Danielle Staub

Early life

Born to a 15-year-old mother of Sicilian heritage, Staub was adopted, given the name Beverly Ann Merrill, and reared in Pennsylvania. She said in her autobiography, The Naked Truth, that multiple relatives sexually abused her, writing, "The memory goes back as far as 8 years old. By 11, I started fighting back."

Career

In 2001, Staub briefly acted in an episode of All My Children. In 2009, Staub joined the cast of The Real Housewives of New Jersey, where she appeared in the first two seasons. After weeks of speculation, Bravo announced that Staub would not be returning to the show for season three, giving no reason.

Staub's autobiography, The Naked Truth, was released on May 25, 2010, and in it, she wrote that her arrest was a matter of "wrong place/wrong time." In June 2010, her Wayne, New Jersey home, which had been featured on The Real Housewives of New Jersey, was put up for sale. In June 2012, Staub filed for bankruptcy. As of the end of 2014, the property was listed as a short sale in connection with Staub's successful completion of a bankruptcy filing. In September 2010, she appeared on the Style Network comedy program The Dish. She acted in several sketches including a surprise cold open where she tried to take over as the show's host after leaving the real presenter, Danielle Fishel, bound and gagged backstage. The appearance gained media attention after one sketch, which some commentators said parodied Staub castmate Teresa Giudice by portraying her as a monkey.

In 2011, Staub, along with Heidi Montag of The Hills and Jake Pavelka of The Bachelor: On the Wings of Love, starred in a food-related reality series for VH1 called Famous Food, in which they would "[revamp] a restaurant from the ground up."

In February 2017, it was announced Staub would return to The Real Housewives of New Jersey for the series' eighth season. In August 2017, it was announced that Staub would return to the series, in a "friend of the housewives" capacity.

Personal life

Staub has been married twice. She married Kevin Maher from 1986 to 1987, and Thomas Staub from 1993 to 2007, with the latter of the two she had two children, Jillian and Christine. In May 2017, it was announced Staub was engaged to Marty Caffrey.

Controversies and legal problems

During the first season of The Real Housewives of New Jersey, other participants in the reality show confronted Staub with Charles Kipps's book Cop Without a Badge, which recounted events that surrounded an undercover FBI informer, Kevin Maher, who had once been married to Staub; Cop Without a Badge also included an account of Staub's arrest. Still known at the time as Beverly Ann Merrill, Staub cooperated with authorities and received five years probation. Staub had been arrested in June 1986, but she denied many of the other allegations Maher had made.

In October 2009, Staub's ex-husband Kevin Maher sued her for defamation of character after allegations were made about him. However, it was settled out of court. In October 2010, Staub was sued again by Maher for making false allegations in her memoir The Naked Truth, after notifying the publisher Simon & Schuster, a lawsuit would be filed if the book was published. In May 2011, she signed a three-year deal with Scores Gentleman's Club to appear as a fully nude stripper and to star in adult online content. But days after signing her contract for adult performances, Staub announced that she was seeking psychological and addiction treatment, and reneged on the deal.

Published works