In case you missed it, our buddies at Bravo hit ratings gold with the airing of the first season finale of The Real Housewives of New Jersey this week. Over 4.6 million viewers tuned in to watch the girls from Jersey act completely “project” for the roving cameras.

But was the table-flip heard ’round the world staged by the network simply to attract viewers?

Bravo’s sounding off on the rumors….

In the finale, the housewives got together for a celebratory dinner. Things went left — a lot left — when cougar ex-con Danielle Staub publicly accused Dina Manzo of maliciously revealing her alleged criminal past as a kidnapping crack ho.

The dinner showdown ended with food flying after housewife Teresa “Bubbies” Giudice flipped a dinner table over in a rage during a confrontation with Danielle.

(I haven’t seen anything that ghetto in ages — and I’m from the inner-city!)

A rep for the network has stepped forward to deny reports that Tuesday night’s finale was phonier than an episode of The Hills:

“Bravo does not manufacture any of the events you see in any of the ‘Housewives’ series. What you saw in the NJ finale was 100 percent real. Tune in tonight at 9 p.m. to see an extended version of the dinner and better look at how it all went down.”

Catch the extended director’s cut of the explosive finale, airing Thursday night @ 9 PM on Bravo.