For a franchise that is all about the importance of family, the Real Housewives of New Jersey likely ruined one. Maybe forever. It’s no secret that for years, Teresa Giudice has been harboring bitterness about brother Joe Gorga joining to be what she believed to be her show. And with Joe, came his wife Melissa Gorga, who Teresa couldn’t even pretend to like. She still doesn’t, as witnessed in what she said to Melissa during the season 12 reunion. Tre told Melissa that she won’t be a bridesmaid in her upcoming wedding because they really aren’t close at all. Oh, and Tre is still mad, all these years later, that Melissa had her wedding while Teresa was pregnant. In Tre’s mind, it’s not just her show, it’s her world and we are just living in it.
But Melissa and Joe see things a bit differently. As reported by Reality Blurb, Joe sat down with Melissa for an episode of her On Display podcast. The two explained that Teresa shouldn’t be mad at them, but thankful that they joined RHONJ. Melissa began, “I couldn’t imagine my sister not being happy that I was here or calling me a b-tch.” She added to Joe,“It’s a shame because your father did this with his sister and it’s kind of like, history repeating itself and it’s extremely sad.”
Melissa went even further, stating that she and Joe kept RHONJ going while Teresa went to prison. Said Melissa, “When [Teresa] got out [of prison] we were able to cast all of these new people. We kept the core of the show going. It would have just turned into the show that she had for three episodes, which was [Teresa Checks In], which Joe Giudice did on his own.” Joe jumped in and told her, “You’re being too nice.”
He then asked, “How about ‘Thank you?’ Because when she was in prison, Joe [Giudice] wasn’t working at all either. So they had no income. If we weren’t on the show, their kids would not still be living in that house and have food and have whatever they had.” Wow. These two are really in dangerous territory with Teresa here. Melissa agreed and revealed, “Joe [Giudice] needed to make money on that show and he needed someone to film with and here we were that jumped in. He had us to bounce off of and had someone to talk to on it.”
As for what would have happened if Joe and Melissa were cast first, Joe said he would have no problem making it a family affair. He stated, “You know what I would do? I would bring my entire family in, my family, your family, because let’s make this show great as a family. Let’s all capitalize on family. Not, ‘I don’t want you on the show.’ Look at the Kardashians.”
Finally, Joe explained how he felt when he stormed off the reunion set. He confessed, “Twelve years later, I just saw that hate. She’s got like this anger and this hate for us and I’m like, ‘Wow, I’m done. I want off.’”
TELL US – DO YOU THINK TERESA SHOULD BE GRATEFUL THAT MELISSA AND JOE JOINED RHONJ? SHOULD SHE STILL BE MAD AT THEM FOR IT? DO YOU THINK THEY WILL EVER BE ON GOOD TERMS?
[Photo Credit: Bravo]