Why Taylor Strecker Is Glad ‘RHONJ’ Casting Directors Ghosted Her Before ‘House of Stassi’ Debut (Exclusive)

Taylor Strecker‘s journey to reality TV stardom was years in the making before House of Stassi — and nearly involved being cast on The Real Housewives of New Jersey.

“Now that I’m on House of Stassi, this is where I was meant to be,” Taylor exclusively told Us before the new series debuted on Wednesday, July 29. “I get the allure of [being] a Housewife, but what we’re doing on House of Stassi is different.”

The podcast host explained that she’s glad she held out, adding, “I love that it’s different. So I think my dreams of being a Housewife … we’ve moved on. I’m fulfilling my destiny now.”

After years of being friends with Stassi Schroeder, Taylor made several appearances on Vanderpump Villa before officially joining the Vanderpump Rules alum’s latest venture, House of Stassi. Taylor told Us that her relationship with reality TV began long before she was ever in front of the camera.

“I was grounded all of my junior year of high school and so I only watched The Real World,” Taylor recalled. “It’s my parents’ fault that I want to be a reality TV personality. I had dreams of doing it, but I really never thought it would come to fruition because I was a radio girlie.”

She continued: “But times have changed so much. I will say that with Real Housewives of New Jersey, I did audition, but I didn’t go to a casting call. Margaret Josephs recommended me for it because we’re friends and I live in Jersey. That kind of just came about that way, but it was a four-hour interview.”

Taylor claimed she “never heard” from Bravo beyond that stage of the process.

“They ghosted me. But years ago — 10 or 15 years ago at this point — our executive producer, Erin Foye and I actually worked on a sizzle together. It was called Radio in the City and it was going to be about me and Nicole Ryan and our friendship and working at SiriusXM and the celebrities we interviewed.”

The concept ultimately wasn’t picked up, with Taylor adding, “Obviously, nothing came of that — and it didn’t really go beyond a conversation. I’ve been working at this for a minute and it only took me 20 years, [but here I am on a reality TV show].”

Despite her previous hopes of being on RHONJ, Taylor has since changed her mind on joining the franchise.

“Here’s the deal. I don’t think I’m a fit for Jersey,” she told Us. “Me and Teresa [Giudice], can you imagine it? I just don’t. It is like oil and water. I don’t think it would work. I also don’t want to go up against Teresa.”

For Taylor, joining House of Stassi came with “a million and one concerns” — including how it would affect her marriage to wife Taylor “Teddy” Donohue.

“I’m obsessed with my wife. She’s my everything. The only thing I love more in this world than being famous is my wife,” she quipped. “So I was like, ‘If there’s going to be any risk to us, that’s a huge fear.’ I do think that with reality TV, if things are weak, then it shows the weaknesses. … We tend to only fixate on the horror stories of reality TV instead of the success stories. So I think I’ve let that fear go of this ruining my relationship with Teddy.”

Taylor had a similar feeling about how her friendship with Stassi would be affected, saying, “I do think it made us stronger. It’s like group therapy, so things I might have beforehand just stuffed down, I was forced to address or say in my interviews. So I feel like we grew in our relationship actually through doing the show together.”

House of Stassi is streaming now on Hulu.