'Mob Wives' OG Karen Gravano Is Back for Season 5

Try as it might, Mob Wives just can't replace its original cast. Which is why, after taking a season off, Karen Gravano is returning for Mob Wives Season 5 because as she explained in a video for VH!, she cares about the realness and she's so not cool with some Philly-based wannabes going off on remaining OG-wife Renee Graziano. But also because, to put it in Karen's words, "The show's called Mob Wives not 'Fake Wives.'" Boom. Even though there's allegedly a "no-hit clause" in the wives' contracts these days, Karen's gloves are coming off and she's taking no prisoners. But why exactly did she decide to leave the show and what has Karen been up to since Season 3 ended?

Karen exited the reality series alongside Carla Facciolo and Ramona Rizzo, but while the latter two reportedly left due to manipulation by the network and monetary disputes, Karen had a bigger problem with where Mob Wives was going. The series' fourth season introduced Philly-wife Alicia DiMichele Garafolo, whose storyline, according to Karen, was all about about her and her father, Sammy Gravano. The original mob wife claimed back in 2013, in the video below, that her father was responsible for the death of Alicia's father-in-law, Edward Garofalo. Karen speculated that Alicia's husband Edward Jr., who's currently in jail, asked his wife to be on the show to get the details of that story "out there." Obviously, Karen wasn't into a one-sided story getting on the air and, she alleged, that when she returned to do the show, Edward Jr. didn't want her on the series because #23yearoldbeef.

Considering she's such a big proponent of realness, Karen wasn't going to stick around for that. And, instead, she spent the past year being extremely busy — while apparently finding time to watch Mob Wives Season 4. Duh.

She's "Been At Peace"

Karen's essentially just been chilling and waiting to pop off since she left Mob Wives.

She Released Memoir

Karen released her memoir, Mob Daughter: The Mafia, Sammy "The Bull" Gravano, & Me, in February 2013 and went out on a handful of book signings. The book is available on Amazon and has a 3.5 star rating.

She Watched Some Episodes of Mob Wives

I mean, how else would Karen know that some of Season 4's new wives were "disrespectful" to Renee like she mentions in the above video? She must have spent some of her year off from the series, watching the series. Which is great news for Mob Wives fans because that means Karen's got plenty of ammo coming into Season 5.

She Shared Wisdom On Instagram

Karen's Instagram account is full of inspirational memes. Well, most of them are about why you're so much better than your haters.

She Was Proud of Her Daughter

Inspirational memes and selfies aside, there are photos of Karen's daughter, Karina Seabrook, all over the proud mother's Instagram account.

Images: karengravano/Instagram (4)