin. That's when they complain. So
I'm not going to sit here and dress my kids
up for the camera because that's not my every day.
My every day my kids are in athletic shorts, tank tops,
t shirts, usually something that's Disney or some kind of anime,
(19:08):
kind of thing, you know, like, my kids are kids.
How they are every day is how you see them.
I don't sit here put bows in their hair anymore.
I tried to when they were younger, but once they
got old enough and they had their own voice, I
was like, you know what, let them be kids. Whatever
I look great. That's a lot of matters. Very true. Listen,
(19:28):
you're super candid about your life. You've talked about your parents,
Your brother's storyline was a big one. Getting work done
has been a big kind of storyline for you on
camera and on your social media. What has been the
hardest to kind of show the world? And two is
there anything that you wouldn't show the world? The thing
(19:49):
that I would say was the hardest showing the world
was probably my parents situation what's been going on right now,
only because I've gotten the most like heat from my parents,
really my mother from that. The repercussions of me showcasing
that on the show now has now caused a big
(20:12):
gap in my mother and I his relationships. So we're
not speaking right now and we haven't spoken since January.
And it actually wasn't It was funny because like once
the show wrapped, she had a lot of loose ends
in her house that she needed me. She needed my
help to tie up. And when I say help, I
don't mean financially, I mean just the logistics of connecting
(20:33):
her with people, making people go there, finishing the jobs
of her house, like putting up light fixtures, all these things.
So we had tied up a lot of those loose
ends once we had wrapped filming, which was great. My
mom had forgot about what she was mad at. We
were back to normal, hanging out all the time. And
then in January, the trailer had come out and she
(20:53):
was at my house where my dad lives, and she
was having one of her bickering fights with my dad,
you know, and she kind of she kind of goes
at him a lot, and like I said, he doesn't
like confrontation. He walks away, and she just kept going
at him, and of course, me that I can't keep
my mouth shut, walk in and I go, well, you
(21:13):
know what's going on? And she started complaining about something
that he did, and I said, you know what, well,
he doesn't live with you anymore, so you know, a
good thing. You don't have to worry about it. And
she just turned around and she was just like, well,
of course he doesn't live with me. This is all
your faults anyway, This is all you're doing. Like, if
he was with me, none of this would happen. And
I'm like, if he was with you, you would be
(21:35):
doing all of this to him there in that house,
and he would have nobody to protect him. So we
had a big, all out role. She's thinking that I
always side with him, but she doesn't see that I'm
just protecting whoever happens to be weaker in the confrontation.
And just coincidentally, lately, it's always been my dad on
(21:56):
the other end of the beating stick. And it's like,
I tell my mom, I would never or let you
stay with somebody who treated you that way, you know,
So why does it matter that it's a woman doing
it to a man. She's trying to tell me that
this is her marriage and this is how all married
couples are, and I get it, But there comes a
certain point where you just have to be like enough, Like,
(22:16):
my father is ten years older than my mom. I
don't know how much longer he's got to live. Can't
we just leave the rest of his years in peace
and harmony? Like, is it really that deep that you
you have to sit here and punish him and crucify him.
They didn't. He didn't buy you flowers twenty years ago.
I get it. It's terrible. You know, he sucks. I'm
not saying he's great, but right now, as a human being,
(22:39):
he is an elderly old man and he needs love
and affection, not somebody throwing in his face all the
things that he did wrong in all his life. I'm
sure he thinks about that every single night. We don't
need to rub salt into the wound, you know. So
like that's my thing. I'm always trying to protect the
weaker person always, and I'm always trying to stand up
(23:02):
for what I believe is right. I don't want to
diminish what my mom feels, because at the end of
the day, she does feel that my father emotionally abused
her throughout their marriage. And regardless if I believe it's
if it's true or not, which I don't, I can't
tell my mother that her feelings are not valid. See,
my husband's a doctor, and the one thing that he
(23:23):
always tells me that you can't argue with is people's feelings.
All I feel that you were mean to me. You
may not have been mean, but if that person says
that they feel that you were, you've got to acknowledge that,
and you've got to be like, Okay, I I may
not agree with it, but I understand now why you
are behaving this way. So I have to validate her
(23:46):
feelings because we all have feelings. Well, so make sure
you listen to your fiance when she tells you about
her feelings, because if she says that she feels a
certain way, no matter what you say, your point is moot.
I feel that you're doing the right thing, and I'll
tell you why. One. I think that time heals all wounds.
(24:07):
Um and too. I come from a very big family
that has a lot of big personalities, and I think
one of the flaws in my family is is that
we generally will sweep things under the rug or pretend
like that nothing's wrong, and that doesn't help anything. That
actually perpetuates and has lets the wound fester even longer.
(24:29):
So I think that what you're doing is the right thing,
even if people can't see that or appreciate it. So
just know that I think you're doing the right thing,
and that's really Jennifer, that's all that matters. If the
rest of you who don't agree with me, you can
go scratch um. I also listen, it's not easy to
(24:56):
show my life. It's not it's a gift. It's a gift.
Not a everybody can handle it. Not everybody can handle
the backlash, not everybody can handle the criticism. But I
do it. I do it because it's part of who
I am and I've always been that way. So I
don't turn it on for the cameras. The cameras get
me because I'm just always turned on. I don't know
(25:17):
what that means, but I like it. That means that
I'm always like, like, this is me, Like when you
see me off camera, you're gonna see me always on.
People are like, oh, like when they meet me, they'll
they'll say, you're just like you are on TV. And
I'm like, no, the TV catches me just as I am.
So that's the difference. I don't amp it up for
the cameras. I'm always kikiing up, I'm always high five
(25:41):
and with someone I'm always saying hey, it's not just
for the cameras, Like what you see is my everyday reality.
What are your thoughts on Jackie's husband. I think they're solid.
I think they have a solid relationship. I did not
believe that rumor one bit um, But I do believe
that if a rumor is out, I personally would like
(26:02):
to know. I agree he's a solid guy. They have
a solid relationship. Yeah, do you pay your kids for
being on screen? I don't pay them. I bribe them
with trips to target. They love trips to target. Like
when we were at Jackie's birthday party. Okay, so like, okay,
(26:23):
we'll bring Jackie's birthday party, and it was last season,
and everybody thought that I was like mad about the food, which,
of course, like I was, you know, I was just
surprised about the food. But really there was no activity.
The activity was playing basketball on a driveway. And my
boys are not athletic, their video game boys. So and
I take them to a birthday. Not to mention, I
(26:43):
brought my six year old who was wearing high heels,
so she was not expecting to play basketball. And we're
like filming, and my kids, obviously they were out within
two seconds because they're not athletic, and they're both on
the sidelines and they're coming to me and we're mikes
and they're mics and their life. This party is so boring,
there's nothing to do. We want to leave and I
(27:04):
have to film, right, So like we gotta stay here
for three more hours. And I'm just like, please, are
gonna embarrass me. They're already gonna say I spoil my children,
So play, just play the goddamn game. And they're like
in the corner and they're like, you better take us
to Target. I'm like, I promise, I promised after this,
if you just if you just stay and don't complain
and don't make me look like this person who constantly
(27:26):
spoils their children, I will take you to Target and
spoil you, guys. But when you're a parent, you'll see
you'll bribe them to You'll bribe them to eat veggies.
You'll bribe them to try something, You'll bribe them to
wear something. I mean, listen, a parents gotta do what
a parents gotta do. Don't talk a good game until
(27:47):
you have kids of your own. No, I applaud you. Actually,
I think it's uh, that's a thrifty bribe. I feel
like if my kids would be like, we're going to
Rodeo drive and I'm like, and you know what, I'll
also do or sometimes I'll tell them I'll do this
to them. I tricked them with this before. I'll be like,
you know what, if you just do what I want,
(28:07):
I'm gonna take you to the store and you can
each buy five things. And they look at us like
why do they look at me? And they're like, Mommy,
really we can buy five pinky promise. And now I
always stick with my word because if I don't, then
they're not going to trust me the next time I
say it. So what do I do? Pack them in
and we go to the dollar store and then they're like, mommy,
you tricked us, Like no, I did it five things.
(28:30):
Kids now go to town. Real House Lives in New
Jersey Wednesdays on Bravo. And don't forget the Ultimate beauty pillow,
The l LB Lips, lashes and Brows is available now.
Eate im plastic Surgery right now. Website is coming. We're
gonna say a quick break and we come back. We're
(28:51):
gonna pivot over to my portion of the show. I
don't know if anyone told you, but I like origin stories.
I like finding out how where people came from. And
how the hell they got to where they are and
became so successful. So when we come back, are you
down to shine a little light as to what the
hell you were doing before you joined Real Housewives of
(29:12):
New Jersey? Sure can. I don't know how interesting it's
gonna be, but I'll try to dig around. We're right
back with Jennifer Aiden of Real Housewives of New Jersey.
(29:33):
Welcome back to the Wells Cast. Very excited to have
Jennifer Aiden from Real Housewives of New Jersey on this show.
Don't miss it Wednesday's on Bravo, and don't forget she
has a new beauty product that you need to have
in your bed, the Ultimate Beauty Pillow the LLLB lips,
(29:53):
lashes and brows. Jennifer. Where can people find it if
they want to go pick it up right now? It's
available only through aid and six Surgery, but you can
follow our Instagram at Shop Jennifer Aiden to get all
the latest updates on when the website will be available.
I'm fascinated to find out your origin story, because you
know we touched on it leading up to this portion
(30:16):
of the show that you are effectively a first generation
uh Turkish woman. Um So let's go back to the beginning.
Where did you come from? Where were you born? So
I was born in Queens, New York, and when I
was two years old is when we moved to Long Island,
(30:37):
which is where I grew up, and I have I'm
one of four were two boys, two girls. My dad
came here from Turkey with nothing but a craft. He
was a jeweler and he was easily sponsored because he
made jewelry so well. And the only thing, probably the
only problem with that is that he worked a lot.
(30:58):
So sometime when I was growing up, my mom found
a cute little um jewelry exchange on Long Island and
we got a jewelry store. And that was our first
retail space ever that my mom actually opened for our family.
It was only opened four days a week, and we
grew up having to work at the jewelry store. That's
what we had to do. And it's funny because once
(31:20):
I was like thirteen fourteen, I wanted to start getting paid,
but my father would always be like, I don't charge
you to live in my house, why are you going
to charge me to work in my store? So he
wouldn't pay me, So I still had no money. And
then all my friends were like, oh, you have an
in ground pool, you have a nice colonial house, your
father has in Mercedes, but you never have any money.
(31:42):
And I was like, my parents have money, it's me
that's broke, like my dad us see. And then once
I got to high school, he gave me twenty dollars
a week for lunch. And that should be okay because
that's usually like two bucks a day. But you know,
if we went out to lunch with some seniors on
Monday Tuesday, by Wednesday, I didn't have any money, and
I would go to my dad and I'd be like, Daddy,
I spent all my twenty dollars and he'd be like,
(32:02):
that's not my problem. So I would like go to
school and and and be hungry. And so I was
a grub. I was a school grub. Yes, if you
remember me getting off the line, thank you have any change?
Do you have any change? Do any change? That was me, Yes,
that was me, do you have any change? And until
I grubbed enough money for a lunch, i'd get that
school lunch. So I've always had somewhat of a hustle
(32:25):
in me. Um. You know, my first Halloween that I
ever experienced in America. Was very traumatizing because my mom
spent me, sent me to school with no costume, and
nobody everyone had to walk in the parade parade with
a buddy, but nobody wanted to be my buddy because
I didn't have a costume. And I was crying because
(32:46):
I didn't have a costume. And even though I didn't
understand what this holiday was. And then my teacher made
me a pumpkin with with two pieces of orange oak
tag paper and she made me a green little hat,
and I was a pumpkin, folks. I was very proud
of that pumpkin. Yes, I was happy that I finally
had a costume in the end, even though it was handmade.
(33:07):
And then I, you know, when I got married to
my husband, he's also from the same community, so we're
from Turkey, but I'm actually Syrian Orthodox. It's confusing because
it's the culture as well as a religion, and um,
he's from the same church. Technically, my mom was trying
to marry me off. She was trying to like get
guys to ask me to marry them, and they would
(33:27):
come to the house. I would sit there prim and proper.
I would serve coffee, smile, and then they would leave
and my mom would be like, so, what do you
think And I'd be like, oh, no, I can't. I
can't even do that for the rest of my life.
You know, that's a long time. And my mom would
sit there and she'd be like, what do you want?
You want the club guy, club guy? No, I didn't
(33:49):
want a club guy because the club guy was not
going to treat me the way that I needed to
be treated. And when I met my husband, you know,
he was going to school for medicine, so he was
not by any means anything that he is now. But gosh,
he was so hot. He was so hot when I
met him, Like at that point, after I found out
it was adopted, the doctor was just like an added
luxury because he had all the key finds that my
(34:11):
mom always wanted. My mom always wanted somebody that was tall.
It doesn't matter how attractive you are in my culture.
But if you're tall, if you're so tall, did you
see Yeah, he looks like killer clowns from out of space,
but he's tall. Yeah, that's a no. That's a hard
note for me. So when I met my husband at
a wedding and I saw him. I was just so
happy that there was actually a good looking one that
(34:34):
I was attracted to that I was like, oh my god,
he's the one that I want. And then when I
found out he was a doctor training to be like
that just made it all better. But that wasn't even
the initial concept. It was really just pure physical attraction.
No shame in my game. Yeah, I had to be
attracted to the person if I'm going to be married
to him, don't you think ye. My husband and I met,
(34:58):
we got engaged right away. I met him Sunday before
Labor Day. I got married Sunday before Labor Day one
year to the day, I had six hundred people at
my wedding, and my wedding in our culture, the man
pays for the wedding, just so you know, girls, so
get your Syrian Orthodox men ladies here me we're are
(35:18):
the man case for the wedding. Six hundred people I
had um at the West Mountain Country Club. It was
like a fairytale wedding. I got everything I wanted. And
I'm always about manifesting. I'm always about positive energy. And
even when my husband was finished with his residency, we
lived in Michigan. I lived in Michigan when it's where
he did his fellowship for two years. And when we
(35:41):
were done, it was like, where are we going to go?
East coast? West coast because his family's West coast and
my parents were East coast, and I just thought that
my Syrian Orthodox community is very strong in New Jersey.
So I really wanted my kids to grow up in
the culture. So I was like, I want to move
to Jersey. And you know, Bill would always look at me.
He'd be like, listen, just so you know, we're not
(36:03):
going to be like that rich you know, because at
the time he was doing general surgery and he's like,
you know, And I said, I was like, listen, anything
that you tell me, it's going to go in this
year and out the other. I said, because I believe
in you. I told my husband, and all the things
that you think you're not going to accomplish, I know
you're already there. So it's okay. You could tell me
(36:23):
that we're not going to get it like that, We're
not going to have it like that. That's okay. You
believe that, and I'll believe what I believe. And hence
here we are now in the taj Mahala Paramus Queen
of Thrones and five children. Not too savvy? Was it
love at first sight? How did that meeting at that
wedding go? It's funny because like that wedding, it was
(36:44):
his brother's wedding and he was the best man at
that wedding and it was in California, and my parents
trecked me all the way to California for this wedding
because there was another guy who was asking for my
hand and he was calling me all the time, and
my mother said that he owned like five gas stations
(37:04):
and was like this big jeweler. And I didn't even
care because I wasn't attracted to him at all. It's
very very sweet, Um, just not my type. And I
went to this wedding anyway because I had a girlfriend
who lived out in l a. And my girlfriend was like,
remember I'm broke at this point. My my girlfriend was like,
if your parents are willing to pay for your trips
to come to Cali, just come and we'll hang out.
(37:26):
So I was like, oh, but they want me to
marry this guy and there's just no way I can
even kiss him, Like no, whay? I don't care all
the money in the world. I can't. I just can't.
I'm not one of those girls. I went to this
wedding and when I saw my husband, I was like,
oh my god. My aunt was next to me, and
my aunt like shrugged me. She's like shrugging my shoulders, like,
(37:47):
oh my god, you want handsome. He's handsome. And my
mother turned around. I remember my mother turned around and
she goes, forget it. That village they only married cousins.
And I turned around. I was like, did I stay
one gonna mary him? I didn't even stay wanted to
marry him. I mean, he has to want to marry me.
I don't go to anybody because, like I was like,
all up in my head back then, we've seen nothing
(38:08):
has change. Um. And then he asked my brother. He
welcomed my brother right because they knew each other from
the jewelry business. He said, welcome, thank you for coming
to l A. He said hello to me. I was
trying to be charming, but like nonchalant, because you know,
you can't seem too thirsty. Well, if that's a huge
(38:28):
turn off to a good looking guy when a pretty
girl looks thirsty. Now, he's got to come to me,
so you gotta like hang the bait just a little
enough for him to come. And then I pulled away.
And that's what I did. I played this little cat
and mouse game with him all night. And then the
very next day, the guy who wanted to marry me,
he was calling my brother wanting to take us out
(38:49):
to dinner that night, and my brother's like, he keeps
blowing up my phone. What should I do? I was like,
don't answer, tell him, tell him I I had to leave,
tell him no, like make up some excuse. And and
he was like, oh, well, that guy Bill called and
they're going to the cheesecake factory in Glendale. Would you
want to do that? I was like, I'll do that's
just I just need some time to get ready. Give
(39:11):
me like two hours. So I guess gold decked out
old deck Dad. And I'm like thinking in my head
as we're driving to the cheesecake factory in Glendale, I'm thinking, no, Pasadena, sorry,
Pasadena Atlas And I'm thinking like, can I live in
l A? Because you know, when you met you have
to move to where the guy is in our culture?
(39:33):
Can I live in l A? Could I really live here.
I'm like, I could live here. What's wrong with living here?
And it's so funny because the guy who wanted to
marry me, who lived in l A. I told my
mom up and down, there's no way I'm moving to
l A. There's no way I'm going to live there.
And meanwhile, all of a sudden, it's the hot doctor
from the wedding and maybe I can live here. So
when we got there, you know again I didn't know.
(39:55):
I didn't know is he interested? Is he not interested?
I gotta play it cool. And then as we were leaving,
he whispered in my ear, oh no, wait. Before when
we were on our way, when our way we got
lost and my husband my brother was like, can you
call his number from my phone? And I saw that
his number was nine one seven, which is a New
York City area code. So I said, why is his
number nine one seven? And he's like, Jim, you didn't
(40:17):
know he's a doctor at St. Vincent's. I was like, yes, yes, honey,
this is the one. I cannot let this one go.
So at the end of the night, he whispered in
my ear, call me when you get back to New
York and we can go out, and I was like,
(40:38):
you know, kind of just nodded yes, and then I'm like,
now I have to call him. I don't call guys.
Guys have to call me. What am I gonna do?
So as soon as we got to New York, I
start six seven my number, which, for those of you
who don't know, that will block your number. So I
blocked my number so you couldn't see because I knew
he wouldn't answer. I left a message with my number
(41:02):
and then the rest there you know how it goes rove.
Once he had my number, he had to come to me,
and you know what, it worked. It worked. We were
on the phone for seven weeks before he asked me
out on a date. There was at one point that
I even thought he was gay, because I was like,
what the has taken him so long to ask me out? Like,
(41:23):
but I knew that he couldn't ask me out without
serious intentions, because in my culture, when you date without
serious intentions, I risk shaming my family name because let's
say he doesn't put a ring on it, and then
let's say the next guy here's that I went out
with him without serious intentions. That new guy's mother is
(41:44):
going to d me a slot and she's gonna be like,
oh no, she's tainted. She's gone out with this that
the other without serious intentions. Oh no, you must stay
away from her. And that's how it was in my time.
And we have evolved since then, but it still a
lot of like just so you know, a lot of
the people from our community, the young Inns that are
(42:05):
not married yet, they're not on social media that much.
They don't let people know what they're doing. No, it
wasn't until after I got married that I didn't give
a what people knew about me because at that point
there's no refunds. That's an amazing story. Story. It's a
quite of story, yep, I guess. Then the last piece
the puzzle is, you get married to Bill, you have
(42:26):
five kids, how do you get looped into real housewives?
You know, they really do do it like a casting call.
You really do get an email and everybody just it'll say,
like email there to whoever. You know. We also give
recommendations as housewives. And when I had applied, I realized
that my husband knew Dolores. Since Dolores knew me or
(42:49):
knew me through my husband, they asked her about me.
They did like a test shooting to see how I
vibed with her. I mean, listen, uh, you know I
could pull a conversation out of it. Really, you can
give me anybody. I mean, there are some meetings that
my husband purposely takes me to because if he can't
start up a conversation with somebody, he knows I'm going
(43:10):
to find something to talk about or make them laugh
or crack some silly joke or whatever. Um. So obviously
we vibed really well, and Dolores brought me in as
her girlfriend on the show, and three years, I'm still
here to talk about it. Listen, I get it. It
makes total sense. The positive energy that just exudes from
you is so contagious, so always like that. I have
(43:34):
found it's really really hard to convey on reality TV,
just because there's just so much editing going on. And
that's why I love these podcasts. I really love an
opportunity to talk to people one on one. I love
meeting the fans. Like even when I'm out and someone
comes to me and they're tiptoeing by me, I always
want to make sure that I make them feel valid, right,
(43:57):
because I'm sure it's for them. They're like, oh, I
don't want to bob her. What if she's going to
be mean. I'm not going to be mean. If you
ask me for a picture, I will never say no
to a picture. I will ask you your name, I
will make eye contact. You know, I'm not that bougie.
As as much as they may edit me to be
some kind of snob, I'm not. I love everybody. I love, love,
(44:20):
love everybody, And if they don't like me, that's that's okay,
because you know what I like me, that's okay. If
you don't like me. You know what I say to that.
You can't win them all. You can't. You just gotta
keep it moving. You're such a positive force. You know
a lot of people listen to this podcast as and
use it as kind of like a blueprint for success.
Do you have a credo or is there something that
(44:42):
you live by to create such positive energy and success
in your life. I always tell myself that the lie
is hard to remember. If you stick with the truth,
then your story will always be the same. And I
rather my story be the same than me make myself
look like an asshole, because as I had to lie
or I felt like I had to fidge on something like,
(45:05):
that's not my vibe. You know, if I tell somebody
my age and I keep lying about it, then they
may talk to each other's sad. But she told me
forty one, Well she told me thirty nine. And the
lie is really, you know, easy to forget. So I
feel like the truth is the best um source of
my positivity. Just be honest, you know, be honest. Tell
(45:29):
people how you feel. I feel like there's a way
that you can deliver the way that you want to
say something without hurting somebody's feelings. And and if I
do hurt your feelings, that of course that wasn't my intention.
Tell me about it, and if I care enough, I'll apologize,
and if I don't, then I'll just say sorry, not sorry.
Oh my god. I feel my parents an anniversary party
(45:50):
I think was like thirty five years thirty five years
married or something, and it was a surprise anniversary party,
and my mom looked so pissed when she walked in,
and it was it was that Leonards of Great Neck, Okay,
a long island, and I just didn't understand why she
was so piste off. And she's doing that first dance
(46:10):
with my dad. And then finally I get her into
the bridal. Sweet, I'm like, what's the matter, You're not surprised,
and she's like, everybody's going to know your brother's age
and you're still not married. She's like, everyone's gonna know
that he's like thirty four and not married. I was like,
I think everybody kind of knows that already, Like we
all know that, you know, but she's been telling everybody's
(46:31):
twenty nine for the past five years. Now. It's like, oop,
my bad. The lie is hard to remember. Stick with
the truth. I'm running out of time with you before
I let you go. Do you have some time for
some rapid fire questions? Let's go, all right, rapid fire
questions with Jennifer Aiden of Real Housewives of New Jersey.
First one, would you rather be rich and sad or
(46:54):
poor and happy and sad? Night in or night out?
Night out? What job would you be terrible at? Something
that has to do with me being in an office?
Favorite pizza topic, just plain cheese. Who was your first kiss,
Mike Thomas? Usually people don't remember, and so I'm very
proud of you. Remember it was It was It was
(47:15):
a big deal. I waited. I waited. I'm not gonna say,
but I waited more than my friends. It was a
big deal. I mean it wasn't that great. I hope
Mike Thomas doesn't listen to this show. What was the
first conci every went to Motley Crewe? Nice? First car
you ever owned? Pantiac's Sunfire. Who is your childhood hero?
Fred Savage? I had Winnie Cooper on last week. Oh
(47:38):
my god, I was obsessed with Fred Savage. I thought
he was just like the good old boy next door
and I was like, just love me one day. Fred Savage. Yeah,
that was a long time ago. Would your mother have
approved Fred Savage to court you? No, No, because he
wasn't Syrian Orthodox. No, no one's per picked. I guess
(48:00):
Fred had to be Syrian Orthodox from my church, from
my mother to approve you. That was the first record
CD you owned? Definitely something freestyle, which is a form
of music that is not popular in l A like
Cynthia Johnny. Oh, it's more of a New York, New
Jersey thing. But it's freestyle because my brother was a DJ.
(48:22):
My brother used to dj like all the high school dances,
and freestyle was my favorite. So definitely one of his freestyle.
What's the weirdest superstition that you have? Um, don't sleep
with your closet door open, because then it leaves people
talking about you. Really Yeah. And lastly, what's one beauty
(48:44):
product that everyone absolutely needs? My beauty flag, Flag Plug,
L L D Shop Jennifer Aiden. And where can people
find it? Oh? Aidan Plastic Surgery as of right now,
contact Aidan Plastic Surgery and we'll point out to you.
People want to follow you on social media, where do
they need to go? Jennifer Aiden, No Space, no Underscore,
(49:06):
A Y d I N Real Houseblaves of New Jersey's
on Wednesday's on Bravo. Jennifer Absolutely wonderful talking with you.
You are such a bright light. You've brightened my day,
which is not easy to do. So thank you for
being on the show. Go on The Queen of Jennifer Aiden.
(49:28):
Subscribe to wellcast on iHeart Radio, Apple podcast Score, anywhere
you get your podcasts. It's the Internet.
What's going on? How's everybody, dude? It's got back from
a run and I run with Caral my bloodhound. We
got back and our other dog, or Sarah's dog, Boo
kind of princess out from the kitchen, and that little
stinker got in the trash. I'll tell you that story
(00:20):
and tell you a different story because maybe like a
week ago, you might have seen it on my Instagram
or on my TikTok. Was about a week ago. I
come home and I go into the kitchen and Carl
is nose deep in the trash. It's everywhere in the kitchen,
all right, so much trash strewn about. So Carl gets
(00:41):
into a lot of trouble. Okay, he gets yelled at,
he gets sent to his little kennel, gets reprimanded. I'm
sitting there thinking, oh my god, Boo is such a
good girl. She knew that what he was doing was wrong.
She has gone upstairs and she stayed out of the trouble.
And I was the night before that, I had been
cooking fish and so I had floured the fish and
(01:04):
pants here and everything. So there's a bunch of flour
in the trash. So I get a treat to go
upstairs to give the boot because she was such a
good girl. And I go upstairs and what do I see?
Oh yeah, her snout is completely white, like she's been
hanging out with Charlie Sheen all night long. Little stinker,
she got in the trash. So when I got back
(01:25):
from run the day, which, by the way, I've now
been diligent about closing the trash drawer so the dogs
don't get in it. When I come back today, I'm
near thinking I think that Coral was a Patsy. He
was a fall guy because boost somehow figured out how
to open up the drawer and get the trash owl.
(01:46):
It's called and do it this time, And we were
prancing down Ventura Boulevard. I don't know I'm telling that
story other than can't trust these dogs, you know what
I'm saying. All Right, let's uh, let's do the show.
This is the Wells Cast with Wells Adams and I
Heart Radio podcast. Yeah, welcome to the Wells Cast. Excited
(02:08):
for today's episode. I feel like Andy Cohen, you know,
anytime I get to do a housewife, I'm like, I'm
Andy Cohen, now taking your job, and we're going to
New Jersey. That's right. Today's episode stars one of my
favorite housewife, Jennifer Aiden, and she's going to dish out everything,
(02:29):
all the tea on her parents, having to bribe her
kids to do the show, how she met her husband.
She got dating tips for us. Oh yeah. Also, she's
got a new beauty pillow but she's slinging. She's one
of the realists of all the real housewives. This is
an episode you do not want to miss. Stick around
Jennifer Aiden right here on the Wells cast. Hello, Hello,
(03:06):
can you hear me? I can hear you? Can you
hear me? I can? They did it right? You did
it right? And you are I like this set up.
This is a badass set up. You look like a
queen on the throne right there. I am the Queen
of thrones. Well Adams, if you didn't know, then you
better ask somebody. The new Calisi now it resides in
(03:26):
New Jersey, apparently, you know what. I have a lot
of thrones in the house. And I don't know if
you watched my first season, but I went to China
to get furniture and my husband loves ornate regal furniture,
and I had a container to fill and they were
so great and the price going through so you know,
affordable compared to what we have here. And I was like,
(03:47):
just give me a ton of throne. And then it
became like a joke. Everybody was like, and you know,
my house was famous for having sixteen bathrooms, so I
talked about those being my thrones, so I'd laugh about it.
And now I just like somebody had tweeted me that
I was the queen of thrones, and I'm like, oh
my god, I love that. I'm gonna take that and
(04:08):
run with it. So here I am. You're the Oprah
of thrones. That's right, that's exactly what. Everybody gets a
throne in my house. We don't discriminate now, Jennifer Braden,
how are you doing. I'm doing great, Thank you. I'm
excited to be here. I've had a busy day. I
have a very busy day. Well that's okay. I made
(04:30):
time for you. Thank you. I won't keep you too long.
I mean, I guess, yes, you are the Queen of thrones,
but I guess you're also the queen of beauty pillows.
I am, I am this. My beauty pillow is a
non choking hazard. Which is a must in a beauty
pillow because there's others on the market that just have
a contraption against your neck. No, we don't want any
(04:52):
asshixiation happening. We want a nice, comfortable, cozy, snuggly beauty pillow.
And I have run right here. Pleasure asphyxiation has to
be consensual in the bed, I suppose. So you sent
me one of these ultimate beauty pillows and I absolutely
do appreciate it. But guess what, my fiance has already
stolen it, so that's hers. Now tell everyone how this
(05:16):
all came about. Well, I don't know if you know.
My husband is a plastic surgeon. One part of this
practice is also a medspot, so they do a lot
of facials. We do a lot of laser treatments, injectables
such as lip fillers, face fillers, and botox, and you know,
after care protocol one oh one is not to sleep
on your face when you get injectibles. It can move
the filler around. It could really leave you lopsided and
(05:38):
mangle looking. So you need to sleep off your face.
And it's very difficult for people who are not used
to sleeping on their backs. So I came up with
this concept to create a beauty pillow that you sleep
on top of your existing pillow. And what it does
is it's really so simple. It just cradles your neck
and it keeps your head and face elevated so that
(06:00):
your face is not touching the pillows. So even if
you were to sleep on your side, you still have
a great ample space so that your face is not
going to get all mushy throughout the night. And let's
say you get your lashes done, right. I'm sure you're
Beynestly gets her lashes done once in a while, and like,
let's say her eye makeup looks so great one day
and she kind of wants to keep it for the
next day. You sleep on this beauty pillow and those
(06:24):
lashes are going to stay in place all night. So
it's a must for your beauty regiment. I've been told
many a time by Sarah that she has to have
special pillows on the bed because of her eyelash extensions,
and then she saw this thing, so it's a match
made in heaven. That's why I came up with the
acronym l l B because it's lips, slashes, brows and
(06:47):
you can't see it with the glare, lip slashes, brows
and listen. This is like my first batch of ordered.
I think the next time, I'm definitely gonna put my
signature on it so that people can have a little
piece of me, which I know is their main goal
of course. So where do people grab the Ultimate Beauty
Pillow right now? The only place to get it is
through my husband's practice, Aidan Plastic Surgery. You can either
(07:09):
get it on their website or just call them up
and they'll ship one out to you. I'm working on
my website and we're going to relaunch it, you know,
hopefully by the summer. You could definitely go to my
Instagram which is jennifer Aiden. Just no um, underscores or
anything like that. Jennifer Aiden. Type it as it is
and then there's a link in my bio and you
(07:30):
could go to Shop jennifer Aiden. Also follow them and
as soon as it's available, the updates will be presented.
So follow Shop jennifer Aiden and you'll get to see
all the updates on when the pillow will be available.
So you got a sneak peek, well, I love it, Well,
I got a sneak peak for about seventeen seconds until
I under stend you another one because I don't want
(07:52):
you to get wrinkles. I know, and it's I'm on
the wrong side of thirty, Jennifer. I need to go
see your husband at ink. There you go. I mean, listen,
everything looks pretty good to me, but ask your fiance
whatever she wants. She's in a botox that out of
my face at some point. I know it's it's coming soon.
You grow together. You evolved together as a couple, so
(08:15):
I love it. Yes, we we grow together. We do
not age together. We stay the same age forever. Yes,
and make sure you get better with age instead of
you know, from, you don't want from. I know that
there's a limited number of them out there, but did
you send them to your cast mates? I gave it.
I gave it all to them off camera. Yes. I
(08:38):
actually gave it to them on camera this season as well,
but that clip got cut out. Yeah, you know, listen,
we got forty two minutes, and we got six women
that talk a lot and are very opinionated, so me
giving them my pillow may not have been at the
top of their list. That's okay, that's what you're for.
Are well. I'm a huge fan of all the Real Housewives,
(09:02):
to be honest with you, but you know the iteration
that you were on the New Jersey one, I feel
like gets the best one of all the Real Housewives.
Do you think that too? I mean, of course I'm biased.
I'm going to always say Jerseys number one in my eyes. Um,
but I I enjoy all of the franchises. Really. I
love Beverly Hills, I love Salt Lake City. That's a
(09:23):
new one that just came on the scene. You know,
love that very entertaining. Atlanta girls seem like they're bringing
it this year. So I really loved the whole franchise
as a whole. I've always been a fan like I was.
You know, I had five children, I don't know if
you know that, and all my children are two years apart.
So literally I was home, barefoot and pregnant watching the show, thinking,
(09:45):
oh my god, I could do that. People get paid
to do that. I do that every day. I've often wondered,
you know, as someone who is a part of one franchise,
are you ever like if I didn't live in New Jersey,
I would like to do I don't know the Atlanta
one or the Beverly Hills, Like have you ever thought
about that? Like, could you fit yourself in into like
another one of the shows. I would do Beverly Hills. Yeah,
(10:08):
that was My in laws live in California, so my
in laws have always since day one, wanted us to
move out to l A. So if we ever did
the l A thing, it would be Beverly Hills. The
show has been going since what two thousand nine, I believe,
so I only got on three years ago. This is
my third season, but we are in our season eleven
(10:29):
right now, so you know, come back eleven years and
if it's two thousand and nine, I trust you. You
jumped in in two thousand and eighteen. I imagine that's
a pretty daunting thing to do, to join a show
that's already successful with a lot of really big personalities.
Were you apprehensive to join in? I wasn't apprehensive to
(10:51):
join in, but it definitely was an interesting transition from
going as a viewer because aside from me having my favorites,
I all looked I looked up to all of these
women as characters on a show. So now I'm no
longer a viewer. I have to go in and I
am one of these women, so I have to have
(11:13):
enough guts to say my opinion rather than be super
nice just so that they like me. I'm not here
for them to like me. Hopefully we get along, of
course that's always the goal. But I'm also here to
say what comes uh, you know, what pops into my head,
and I do that very well, sometimes to my detriment.
It's an interesting transition, to say the least. But you know,
(11:36):
I was a little rocky at first, and then Teresa
gave me a lot of good tips and then it
was smooth sailing. And here I am season number three.
So I must be doing something right. You know. I've
done I think seven or eight reality TV shows, but
I live in a different space. It's just me that
has to kind of be on screen and be on
(11:57):
I don't have to involve my family or my friends,
and I think that that's something that would be tough
for me to come to terms with. One is like,
do I want to involve I don't have kids, but
if I did, do I want to involve my kids
or my spouse, or my parents or my siblings. What
is that conversation like for you? Before the show starts
(12:19):
because inevitably you being on also includes them being on. Well,
my husband wasn't a big fan, so if you watch
him my first season, you can actually tell his energy.
I mean, even though he doesn't say it, I know
his mannerisms and I know when he's uncomfortable. So he
wasn't a big fan. Only because there's a lot of
(12:41):
hate that comes with this platform as much as all
of the pros. You have to sit there and think
of the con So. But the thing is with me,
I've always lived my life pretty forthright, pretty candid. I'm
the type where if someone compliments my dress, I'll tell
them where I got it, how much I spent on it,
who to ask for? Tell them I sent you. That's
(13:03):
always been me. So if I'm always very truthful with
my life off camera, then why would it bother me
if I did it on camera? Um So, for me,
it was easy. M my husband, it took him a
while to get his feet with I think my children,
all of them were really too young to understand, um
(13:23):
the future about it because for them, you know, these kids,
they think it's cool to be on TV. And my
first season, they loved it. They loved filming of course,
like you know, now that it's my third season, now
it's a little bit more of a nuisance to them
also because they see how sometimes things could get spun
(13:44):
or um, you know, just maybe not shown in the
best light. So they're not liking it as much as
day one. My family, as far as my siblings, for
the most part, they're all very supportive. My parents were supportive,
um up until the season, because I did share, um,
something that's going on in my life that it's difficult
(14:06):
for my parents and they feel extremely embarrassed that this
is now on a TV show for everybody to say.
But see, I think that there's something that we can
learn from this. You know, it's not the end of
the world knowing that the person that you've been married
to for fifty years now you can't stand them. I mean,
they make sitcoms over this stuff. They don't sit here
(14:28):
and have panic attacks. You know. I think this is
normal growing pains. When you're in a relationship, you grow
together and sometimes you end up pickering all the time. Um.
For my parents, it got a little extreme, and I
thought the best thing for them was to just separate.
And the only way for me to do that was
to have my father come live with me, and then
the camera started rolling. I am on a show that
(14:51):
is about my reality, and I never knew that they
were going to even showcase that story. It's just that
the producers were filming my everyday life and was like,
what's your dad do in here every day? And I
was like, well, he lives with me now, so it's
like I can't hide him. That's not my style. I
don't like to hide anything because I'm not embarrassed about it.
We showcased it and my mom got pissed off. It's
(15:13):
not a unique story in our country. I think our
last president slept in a different room than his wife.
You know, like it's it's a pretty but but I
understand your parents didn't sign up to do a reality
television show. You did, so I can see how your
mother could be like, wait, hold on a second, I
don't know about this. Does your dad enjoy it? Because
(15:34):
he's much more in the focal point because well, he's
with you. My dad has been molded to become the
type of person that just doesn't complain. He doesn't complain,
he doesn't want confrontation. He's afraid that anything he says
is going to be rebutted or looked down upon or
found upon, because when him and my mother were always
(15:57):
in the same environment, every time my father would stay something,
my mom would say, oh, be quiet, John, or you
don't know what you're talking about, or shut up, and
these type of behaviors actually embarrassed my father. So because
my father is so used to it, he doesn't talk
at all. So I honestly don't even know what he thinks.
I have no idea, but he never complains, but yet
(16:18):
he never says anything that's really for it as well.
So with my dad, I really don't know how he thinks,
but I don't think he's happy about it, because sometimes
when I'm watching it on the screen and the scenes
come on where it's my parents, I noticed that he
walks out. So for him, it's tough. You know, they're
very old school. They're off the boat, they're from the
(16:39):
villages of Turkey on first generation here. They get it
that this is normal in America, but for them, it's
not normal. But it's almost like, what are you gonna do?
I'm not here to hide my life. I told my mom,
you should have been nicer to my dad, so I
didn't have to separate you, and then none of this
would have ever happened. They probably would have followed like
(16:59):
something going on with my children or something, because there's
always something going on with them. I mean, I have
five kids on a stay at home mom. I got
content that will keep you running all day every day.
Doesn't have to be my dad. Listen, I'm the youngest
of five, and we used to make a joke that, like,
our family would be the funniest reality TV show. So
(17:19):
I totally get it. Yeah, if you you would be
the funniest if you would be willing to do it
all on camera. And that's the key, very very true. Okay,
because my kids will sometimes start doing something and I
whip out the phone and then they stop. No, we
don't want it on your Instagram. We don't want I'm like,
are you kidding? In the TV? Gold Okay, you gotta
(17:42):
do this on camera. Don't be reserved. Just be yourselves.
Like when my husband was asking me, like, what do
you want me to say, I'm like, I want you
to say what you would say exactly you as you
would had the camera's not been there. So however you
do it, just just go it it, I trust you.
It's when they think of like what they think the
(18:04):
cameras want to see is I think when they get
in trouble. I've done enough reality where when people start
doing that, it seems so inauthentic. It seems like they're
acting or something. Immediately when that happens, the audience either
is like I don't like you because you're not being real,
or in the edit bay they'll cut it because they're like,
(18:24):
this isn't real at all. Like my first season, I
actually got a lot of criticism over the way that
my kids looked. They're like, you don't brush their hair.
They always look like they rolled out of bed. Listen,
my kids like elastic waste. They like T shirts and
elastic waste. The only time I dressed them up like
all fancy what they call it, is when we go
(18:46):
to church. When they wear something with a button or
button down or something poplin. That's when they complain. So
I'm not going to sit here and dress my kids
up for the camera because that's not my every day.
My every day my kids are in athletic shorts, tank tops,
t shirts, usually something that's Disney or some kind of anime,
(19:08):
kind of thing, you know, like, my kids are kids.
How they are every day is how you see them.
I don't sit here put bows in their hair anymore.
I tried to when they were younger, but once they
got old enough and they had their own voice, I
was like, you know what, let them be kids. Whatever
I look great. That's a lot of matters. Very true. Listen,
(19:28):
you're super candid about your life. You've talked about your parents,
Your brother's storyline was a big one. Getting work done
has been a big kind of storyline for you on
camera and on your social media. What has been the
hardest to kind of show the world? And two is
there anything that you wouldn't show the world? The thing
(19:49):
that I would say was the hardest showing the world
was probably my parents situation what's been going on right now,
only because I've gotten the most like heat from my parents,
really my mother from that. The repercussions of me showcasing
that on the show now has now caused a big
(20:12):
gap in my mother and I his relationships. So we're
not speaking right now and we haven't spoken since January.
And it actually wasn't It was funny because like once
the show wrapped, she had a lot of loose ends
in her house that she needed me. She needed my
help to tie up. And when I say help, I
don't mean financially, I mean just the logistics of connecting
(20:33):
her with people, making people go there, finishing the jobs
of her house, like putting up light fixtures, all these things.
So we had tied up a lot of those loose
ends once we had wrapped filming, which was great. My
mom had forgot about what she was mad at. We
were back to normal, hanging out all the time. And
then in January, the trailer had come out and she
(20:53):
was at my house where my dad lives, and she
was having one of her bickering fights with my dad,
you know, and she kind of she kind of goes
at him a lot, and like I said, he doesn't
like confrontation. He walks away, and she just kept going
at him, and of course, me that I can't keep
my mouth shut, walk in and I go, well, you
(21:13):
know what's going on? And she started complaining about something
that he did, and I said, you know what, well,
he doesn't live with you anymore, so you know, a
good thing. You don't have to worry about it. And
she just turned around and she was just like, well,
of course he doesn't live with me. This is all
your faults anyway, This is all you're doing. Like, if
he was with me, none of this would happen. And
I'm like, if he was with you, you would be
(21:35):
doing all of this to him there in that house,
and he would have nobody to protect him. So we
had a big, all out role. She's thinking that I
always side with him, but she doesn't see that I'm
just protecting whoever happens to be weaker in the confrontation.
And just coincidentally, lately, it's always been my dad on
(21:56):
the other end of the beating stick. And it's like,
I tell my mom, I would never or let you
stay with somebody who treated you that way, you know,
So why does it matter that it's a woman doing
it to a man. She's trying to tell me that
this is her marriage and this is how all married
couples are, and I get it, But there comes a
certain point where you just have to be like enough, Like,
(22:16):
my father is ten years older than my mom. I
don't know how much longer he's got to live. Can't
we just leave the rest of his years in peace
and harmony? Like, is it really that deep that you
you have to sit here and punish him and crucify him.
They didn't. He didn't buy you flowers twenty years ago.
I get it. It's terrible. You know, he sucks. I'm
not saying he's great, but right now, as a human being,
(22:39):
he is an elderly old man and he needs love
and affection, not somebody throwing in his face all the
things that he did wrong in all his life. I'm
sure he thinks about that every single night. We don't
need to rub salt into the wound, you know. So
like that's my thing. I'm always trying to protect the
weaker person always, and I'm always trying to stand up
(23:02):
for what I believe is right. I don't want to
diminish what my mom feels, because at the end of
the day, she does feel that my father emotionally abused
her throughout their marriage. And regardless if I believe it's
if it's true or not, which I don't, I can't
tell my mother that her feelings are not valid. See,
my husband's a doctor, and the one thing that he
(23:23):
always tells me that you can't argue with is people's feelings.
All I feel that you were mean to me. You
may not have been mean, but if that person says
that they feel that you were, you've got to acknowledge that,
and you've got to be like, Okay, I I may
not agree with it, but I understand now why you
are behaving this way. So I have to validate her
(23:46):
feelings because we all have feelings. Well, so make sure
you listen to your fiance when she tells you about
her feelings, because if she says that she feels a
certain way, no matter what you say, your point is moot.
I feel that you're doing the right thing, and I'll
tell you why. One. I think that time heals all wounds.
(24:07):
Um and too. I come from a very big family
that has a lot of big personalities, and I think
one of the flaws in my family is is that
we generally will sweep things under the rug or pretend
like that nothing's wrong, and that doesn't help anything. That
actually perpetuates and has lets the wound fester even longer.
(24:29):
So I think that what you're doing is the right thing,
even if people can't see that or appreciate it. So
just know that I think you're doing the right thing,
and that's really Jennifer, that's all that matters. If the
rest of you who don't agree with me, you can
go scratch um. I also listen, it's not easy to
(24:56):
show my life. It's not it's a gift. It's a gift.
Not a everybody can handle it. Not everybody can handle
the backlash, not everybody can handle the criticism. But I
do it. I do it because it's part of who
I am and I've always been that way. So I
don't turn it on for the cameras. The cameras get
me because I'm just always turned on. I don't know
(25:17):
what that means, but I like it. That means that
I'm always like, like, this is me, Like when you
see me off camera, you're gonna see me always on.
People are like, oh, like when they meet me, they'll
they'll say, you're just like you are on TV. And
I'm like, no, the TV catches me just as I am.
So that's the difference. I don't amp it up for
the cameras. I'm always kikiing up, I'm always high five
(25:41):
and with someone I'm always saying hey, it's not just
for the cameras, Like what you see is my everyday reality.
What are your thoughts on Jackie's husband. I think they're solid.
I think they have a solid relationship. I did not
believe that rumor one bit um, But I do believe
that if a rumor is out, I personally would like
(26:02):
to know. I agree he's a solid guy. They have
a solid relationship. Yeah, do you pay your kids for
being on screen? I don't pay them. I bribe them
with trips to target. They love trips to target. Like
when we were at Jackie's birthday party. Okay, so like, okay,
(26:23):
we'll bring Jackie's birthday party, and it was last season,
and everybody thought that I was like mad about the food, which,
of course, like I was, you know, I was just
surprised about the food. But really there was no activity.
The activity was playing basketball on a driveway. And my
boys are not athletic, their video game boys. So and
I take them to a birthday. Not to mention, I
(26:43):
brought my six year old who was wearing high heels,
so she was not expecting to play basketball. And we're
like filming, and my kids, obviously they were out within
two seconds because they're not athletic, and they're both on
the sidelines and they're coming to me and we're mikes
and they're mics and their life. This party is so boring,
there's nothing to do. We want to leave and I
(27:04):
have to film, right, So like we gotta stay here
for three more hours. And I'm just like, please, are
gonna embarrass me. They're already gonna say I spoil my children,
So play, just play the goddamn game. And they're like
in the corner and they're like, you better take us
to Target. I'm like, I promise, I promised after this,
if you just if you just stay and don't complain
and don't make me look like this person who constantly
(27:26):
spoils their children, I will take you to Target and
spoil you, guys. But when you're a parent, you'll see
you'll bribe them to You'll bribe them to eat veggies.
You'll bribe them to try something, You'll bribe them to
wear something. I mean, listen, a parents gotta do what
a parents gotta do. Don't talk a good game until
(27:47):
you have kids of your own. No, I applaud you. Actually,
I think it's uh, that's a thrifty bribe. I feel
like if my kids would be like, we're going to
Rodeo drive and I'm like, and you know what, I'll
also do or sometimes I'll tell them I'll do this
to them. I tricked them with this before. I'll be like,
you know what, if you just do what I want,
(28:07):
I'm gonna take you to the store and you can
each buy five things. And they look at us like
why do they look at me? And they're like, Mommy,
really we can buy five pinky promise. And now I
always stick with my word because if I don't, then
they're not going to trust me the next time I
say it. So what do I do? Pack them in
and we go to the dollar store and then they're like, mommy,
you tricked us, Like no, I did it five things.
(28:30):
Kids now go to town. Real House Lives in New
Jersey Wednesdays on Bravo. And don't forget the Ultimate beauty pillow,
The l LB Lips, lashes and Brows is available now.
Eate im plastic Surgery right now. Website is coming. We're
gonna say a quick break and we come back. We're
(28:51):
gonna pivot over to my portion of the show. I
don't know if anyone told you, but I like origin stories.
I like finding out how where people came from. And
how the hell they got to where they are and
became so successful. So when we come back, are you
down to shine a little light as to what the
hell you were doing before you joined Real Housewives of
(29:12):
New Jersey? Sure can. I don't know how interesting it's
gonna be, but I'll try to dig around. We're right
back with Jennifer Aiden of Real Housewives of New Jersey.
(29:33):
Welcome back to the Wells Cast. Very excited to have
Jennifer Aiden from Real Housewives of New Jersey on this show.
Don't miss it Wednesday's on Bravo, and don't forget she
has a new beauty product that you need to have
in your bed, the Ultimate Beauty Pillow the LLLB lips,
(29:53):
lashes and brows. Jennifer. Where can people find it if
they want to go pick it up right now? It's
available only through aid and six Surgery, but you can
follow our Instagram at Shop Jennifer Aiden to get all
the latest updates on when the website will be available.
I'm fascinated to find out your origin story, because you
know we touched on it leading up to this portion
(30:16):
of the show that you are effectively a first generation
uh Turkish woman. Um So let's go back to the beginning.
Where did you come from? Where were you born? So
I was born in Queens, New York, and when I
was two years old is when we moved to Long Island,
(30:37):
which is where I grew up, and I have I'm
one of four were two boys, two girls. My dad
came here from Turkey with nothing but a craft. He
was a jeweler and he was easily sponsored because he
made jewelry so well. And the only thing, probably the
only problem with that is that he worked a lot.
(30:58):
So sometime when I was growing up, my mom found
a cute little um jewelry exchange on Long Island and
we got a jewelry store. And that was our first
retail space ever that my mom actually opened for our family.
It was only opened four days a week, and we
grew up having to work at the jewelry store. That's
what we had to do. And it's funny because once
(31:20):
I was like thirteen fourteen, I wanted to start getting paid,
but my father would always be like, I don't charge
you to live in my house, why are you going
to charge me to work in my store? So he
wouldn't pay me, So I still had no money. And
then all my friends were like, oh, you have an
in ground pool, you have a nice colonial house, your
father has in Mercedes, but you never have any money.
(31:42):
And I was like, my parents have money, it's me
that's broke, like my dad us see. And then once
I got to high school, he gave me twenty dollars
a week for lunch. And that should be okay because
that's usually like two bucks a day. But you know,
if we went out to lunch with some seniors on
Monday Tuesday, by Wednesday, I didn't have any money, and
I would go to my dad and I'd be like, Daddy,
I spent all my twenty dollars and he'd be like,
(32:02):
that's not my problem. So I would like go to
school and and and be hungry. And so I was
a grub. I was a school grub. Yes, if you
remember me getting off the line, thank you have any change?
Do you have any change? Do any change? That was me, Yes,
that was me, do you have any change? And until
I grubbed enough money for a lunch, i'd get that
school lunch. So I've always had somewhat of a hustle
(32:25):
in me. Um. You know, my first Halloween that I
ever experienced in America. Was very traumatizing because my mom
spent me, sent me to school with no costume, and
nobody everyone had to walk in the parade parade with
a buddy, but nobody wanted to be my buddy because
I didn't have a costume. And I was crying because
(32:46):
I didn't have a costume. And even though I didn't
understand what this holiday was. And then my teacher made
me a pumpkin with with two pieces of orange oak
tag paper and she made me a green little hat,
and I was a pumpkin, folks. I was very proud
of that pumpkin. Yes, I was happy that I finally
had a costume in the end, even though it was handmade.
(33:07):
And then I, you know, when I got married to
my husband, he's also from the same community, so we're
from Turkey, but I'm actually Syrian Orthodox. It's confusing because
it's the culture as well as a religion, and um,
he's from the same church. Technically, my mom was trying
to marry me off. She was trying to like get
guys to ask me to marry them, and they would
(33:27):
come to the house. I would sit there prim and proper.
I would serve coffee, smile, and then they would leave
and my mom would be like, so, what do you
think And I'd be like, oh, no, I can't. I
can't even do that for the rest of my life.
You know, that's a long time. And my mom would
sit there and she'd be like, what do you want?
You want the club guy, club guy? No, I didn't
(33:49):
want a club guy because the club guy was not
going to treat me the way that I needed to
be treated. And when I met my husband, you know,
he was going to school for medicine, so he was
not by any means anything that he is now. But gosh,
he was so hot. He was so hot when I
met him, Like at that point, after I found out
it was adopted, the doctor was just like an added
luxury because he had all the key finds that my
(34:11):
mom always wanted. My mom always wanted somebody that was tall.
It doesn't matter how attractive you are in my culture.
But if you're tall, if you're so tall, did you
see Yeah, he looks like killer clowns from out of space,
but he's tall. Yeah, that's a no. That's a hard
note for me. So when I met my husband at
a wedding and I saw him. I was just so
happy that there was actually a good looking one that
(34:34):
I was attracted to that I was like, oh my god,
he's the one that I want. And then when I
found out he was a doctor training to be like
that just made it all better. But that wasn't even
the initial concept. It was really just pure physical attraction.
No shame in my game. Yeah, I had to be
attracted to the person if I'm going to be married
to him, don't you think ye. My husband and I met,
(34:58):
we got engaged right away. I met him Sunday before
Labor Day. I got married Sunday before Labor Day one
year to the day, I had six hundred people at
my wedding, and my wedding in our culture, the man
pays for the wedding, just so you know, girls, so
get your Syrian Orthodox men ladies here me we're are
(35:18):
the man case for the wedding. Six hundred people I
had um at the West Mountain Country Club. It was
like a fairytale wedding. I got everything I wanted. And
I'm always about manifesting. I'm always about positive energy. And
even when my husband was finished with his residency, we
lived in Michigan. I lived in Michigan when it's where
he did his fellowship for two years. And when we
(35:41):
were done, it was like, where are we going to go?
East coast? West coast because his family's West coast and
my parents were East coast, and I just thought that
my Syrian Orthodox community is very strong in New Jersey.
So I really wanted my kids to grow up in
the culture. So I was like, I want to move
to Jersey. And you know, Bill would always look at me.
He'd be like, listen, just so you know, we're not
(36:03):
going to be like that rich you know, because at
the time he was doing general surgery and he's like,
you know, And I said, I was like, listen, anything
that you tell me, it's going to go in this
year and out the other. I said, because I believe
in you. I told my husband, and all the things
that you think you're not going to accomplish, I know
you're already there. So it's okay. You could tell me
(36:23):
that we're not going to get it like that, We're
not going to have it like that. That's okay. You
believe that, and I'll believe what I believe. And hence
here we are now in the taj Mahala Paramus Queen
of Thrones and five children. Not too savvy? Was it
love at first sight? How did that meeting at that
wedding go? It's funny because like that wedding, it was
(36:44):
his brother's wedding and he was the best man at
that wedding and it was in California, and my parents
trecked me all the way to California for this wedding
because there was another guy who was asking for my
hand and he was calling me all the time, and
my mother said that he owned like five gas stations
(37:04):
and was like this big jeweler. And I didn't even
care because I wasn't attracted to him at all. It's
very very sweet, Um, just not my type. And I
went to this wedding anyway because I had a girlfriend
who lived out in l a. And my girlfriend was like,
remember I'm broke at this point. My my girlfriend was like,
if your parents are willing to pay for your trips
to come to Cali, just come and we'll hang out.
(37:26):
So I was like, oh, but they want me to
marry this guy and there's just no way I can
even kiss him, Like no, whay? I don't care all
the money in the world. I can't. I just can't.
I'm not one of those girls. I went to this
wedding and when I saw my husband, I was like,
oh my god. My aunt was next to me, and
my aunt like shrugged me. She's like shrugging my shoulders, like,
(37:47):
oh my god, you want handsome. He's handsome. And my
mother turned around. I remember my mother turned around and
she goes, forget it. That village they only married cousins.
And I turned around. I was like, did I stay
one gonna mary him? I didn't even stay wanted to
marry him. I mean, he has to want to marry me.
I don't go to anybody because, like I was like,
all up in my head back then, we've seen nothing
(38:08):
has change. Um. And then he asked my brother. He
welcomed my brother right because they knew each other from
the jewelry business. He said, welcome, thank you for coming
to l A. He said hello to me. I was
trying to be charming, but like nonchalant, because you know,
you can't seem too thirsty. Well, if that's a huge
(38:28):
turn off to a good looking guy when a pretty
girl looks thirsty. Now, he's got to come to me,
so you gotta like hang the bait just a little
enough for him to come. And then I pulled away.
And that's what I did. I played this little cat
and mouse game with him all night. And then the
very next day, the guy who wanted to marry me,
he was calling my brother wanting to take us out
(38:49):
to dinner that night, and my brother's like, he keeps
blowing up my phone. What should I do? I was like,
don't answer, tell him, tell him I I had to leave,
tell him no, like make up some excuse. And and
he was like, oh, well, that guy Bill called and
they're going to the cheesecake factory in Glendale. Would you
want to do that? I was like, I'll do that's
just I just need some time to get ready. Give
(39:11):
me like two hours. So I guess gold decked out
old deck Dad. And I'm like thinking in my head
as we're driving to the cheesecake factory in Glendale, I'm thinking, no, Pasadena, sorry,
Pasadena Atlas And I'm thinking like, can I live in
l A? Because you know, when you met you have
to move to where the guy is in our culture?
(39:33):
Can I live in l A? Could I really live here.
I'm like, I could live here. What's wrong with living here?
And it's so funny because the guy who wanted to
marry me, who lived in l A. I told my
mom up and down, there's no way I'm moving to
l A. There's no way I'm going to live there.
And meanwhile, all of a sudden, it's the hot doctor
from the wedding and maybe I can live here. So
when we got there, you know again I didn't know.
(39:55):
I didn't know is he interested? Is he not interested?
I gotta play it cool. And then as we were leaving,
he whispered in my ear, oh no, wait. Before when
we were on our way, when our way we got
lost and my husband my brother was like, can you
call his number from my phone? And I saw that
his number was nine one seven, which is a New
York City area code. So I said, why is his
number nine one seven? And he's like, Jim, you didn't
(40:17):
know he's a doctor at St. Vincent's. I was like, yes, yes, honey,
this is the one. I cannot let this one go.
So at the end of the night, he whispered in
my ear, call me when you get back to New
York and we can go out, and I was like,
(40:38):
you know, kind of just nodded yes, and then I'm like,
now I have to call him. I don't call guys.
Guys have to call me. What am I gonna do?
So as soon as we got to New York, I
start six seven my number, which, for those of you
who don't know, that will block your number. So I
blocked my number so you couldn't see because I knew
he wouldn't answer. I left a message with my number
(41:02):
and then the rest there you know how it goes rove.
Once he had my number, he had to come to me,
and you know what, it worked. It worked. We were
on the phone for seven weeks before he asked me
out on a date. There was at one point that
I even thought he was gay, because I was like,
what the has taken him so long to ask me out? Like,
(41:23):
but I knew that he couldn't ask me out without
serious intentions, because in my culture, when you date without
serious intentions, I risk shaming my family name because let's
say he doesn't put a ring on it, and then
let's say the next guy here's that I went out
with him without serious intentions. That new guy's mother is
(41:44):
going to d me a slot and she's gonna be like,
oh no, she's tainted. She's gone out with this that
the other without serious intentions. Oh no, you must stay
away from her. And that's how it was in my time.
And we have evolved since then, but it still a
lot of like just so you know, a lot of
the people from our community, the young Inns that are
(42:05):
not married yet, they're not on social media that much.
They don't let people know what they're doing. No, it
wasn't until after I got married that I didn't give
a what people knew about me because at that point
there's no refunds. That's an amazing story. Story. It's a
quite of story, yep, I guess. Then the last piece
the puzzle is, you get married to Bill, you have
(42:26):
five kids, how do you get looped into real housewives?
You know, they really do do it like a casting call.
You really do get an email and everybody just it'll say,
like email there to whoever. You know. We also give
recommendations as housewives. And when I had applied, I realized
that my husband knew Dolores. Since Dolores knew me or
(42:49):
knew me through my husband, they asked her about me.
They did like a test shooting to see how I
vibed with her. I mean, listen, uh, you know I
could pull a conversation out of it. Really, you can
give me anybody. I mean, there are some meetings that
my husband purposely takes me to because if he can't
start up a conversation with somebody, he knows I'm going
(43:10):
to find something to talk about or make them laugh
or crack some silly joke or whatever. Um. So obviously
we vibed really well, and Dolores brought me in as
her girlfriend on the show, and three years, I'm still
here to talk about it. Listen, I get it. It
makes total sense. The positive energy that just exudes from
you is so contagious, so always like that. I have
(43:34):
found it's really really hard to convey on reality TV,
just because there's just so much editing going on. And
that's why I love these podcasts. I really love an
opportunity to talk to people one on one. I love
meeting the fans. Like even when I'm out and someone
comes to me and they're tiptoeing by me, I always
want to make sure that I make them feel valid, right,
(43:57):
because I'm sure it's for them. They're like, oh, I
don't want to bob her. What if she's going to
be mean. I'm not going to be mean. If you
ask me for a picture, I will never say no
to a picture. I will ask you your name, I
will make eye contact. You know, I'm not that bougie.
As as much as they may edit me to be
some kind of snob, I'm not. I love everybody. I love, love,
(44:20):
love everybody, And if they don't like me, that's that's okay,
because you know what I like me, that's okay. If
you don't like me. You know what I say to that.
You can't win them all. You can't. You just gotta
keep it moving. You're such a positive force. You know
a lot of people listen to this podcast as and
use it as kind of like a blueprint for success.
Do you have a credo or is there something that
(44:42):
you live by to create such positive energy and success
in your life. I always tell myself that the lie
is hard to remember. If you stick with the truth,
then your story will always be the same. And I
rather my story be the same than me make myself
look like an asshole, because as I had to lie
or I felt like I had to fidge on something like,
(45:05):
that's not my vibe. You know, if I tell somebody
my age and I keep lying about it, then they
may talk to each other's sad. But she told me
forty one, Well she told me thirty nine. And the
lie is really, you know, easy to forget. So I
feel like the truth is the best um source of
my positivity. Just be honest, you know, be honest. Tell
(45:29):
people how you feel. I feel like there's a way
that you can deliver the way that you want to
say something without hurting somebody's feelings. And and if I
do hurt your feelings, that of course that wasn't my intention.
Tell me about it, and if I care enough, I'll apologize,
and if I don't, then I'll just say sorry, not sorry.
Oh my god. I feel my parents an anniversary party
(45:50):
I think was like thirty five years thirty five years
married or something, and it was a surprise anniversary party,
and my mom looked so pissed when she walked in,
and it was it was that Leonards of Great Neck, Okay,
a long island, and I just didn't understand why she
was so piste off. And she's doing that first dance
(46:10):
with my dad. And then finally I get her into
the bridal. Sweet, I'm like, what's the matter, You're not surprised,
and she's like, everybody's going to know your brother's age
and you're still not married. She's like, everyone's gonna know
that he's like thirty four and not married. I was like,
I think everybody kind of knows that already, Like we
all know that, you know, but she's been telling everybody's
(46:31):
twenty nine for the past five years. Now. It's like, oop,
my bad. The lie is hard to remember. Stick with
the truth. I'm running out of time with you before
I let you go. Do you have some time for
some rapid fire questions? Let's go, all right, rapid fire
questions with Jennifer Aiden of Real Housewives of New Jersey.
First one, would you rather be rich and sad or
(46:54):
poor and happy and sad? Night in or night out?
Night out? What job would you be terrible at? Something
that has to do with me being in an office?
Favorite pizza topic, just plain cheese. Who was your first kiss,
Mike Thomas? Usually people don't remember, and so I'm very
proud of you. Remember it was It was It was
(47:15):
a big deal. I waited. I waited. I'm not gonna say,
but I waited more than my friends. It was a
big deal. I mean it wasn't that great. I hope
Mike Thomas doesn't listen to this show. What was the
first conci every went to Motley Crewe? Nice? First car
you ever owned? Pantiac's Sunfire. Who is your childhood hero?
Fred Savage? I had Winnie Cooper on last week. Oh
(47:38):
my god, I was obsessed with Fred Savage. I thought
he was just like the good old boy next door
and I was like, just love me one day. Fred Savage. Yeah,
that was a long time ago. Would your mother have
approved Fred Savage to court you? No, No, because he
wasn't Syrian Orthodox. No, no one's per picked. I guess
(48:00):
Fred had to be Syrian Orthodox from my church, from
my mother to approve you. That was the first record
CD you owned? Definitely something freestyle, which is a form
of music that is not popular in l A like
Cynthia Johnny. Oh, it's more of a New York, New
Jersey thing. But it's freestyle because my brother was a DJ.
(48:22):
My brother used to dj like all the high school dances,
and freestyle was my favorite. So definitely one of his freestyle.
What's the weirdest superstition that you have? Um, don't sleep
with your closet door open, because then it leaves people
talking about you. Really Yeah. And lastly, what's one beauty
(48:44):
product that everyone absolutely needs? My beauty flag, Flag Plug,
L L D Shop Jennifer Aiden. And where can people
find it? Oh? Aidan Plastic Surgery as of right now,
contact Aidan Plastic Surgery and we'll point out to you.
People want to follow you on social media, where do
they need to go? Jennifer Aiden, No Space, no Underscore,
(49:06):
A Y d I N Real Houseblaves of New Jersey's
on Wednesday's on Bravo. Jennifer Absolutely wonderful talking with you.
You are such a bright light. You've brightened my day,
which is not easy to do. So thank you for
being on the show. Go on The Queen of Jennifer Aiden.
(49:28):
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