Real Housewives

Sources close to Giudice tell TMZ, the

feels like Bravo's giving her the short end of the stick ... because she's under the impression that the other women in the cast are earning significantly more money than she is. As we previously reported, Teresa wants double her salary from last season.

We're told Teresa -- who's famously dealt with money issues in the past -- is ready to walk if Bravo doesn't cough up the cash. Bravo insiders wouldn't comment on the current state of negotiations, but did say the network is looking at possible replacements.

The 7-hour trip costs $95 ... and we're told, it includes a drive-by tour of all the housewives' houses, plus a bunch of other show-related stops -- like lunch at The Brownstone catering hall (owned by Caroline and Dina's hubbies), and a shopping trip to Kim DePaola's boutique.

And nip/tuck this -- according to the event company behind the tour, it even includes a glimpse into the housewives' plastic surgeon's office.

Russell Armstrong filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy back in October of '05, this according to docs filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court and obtained by TMZ. The problem was simple ... Armstrong, an investor, said he had less than $50,000 in assets and debt somewhere between 1 and 10 million bucks.

Russell, who has been married to Taylor for seven years, says in the docs he made a boatload during the 1990's "dot.com boom" but took a huge financial hit when everything crashed. And it went from bad to worse after 9/11, with an IRS dispute and a "costly" palimony lawsuit filed by a former fianceé.

Looks like Taylor took the "for richer or poorer" part seriously.

Sources who interact with Camille on the show's production tell TMZ ... she feels "very bitter and the bitterness has been growing" over Kelsey's sudden decision to pull the plug on their marriage.

We're told Camille feels sad about Kayte Walsh's miscarriage, but believes it's all part of the cosmos -- what goes around, comes around.

The question is...

It's all over Danielle's tell-all book "The Naked Truth" -- in which Staub allegedly claims Kevin Maher was "incarcerated for 18 months" for "criminal activity relative to Danielle Staub."

Maher tells us the claim is "patently untrue" -- and insists that before the book came out, he warned the publisher, Simon & Schuster, that if they published the book ... he would fire off a big, fat lawsuit.

But they published it anyway -- and Maher is pissed ... telling us he's getting ready to hit them with a $10 million lawsuit.

As we previously reported -- Kevin just settled his defamation lawsuit with Danielle over some pretty nasty things she allegedly said about him ... and we're told he walked away with a pretty nice payday.

The terms of the settlement are confidential -- but one source close to the case tells us ... "cash was involved in the deal."

As we previously reported, Maher had sued the former "Real Housewives of New Jersey" star for $5 million -- claiming she defamed him by allegedly spreading horrible lies about him to several people and various news outlets.

TMZ spoke with Maher who told us, "The matter was resolved to the satisfaction of both parties." Maher also told us, "It's interesting that the case gets settled the day before Danielle was supposed to be deposed ... it was going to be the worst day of her life."

Question is ...

As we first reported, the dress is being put up for auction by The Potomack Company, an all-female owned auction house, with a percentage of the sale to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and the Clinton-Bush Haiti Fund.

Allegedly.

As we first reported, a lawyer for the Salahis emailed the cast of "Real Housewives" ... threatening to sue if any of them use the "defamatory" phrase -- because, according to their lawyer, they technically never crashed the dinner.

Mark Lane, a lawyer for cast member Lynda Erkiletian, tells TMZ the Salahis could clear this whole thing up by just showing off the invitation. Lane says, "After eight months of exhausting the taxpayer's money investigating this issue, she could save everyone's time and money by just producing the invitation."

Lane says Erkiletian plans on using the phrase just the same, but with one concession -- she'll throw the term "alleged" in front of it ... complete with air quotes.

Tareq and Michaele Salahi have lawyered up with Lisa Bloom, who fired off an email to the cast of the show, telling them there has been an exhaustive investigative study of the famous White House dinner. The conclusion: "The Salahis did not 'crash' the White House dinner, nor the Black Caucus dinner."

Bloom goes on to say, "It is simply a false statement of fact, and defamatory, to call the Salahis 'party crashers,' as it suggests they have committed crimes."

Bloom then threatens legal actions if the girls dare use the words.

Laurita has been called as a witness in a ferocious defamation case between Staub and her ex-husband Kevin Maher. As we previously reported, Maher claims Staub should fork over $5 mil for allegedly spreading horrific lies about him.

Maher has tapped Jacqueline for his witness list -- and expects her to testify about Staub's "dishonest reputation."

But Jacqueline tells TMZ, "I didn't even know I was on the list ... it's not really a list I want to be on ... can I be taken OFF the list?"

She adds, "I really don't want to go back to that dark place. Every time I've moved on the tide tries to pull me back in. I'm enjoying the sun. Let me be."

Sheen rolled in to Blizz in Sherman Oaks along with Adrianne Maloof-Nassif and her husband -- and loaded up on yogurt and Fruity Pebbles toppings.

The owner of The Funkey Monkey in Delaware tells TMZ ... just as they green lit the table-flipping contest for Teresa's appearance Saturday, Bravo caught wind of it and shut it down.

A rep for Bravo tells us the network has a hands-off policy regarding personal appearances -- but according to inside sources Teresa was told the contest might be a dumb PR move ... so she'd be better off not flaunting her famous Season 1 move (see video).