'RHONJ' 's Jennifer Aydin Says She Didn't Drink While Filming Season 12: 'I Don't Know My Limits'

The reality star tells PEOPLE that an incident during a season 11 pool party was one of the reasons she quit drinking on camera

By

and Ally Mauch

Published on February 1, 2022 01:59 PM

Jennifer Aydin decided on no booze while filming the latest season of The Real Housewives of New Jersey.

The reality star, 44, tells PEOPLE that she stopped drinking entirely during season 12, set to premiere on Bravo Tuesday night.

"If you know me in real life, you would know that I really am not a big drinker. It's just that when I do drink, I don't know my limits, obviously," she says. "And sometimes, it catches stuff with me before I notice."

"That's just because I don't drink excessively enough to know where my limit is. I don't know how many licks it takes to get to the center of this girl, we got to find out," she adds.

Aydin goes on to cite costar Teresa Giudice's pool party last season as one reason for the change.

THE REAL HOUSEWIVES OF NEW JERSEY — The cast of RHONJ. Rodolfo Martinez/Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty

During the party, Aydin was clearly overserved and at one point collapsed on the deck before slurring, "I've made an executive decision not to drink anymore." Her husband Bill ultimately took her home, warning her not to get sick on his sports car as his fellow house-husbands waved him away.

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"When I got drunk at Teresa's party, I had never been drunk like that in my life," Aydin says. "I mean, I think I had alcohol poisoning. I was shaking till two o'clock in the morning, in the fetal position, begging Bill to make it stop, and he is like, 'Nope, you just got to go through it.' I'm like, 'This is terrible. Why do people drink?' "

She continues, "Listen, I love fun, drunk Jennifer. I love her. I just don't like curling over and feeling like I'm going to vomit all over your Ferrari Jennifer."

As for the new season, Aydin teases that she learned a lot of "life lessons" in regards to her relationships with her costars. In addition to her and Giudice, the cast includes Melissa Gorga, Margaret Josephs, Dolores Catania, Jackie Goldschneider and new "friend of" Traci Johnson.

"You're going to see a lot of ups and downs," she says. "And I feel like aside from the drama, which I know everybody loves, there's a lot of fun moments, and a lot of loving moments and a lot of laugh-out-loud moments that we're going to see."

"That's what I'm most excited to see, the fun part of it all," Aydin adds.

Season 12 of The Real Housewives of New Jersey premieres Tuesday (8 p.m. ET) on Bravo.