Last month, “Real Housewives of New Jersey” star Danielle Staub’s teen daughter, Christine Staub, signed with IMG models. During New York Fashion week, Christine made her debut first on the cover of The Daily and then walking in the Rebecca Minkoff show.

Christine Staub landed the cover of The Daily last weekend, which is the must-read of fashion week. This week, Staub finally took a twirl on the catwalk during Rebecca Minkoff’s ready-to-wear presentation in front of a star-studded crowd including Gerard Butler, Lauren Conrad, Michelle Trachtenberg, and, of course, her mom “Real Housewives of New Jersey” star Danielle Staub.

Bravo’s camera crew was there to capture her runway debut and onlookers said Christine looked like a pro in a one-shoulder white asymmetrical dress and grey sky-high booties from Rebecca Minkoff’s spring 2010 collection.

The Daily, Fashion Week’s daily glossy that recounts all the shows, parties and gossip from the day before, billed Christine as “America’s next beauty”. Staub, 5’10″ and just fifteen years old, entered the 10th grade in September as an honor student. “This is all very new to me,” she told The Daily. “I’ve never really done any modeling before, so I’m just learning while I have a chance and being guided by the best in the business. I’m also getting used to industry people looking at my face so closely!”

That was me! Chrissy from New York City.

If you stayed up late enough last night to see the premiere of the new LIVE Bravo TV show, “Watch What Happens”, you’ll know that Danielle put to rest a lot of rumors and cleared up questions we’ve all had since the reunion.

First, the question to Danielle about the alleged shoving match with “NYC Housewife” Jill Zarin: THAT WAS ME! “Chrissy from New York City said the Daily News is reporting that you and Jill Zarin were involved in a shoving match at a charity event over who got to sit next to the host, Kim Kardashian.” Danielle responded that it could have been perceived that way, but there was no altercation. Staub said she was trying to get through a small, heavily crowded space to have a photograph taken alongside Kardashian and was being led through the crowd by someone from InTouch magazine who might have had to move people aside to get her to the front. No hard feelings.

The biggest lingering question since the reunion show was when matriarch Caroline Manzo ripped into Danielle, and was actually moved to tears, over something she did to sister Dina Manzo. “You know what you did.. I will never forgive [you] and you will never be a friend of mine,” Caroline said between tears after pointing a finger at Danielle and angrily calling her a piece of “garbage” and “disgraceful.”

Caroline refused to provide further details after her sister, Dina, asked her not to. Danielle sat there stone faced, claiming not to have any knowledge about why they were upset. Later, in her blog she wrote: “I had no idea at the time what ‘disgraceful’ acts she was referring to,” said Danielle, who goes on to say that she later figured out what Caroline was so angry about from “someone in her own family. I simply gave a phone number to her ex brother-in-law to contact proper people with questions that he had concerning something that was absolutely none of my business. I think my minimal involvement did not justify Caroline’s behavior towards me,” wrote Danielle. Dina Manzo wrote in her blog: “Yes, it is true that Danielle did something recently, actually two things that were harmful to innocent people that didn’t sign on for the show. Nothing ever became of it, she may have tried to do something, but it held no merit so it went nowhere,” wrote Dina, who went on to say that she forgives Danielle because she admitted she was “broken” at the time and has since learned from her mistakes.”

Last night Staub elaborated on the reason why the Manzo’s are so upset with her and what she did to deserve the tongue lashing she received. Danielle said that she provided Dina’s telephone number to the brother of her best friend, who happens to be Dina’s ex-husband. Danielle said her friend had asked for the number so her brother could get in touch with Dina regarding contracts for the show, but looking back realizes it was an error in judgement on her part that she should have never done. She claims she meant no harm, and if asked again would not have given out the number, but at the time didn’t see any fault in it. She didn’t elaborate on Dina’s relationship with her ex-husband.

So there you have it. Danielle went on to say she is writing a book and has representation in hopes that she can pursue an acting career.

Premiering tonight, the weekly “Watch What Happens” will feature Cohen, who is also the senior vice president of production and programming at Bravo. The interactive series will feature a weekly take on pop culture showcasing guests from Bravo’s most popular shows and the world of entertainment, and discussions on topics ranging from fashion to the hottest celebrity news of the week. “We’ll be taking questions via Twitter and Facebook, and phone calls,” said Cohen. “We wanted to provide a bridge between what just aired on the network and the audience, so this is going to be a very interactive experience.”

“Every year, before a reunion, I inevitably get a phone call or e-mail from someone telling me they don’t want to talk about X or Y, but I just tell them they should be prepared to, because it’s happening.” While Cohen is still lining up future guests for the show, he expects visits from the “Real Housewives of Atlanta” ladies in the coming weeks before that show returns for its second season July 30, as well as all his favorites from TV, movies and fashion. “There are certain people who I love and am obsessed with that I’m working on booking,” said Cohen. “It’s going to be a great lineup. It’s going to be very unexpected.”

Cohen’s first guest is “Real Housewives of New Jersey” star Danielle Staub. Staub is a controversial member thanks to a shady past that included a high-profile arrest, involvement with drug cartels, and a name change. “Those Smoking-Gun.com documents [detailing Staub's arrest] came out after we wrapped the reunion show, so I’m interested in those,” said Cohen. “And at the reunion, Caroline famously accused Danielle of something that Danielle [denied] all knowledge of, so I’m wondering if her memory has been jogged in the past few weeks.”

Watch What Happens: Live is set to premiere on Thursday, July 16 at midnight ET/PT.

BETHENNY Frankel

While I am thrilled for Bethenny’s success, I am worried that her absence on the “Housewives of NYC” will affect the show. Frankel is a key member of the cast who is known for her wise cracking sense of humor as much as her friendship with Jill and feud with Kelly Killoren Bensimon. Bravo is currently casting for a new character, so you’d have to assume that this woman will replace Bethenny.

Danielle Staub

Jill Zarin

The Daily News is reporting that “Real Housewives” contemporaries Jill Zarin of New York and Danielle Staub of New Jersey nearly threw down at the Three Olives Bubble launch at Greenhouse. An eyewitness said, “Danielle literally pushed Jill out of the way to nab a prime spot next to [host] Kim Kardashian, and the ladies started arguing, with Danielle eventually walking away after a heated argument. You could have cut the tension with a knife!”

Jill spoke out about the near catfight saying the story is MOSTLY true: “She climbed over Ally and me while talking to Kim on a bench at party to get photographer to take their picture. We did not fight though. She realized what she did and apologized saying the photographer made her do it. I said no problem.”

Through public records, it’s been revealed that Danielle Staub has a much more questionable past than she’s admitted to on Bravo’s hit reality show. Staub, 46, has admitted to an arrest and to changing her name after she was exposed in “Cop Without a Badge,” a 1995 book about her ex-husband. But according to federal court records posted yesterday on The Smoking Gun, she was involved in a kidnapping plot, a $24,000 drug deal gone bad and an “escort service.”

Danielle has always said her criminal record, which is over 20 years old and dates back to 1986, were the mistakes of youth and I can understand that since3 we’ve all done things that we wish we could put past us. However, going on a reality show is not exactly a way to fly under the radar hoping to keep the past in the past. The details of the charges against her outlined on official papers are substantial. Staub, then known as Beverly Ann Merrill used the alias Angela Minelli when she was arrested along with Daniel Aguilar, a local cocaine kingpin whom she became involved with while working for an escort service, according to the reports. In June 1986, Daniel had Beverly take a kilo of cocaine, worth $24,000, to the nearby apartment of customer Carmen Centolella, who was supposed to sell the drugs to four men. When Beverly arrived, the documents state, she was accosted by the men who held her at gunpoint before fleeing with the cocaine. When Aguilar, who later told investigators that Beverly used cocaine, learned what had happened, he orchestrated Carmen Centolella’s kidnapping. Centolella was beaten while he was held at Aguilar’s house for three days, during which phone calls were placed to his father demanding $25,000 ransom. According to the documents, Beverly Merrill placed the first call to the father, during which she “threatened injury or death” to his son.

When they were arrested, “agents discovered six kilos of cocaine and about $16,000 in cash,” according to the papers. Staub “was charged with eight felonies, including extortion, cocaine possession and narcotics conspiracy.” She later became an informant and pleaded guilty to “a single felony count,” sentenced to five years’ probation (Aguilar got 15 years in the slammer) and was ordered into a drug treatment program, according to papers filed in US District Court in Miami.

Still, Staub is sticking with what she originally said was true in the out-of-print book Cop Without a Badge: she was arrested and changed her name. “Yup, I had a name change. Yup, I was a different person,” she told Us Weekly. “Don’t judge me. There’s only one person that can judge anybody,” she went on. “In spirit and in life, we are all equal. There is only one higher power.”

Meanwhile, the bad blood between Danielle and the four other “Housewives” — Dina Manzo, Caroline Manzo, Teresa Giudice and Jacqueline Laurita — has gotten worse since the show ended last week. According to US Weekly, Jacqueline Laurita, who was Danielle’s only friend and ally on the show, is no longer talking to Staub. “I’ve learned my family was right about her after all,” she said although she failed to elaborate on what she learned. In the show’s finale, Laurita took Staub’s side when she confronted Dina and Caroline Manzo about the two making an out-of-print book that detailed Staub’s crime ridden past public. Now that the program is over, Laurita’s tone has changed about her fellow housewife. “I am not friends with Danielle,” the new mom told the publication. “She has never seen the baby, nor will I ever show her.” Jacqueline and hubby Chris welcomed a baby boy named Nicholas Francis on June 11.

In other news, Danielle Staub has stopped ex-boyfriend Stephen Zalewski from releasing a sex tape, at least temporarily. A judge on Wednesday ordered an injunction banning the release of any sexually explicit video or pictures of Danielle Staub and her former boyfriend Stephen Zalewski pending a hearing next month. Staub, of Wayne, says Zalewski is trying to get back at her because she broke up with him last year. She says she was videotaped without her knowledge. Staub filed a lawsuit Wednesday in Paterson that alleges invasion of privacy, defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

“Real Housewives of New Jersey“ star Danielle Staub has taken the first step to block the release of a sex tape her sleazy ex-boyfriend is trying to sell. Staub’s lawyer, Darren Del Sardo, filed a complaint yesterday in Passaic County Superior Court alleging Stephen Zalewski, who was featured as her boyfriend on the reality show, invaded her privacy, defamed her, and inflicted emotional distress. Staub is seeking punitive damages as well an injunction. Zalewski, who is 20 years younger than Staub, dated during season 1 of the hit Bravo series and was dumped by her on the show.

Zalewski told Star magazine last week that he has the tapes and may sell them because Staub “cost me so much money, why shouldn’t I make a few dollars?” Del Sardo says through a spokesman that the complaint is based on Zalewski’s statements to Star, and cannot confirm that the tapes do exist. “It never ceases to amaze me the lengths that some people will go to capitalize on someone else’s fame or notoriety,” Del Sardo says in a statement. “Zalewski wants to get his 15 minutes of fame and a few dollars by pandering to the most base, prurient tastes of a small segment of our society at the expense of my client.”

On Danielle’s Facebook page she had this to say about her ex: “Mr Steve has been served this morning I am indeed taking him to court and putting restraints in him. Press release was put out by my Attorney last night.”

As if “Real Housewives of New Jersey” star Danielle Staub didn’t have enough gossip surrounding her right now, her ex-boyfriend is considering releasing a sex tape of the couple to the public. Danielle can’t catch a break.

In an interview with Star magazine, Steve Zalewski, the 27 year-old who was dumped by Staub on the show last week, says the 46-year-old “Housewife” was completely sex-crazed. Considering she asked him to have sex with her in the bathroom of a restaurant during dinner, that doesn’t surprise me. “Not only does she want to have sex all the time, but she loves the thrill of doing it in public places, where she might get caught,” Zalewski said. “She wanted to make love in restaurant bathrooms basically every time we went out – she’d get all excited and say, ‘The people can hear you doing it outside.’”

According to Steve, the couple had a bad breakup due in part to her always borrowing money from him. Staub failing to pay back money she borrowed has caused Zalewski to look for alternate methods of recouping his money, and earning a little extra, by selling the alleged sex tape. “I’m definitely weighing my options as far as selling them and getting them out there. She cost me so much money, why shouldn’t I make a few dollars,” he told Star.

Last nights explosive season finale of The Real Housewives of New Jersey was by far the wildest in the history of the series. Dina Manzo found herself in the middle of the melee after her costar, Danielle Staub, accused her of unearthing a 25-year-old book which held unknown secrets of her past. Dina’s sister, Caroline Manzo, took the blame for spreading the word about the book, which escalated an already heated argument into a table flipping incident by Teresa Giudice. Due to the heightened state of emotions on the final show,

Bravo has added more episodes to “The Real Housewives of New Jersey.” In addition to an uncut version of “The Last Supper” airing Thursday night and next Tuesday’s reunion episode, Bravo has added a second reunion special (airing next Thursday) and a “Lost Footage” episode airing July 9, which is the best of the rest and contains unseen moments from the series and the reunion shows. “You’ll see how it begins and you’ll see how it ends — you’ll see the entire thing… with a really surprise ending,” says Andy Cohen, Bravo’s senior VP original programming and development who’ll host the reunion episodes.

The reunion show was taped about two weeks ago at a small North Jersey sound stage, near the hospital where Jacqueline was about to give birth. Before the taping, all the women were sent copies of the two final episodes to bring them up to speed. Ultimately, there was enough to make two one-hour shows — one next Tuesday and a second next Thursday night. “We dig deeply into mob allegations, and I think Caroline has an incredibly emotional defense of her family,” says Cohen. “I grilled Danielle pretty hard about the allegations that came her way.”

The Bravo TV blogs were on fire today with comments and mudslinging. Surprising, Danielle Staub apologized to Dina on her blog saying: “Apologies to Dina for putting sole blame on her perhaps one day we will talk and she will understand. I wish well to Dina who was definitely not deserving of being in the direct line of fire. She participated yes but I am still not exactly clear at what level. I will never again believe anything unless it is confirmed by the source. In simple terms I will do as I tell my children……take the issue up with the issuer, period.”

Dina’s sister Caroline Manzo weighed in on “The Last Supper” saying: “If you’ve noticed, I’ve been very quiet in my blog for the past six weeks in regards to Danielle. I just don’t want to discuss her. I will say this: I was the one who showed the book, and I showed it to TWO people who are friends of mine. This will be addressed later in the reunion show, so watch and see. It was not done with malice, but out of concern, and fear. My feelings towards Danielle have NOTHING to do with her past, and this too will be addressed in the reunion show. There was also a lot of family drama going on that day. This made me cry when I saw it played out on national TV. I will say only this – all is not as it appears.”

Jacqueline Laurita lashing out at sister-in-law Dina was by far the most shocking thing of all. Jacqueline recently gave birth to a son, Nicholas, and by the tone of her blog it appears that Laurita has trimmed the fat when it came to friends saying: “The family, as always, despite our little battles from time to time, is closer than ever and I am thrilled. Nothing is better than family! I am so glad everyone has resolved their differences and my new son isn’t being born in the middle of a shit storm. With some recent shocking developments I have cut the toxic people from my life. I’m not going to talk about it – I am just going to act on it. Let’s just say I was very disappointed with people, and I regret giving them my heart and time. Because of that rejection, I am now the target of a pathological liar. Someone asked what the writing on the wall in my kitchen says. In Italian it means, “God Bless This Family.”

Dina Manzo spoke to People Magazine today about the infamous book, the table flipping dinner, and her relationship with sister-in-law Jacqueline Laurita, after Jacqueline came to Danielle’s defense.

On Danielle bringing the book to dinner: Nothing surprises me from her. It was in poor taste. Our kids were there. I guess in watching the show now, I didn’t know how much she exposed her kids to and now I see it. So, it’s not shocking at all that she’d do that in front of her kids. Although it did seem like [my daughter] Lexi was in the room, Lexi was not in the room. I asked her to leave when Teresa asked her children to leave. Whenever I look at that footage and I see her daughters in the background, I just cringe.

Her thoughts on the Danielle vs. Dina rift: I’m watching the show now [and] I’m starting to put some pieces together. My thing is right now I’m trying to move forward from it, and I don’t want to rehash anything. It’s hard to watch something that happened a year ago. All the emotions start coming up and everything, and I think I make it very clear in the show that I really run from drama. All I ever wanted was for this girl to leave me alone. I meant no malice toward her. I never wanted to hurt her. I never did anything really to hurt her other than respond to her remarks. And things just got out of control.

On sister-in-law Jacqueline accusing Dina of lying and blaming her, not sister Caroline, on exposing the book: I felt bad because it wasn’t like I didn’t do it but [Caroline] did. In hindsight, when I look at the footage, I wish I would have said, “Say what you want, I really don’t care,” because that’s how I felt. I never denied anything. That’s what’s making me mad right now is that it seems like I was lying. I never denied talking about [Danielle] with friends and family. I never denied that I was part of [exposing] the book. I just literally never had the book in my hands. Literally. Like, I never had possession of the book. So how can I go around showing something that was never in my hands? So Jacqueline misunderstood what I was saying. She thought I was saying I never had anything to do with it. But, no, I had everything to do with it.

On her current relationship with sister-in-law Jacqueline: Everything’s cool now. We were at a bad place [during filming] and it wasn’t totally Danielle’s fault. Of course the situation had a lot to do with it. We’re fine now. That’s the most important thing.

Her current relationship with Danielle: Like a business arrangement. We’re civil. And that’s all I ever wanted. There’s no reason for us to love or hate each other. We treat each other like grown women — adults — should treat each other. There’s no reason for hugs or kisses and there’s no reason for backstabbing.

After last weeks teaser clip of what was next to come on last night’s Real Housewives of New Jersey, the internet has been inundated with theories about Danielle Staub’s checkered past. On last nights episode Caroline and Dina Manzo dropped the book bombshell that a family member discovered a book, Cop Without a Badge, which alleges castmate Danielle Staub was arrested for extortion and involved with a kidnapping plot, drugs and stripping. Danielle didn’t deny the allegations on Tuesday’s episode, but she didn’t set the record straight either. Danielle opened up to her gay bff, Tommy, about the arrest telling him that she had been at a modeling shoot in Cozumel and stopped by her boyfriend’s 30-room house. She went on to deny knowing any wrongdoing saying she was a victim of circumstance and in the wrong place at the wrong time. Riiiiiiight.

Caroline Manzo spoke with People Magazine last night and confirmed this is NOT the end of the drama. Knowing what we know now makes me think what else could possibly be revealed. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. Manzo is remaining tight-lipped about future episodes, but revealed to People magazine more about how her family found the book and all about that now-infamous scene at the dance studio.

The book: This is something that literally fell into our laps. We had no reason to believe that Danielle was somebody other than [who] she represented herself to be. And my niece did tell us about it. When something this explosive falls into your lap, for anyone to just dismiss it would be foolish. It’s beyond catty gossip. There are a lot of facets to this story that can affect us in a negative way.

Regarding Jacqueline and Danielle’s friendship: It seems to be the image that we don’t allow her to [know] outsiders and other friends. That’s so not true. However, Jacqueline looks at the world through rose-colored glasses. Something like this, you have to look at the situation and say, “I understand you want to give this person the benefit of the doubt, and I commend you for that. However, please, please look at this with your eyes wide open.” And that’s just what we did.

The dance studio incident: My son is not a boy. He’s a grown man. I certainly didn’t think that I needed to protect him — or that she would make an advance on him. I just thought [her dancing] was inappropriate. I’m not one of those overbearing mothers. I have seen many girls hug my son [or] look at my son in certain ways, and I never found that to be insulting and inappropriate. My remark may have been snide, and I’ll own up to that. But I was there and it was a little too much.

Meanwhile, Danielle said on her Bravo blog that for the record, she was not a prostitute and did not kidnap anyone: In this letter I will do my best to clear up a few important issues, and some rumors about me. However, I will not tell my whole story here, but I will on a different platform very soon. Number one – over two and a half decades ago I was arrested. I was just a child, with no guidance or parents to speak of, in an industry that was very fast paced. I got in with the wrong crowd, and was not completely aware of the serious nature of my surroundings. I did not kidnap anyone. I am not a prostitute. I was merely at the wrong place with the wrong people at the wrong time. I apologize for being vague, but this is all I can reveal at this time.

On Dina’s Bravo blog she claims that she didn’t want anyone to find out about the book: “We all agreed we didn’t want Danielle to know about the fact that we were aware of it. We all kind of agreed that we would take this information, keep it in the back of our minds and keep this woman in question at arms length. We had no idea if it was even true. Her ex-husband wrote this book and ex’s are ex’s for a reason.”

Dina said they encouraged Jacqueline to keep quiet. “I guess she had her reasons to tell Danielle and if that’s what she needed to do … what are you gonna do? She admitted that we didn’t want Danielle to know that we knew about it. That kind of confused me. I have to admit at the time, I felt betrayed. I didn’t want the drama.”

Yesterday, NBC’s “Today” show snagged the first interview with Danielle Staub since the book was revealed. At first, Staub would only say, “It’s out there and it will be addressed and I will definitely touch on the subjects that are crucially in need of touching on … when the time is right.” When pressed, she added, “Everybody has somebody in their past or present or that would like to say and embellish nasty things about them.”

The Miami Herald reported that in June 1986, a SWAT team was called out to rescue a man being held on a $25,000 ransom. The victim, Carmen Christopher Centolella, then 26, allegedly owed money to his captors, who kept him for two days and placed ransom calls to Centolella’s father in upstate New York. Police found 10 kilos of cocaine, $16,000 cash and homemade explosive devices in the house rented by one of the suspects. They also found one Beverly Ann Merrill, 23, who lived in the same Coconut Grove apartment complex as Centolella. According to the story, Merrill was arrested; according to “Cop Without a Badge,” she was charged with extortion, kidnapping and drug possession. But wait, there’s more! According to another story in the Herald three months later, Centolella was arrested on federal drug charges, along with one of his alleged captors. They were both charged with conspiracy to possess and possession with intent to distribute cocaine. Maher, who met Merrill at a drug party in Miami, claims to have helped her bargain the charges down to extortion only, and she received five years’ probation. Merrill later changed her stripper name to Danielle, and there is little doubt in looking at her mugshot that she is the same woman as Danielle Staub.

Now, Gawkeris reporting that Danielle Staub IS in fact Beverly Merrill. A quick public records search confirmed that Danielle Staub used to go by Beverly Merrill, as well as both Danielle Maher and Beverly Maher, as in the Maher who’s in Cop Without a Badge. Or at least that someone with the same Social Security number went by all four names at dozens of addresses in New Jersey and Miami. OMFG

Also, Gawker has two of the pages from the book that discuss when Maher met Beverly Merrill aka Danielle Staub at a drug party in Miami. She was on probation at the time for extortion, kidnapping, and possession. Sounds like a real winner.