The Real Housewives of New Jersey star Caroline Manzo has testified she told Bravo she would not return for its upcoming third season if newly-departed former co-star Danielle Staub also remained part of the reality show's cast.

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"I did tell Bravo and I did tell [the show's] Sirens [production company] that there is no amount of money you could put on the table for me for next year," Manzo said during a July 22 deposition in Staub's defamation lawsuit against ex-husband Kevin Maher.

"If Danielle Staub is on the show, I am out because my integrity means too much to me and my family's safety means too much to me.  So for Season 3, they know it's either Danielle or myself.  I will not do it."

Video of a portion of Manzo's deposition was released by TMZ on Monday.

"Is it safe to say that you hate my client?" Staub's lawyer asked Manzo.

"It is very safe to say that I hate your client," The Real Housewives star replied.

"This was supposed to be something that was fun and entertaining and Danielle Staub's involvement turned it into something very dark and I regret.  If I knew two years ago what I know now, there was no way I would have signed that contract.  There couldn't have been enough [money] for you to put on that table."

Manzo's testimony is consistent with a prior Pop Eater report which claimed Bravo fired Staub after Manzo and fellow co-star Jacqueline Laurita gave the network an "it's her or us" ultimatum.

"Caroline and Jacqueline made it clear that if Danielle stayed they would leave," a source told Pop Eater at the time.  "Bravo had already lost [Dina Manzo] because of Danielle and couldn't risk losing another two cast members from the top Housewife show in the whole franchise."

Reports that Staub would not be returning for The Real Housewives of New Jersey's third season had first surfaced earlier this summer.   While Bravo had declined comment on the reports, Staub had played coy and suggested she was eyeing her own spinoff series.

Bravo subsequently confirmed Staub's The Real Housewives of New Jersey exit immediately after its September 6 broadcast of the conclusion of the show's second season reunion special.

"The reunion was Danielle's last appearance on The Real Housewives of New Jersey," said Bravo executive and reunion show host Andy Cohen.

Bravo has not elaborated on the reason for Staub's departure but she has repeatedly denied she was dropped from the show.

"I actually didn't go back on my own choice, [it] was my choice to leave... I didn't get fired.  I'm not going back on my own choice," she told TMZ last week in an interview in which she said she is now working on two different new reality shows.
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