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When part 1 of The Real Housewives of New Jersey season 13 reunion kicked off on May 30, host Andy Cohen asked feuding sisters-in-law Teresa Giudice and Melissa Gorga what they hoped to get out of it and they both said they wanted to “close the chapter” on their relationship. Teresa answered first by saying, “I want to close the chapter and move forward. I wish her well, and peace, but I want to close that chapter.” Then, Melissa added, “I think there’s a lot of truth that needs to come out today, and I agree with closing [the chapter] in peace.”
However, getting to a peaceful spot during the reunion won’t be easy. The ladies made that very clear during part 1 — especially after Teresa started the first hour by accusing Melissa and Joe Gorga of “hurting” Luis Ruelas before their wedding. But before they got too deep into the season-ending drama, Andy asked Teresa why former RHONJ star Dina Manzo “bowed out” of attending her wedding and being a bridesmaid. Teresa said it was because she didn’t want to be on camera, but Andy noted how Dina could have “not signed a release”, so Teresa then claimed that Dina “didn’t want people knowing she was coming here.” Teresa said she wishes Dina would have told her “sooner” but “it’s okay”.
Teresa just looks like an idiot here, it’s clear what Melissa and Joe meant! #RHONJ 🍷 pic.twitter.com/p3YHHFsvcX
— JOSHUAAAAA (@bravo_joshuaaa) May 30, 2023
Andy then asked Teresa why she and Dina haven’t been photographed together in nearly a year, as they used to travel and post a ton of pictures together, but Teresa just said, “We are okay. And Luis and [Dina’s husband] David [Cantin] never had any business dealing at all.” Earlier in the season, Joe Gorga claimed that he talked to David and David told him that Dina and Teresa’s relationship fell apart after Luis and David had a business dispute, so obviously, Teresa was trying to get ahead of that theory before Andy brought it up. But since Teresa did bring it up, Andy asked Melissa about it. Melissa said Joe shouldn’t have shared his “private” conversation with David on camera, and Joe now feels bad about it.
Next, when the topic of Melissa’s mom not getting invited to the wedding was brought up, Melissa told Teresa that she feels her family is only important to Teresa when it’s convenient for her. As an example, Melissa revealed that Teresa was very into spending time with her mom and sisters when she “needed a family” to introduce to Luis. Teresa shot back by claiming that while she was single, Melissa and Joe never invited her to go out to dinner with them — however, Melissa said that wasn’t true. In fact, she has pictures that show Teresa out with her and Joe, as well as their friends and neighbor, Shane, who Teresa “thought was cute”. Teresa said she never went out to dinner with them, but pictures from the dinners Melissa was referring to appeared on the screen, proving Teresa wrong. And when she got caught in the lie, Teresa just said she “must have invited” herself because they never asked her to go anywhere with them.
Teresa then claimed that Luis never wanted to be on the show, but Joe forced him to get in front of the cameras because the Gorgas are “all about the show.” Melissa, on the other hand, said that before Luis appeared on RHONJ, he was “begging” to get on The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls’ Trip, when they were filming in 2021. Melissa said Luis called Joe and suggested they fly down to Turks & Caicos, where the season 1 cast was filming, to crash the get together and “be on TV”. Teresa, again, said Luis never wanted to be on TV, but Melissa said he did — she also noted how Luis knew who Teresa was before they met and he tried dating Real Housewives of Miami star Alexia Nepola before getting together with Teresa.
“You’re a liar!” Teresa yelled. Melissa told Teresa that her “scheme” of labeling her as a liar was “getting old” and she needed to find new material. But Teresa said it didn’t matter because Melissa will be “leaving” the show soon and she “can’t wait” to never see her again.
So would Melissa truly be out of Teresa’s life if she did, in fact, leave the show? Andy asked Teresa that very question, to which she replied, “Definitely. She’s going to be out of my life after tonight.” Everyone was left stunned and didn’t really know what to say. Melissa called the entire situation “sad”, and Margaret Josephs consoled her.
Pay attention, puhlease — Part 1 of the #RHONJ Reunion starts TONIGHT 🔥 pic.twitter.com/bhMmi5eCXQ
— Bravo (@BravoTV) May 30, 2023
Later, the topic of Teresa somewhat shading Antonia Gorga on camera came up, but instead of apologizing for talking badly about her niece and Antonia’s relationship with her four daughters, Teresa said Rachel Fuda asked her the question about whether the girls are “close”, but she felt it was actually a “set up”, so she admitted that she shouldn’t have answered it. Rachel insisted it wasn’t a “set up”, and Dolores Catania agreed that it didn’t seem like a “set up” — she just wondered why Danielle asked Teresa instead of Melissa, who she had gotten close with.
Andy then wondered why Melissa got upset about Teresa mentioning Antonia on camera when she’s also talked about Gia Giudice and Teresa’s daughters on the show. Melissa corrected him, however, by saying that she’s only ever said Teresa’s daughter seem to “hate” her, and she’d never allow Antonia to talk badly about Teresa on camera. Teresa claimed that her daughters don’t “hate” Melissa, but viewers are probably begging to differ. And Teresa didn’t care about the scene from this season, where Melissa told Antoni not to let the parents’ feud affect the relationships amongst the cousins — she chose to focus her attention on Melissa and Joe talking about her daughters on Melissa’s podcast.
In case you missed it, Melissa and Joe recently took to her podcast and claimed that if it weren’t for them agreeing to film the RHONJ special, Teresa Checks In, with Joe Giudice, Teresa’s family wouldn’t have had any income while she was in prison, and thus, the kids wouldn’t have had any food on the table.
Teresa tried saying that Joe Gorga only came to visit her in prison once, which is what Gia also claimed earlier this season, but Melissa said that was because Teresa didn’t add him to her visitors list until she needed him to film the RHONJ special. Again, Teresa called Melissa a liar.
Then, it felt like we went back in time to 10 years ago because Teresa started attacking Melissa for coming on the show to take her down. “It was disgusting,” she said, but Dolores didn’t care. “This story is so old,” she quietly told Danielle Cabral.
Jennifer Aydin then asked Andy to tell them whether or not Melissa ever called him to be on the show, and he said, “No,” which is funny because Teresa made that claim on season 1 of RHUGT. He said Melissa was “cute”, Joe Gorga was “funny”, and they had a “double staircase” like Teresa and Joe Giudice had, which he thought was “funny”, so he was very into the idea of them joining the show. Still, Teresa said it was “disgusting” that Melissa and Joe joined behind her back, and Jennifer told Melissa that Teresa will never get past it because they’re been “no accountability” on Melissa’s part.
“Your whole storyline was me,” Teresa told Melissa, but Melissa shot back, “Your whole storyline is talking about your brother in every scene. You should thank us for getting on the show,” and Andy nodded his head in agreement.
Teresa then told Andy that she wanted to go way back and reveal some juicy information because after the reunion, she never wants to look at Melissa again. “[During my recent reunion with] Jacqueline [Laurita, she] told me so much s*** that [Melissa] and my brother were doing,” Teresa said. “Jacqueline told me Joe [Giudice’s] ex partner, who didn’t go to jail because he outed me, and [Melissa and Joe] were hanging out with him. And they were speaking to him.”
Melissa said she has no idea who Joe Giudice’s ex-partner is, but Teresa told her she does. Melissa said this is like that time Teresa said RHONJ alum Caroline Manzo put her in jail, which she has said many times in the past, but Teresa said she now “takes that back” because she thinks Melissa and Joe were the ones who ultimately sent her to prison.
It’s funny how Teresa constantly calls Melissa a liar, but it’s Teresa’s stories that never stay the same.
Anyway — in other RHONJ reunion news, Dolores revealed that she’s very happy in her relationship Paulie Connell, but she thinks he was just joking when he said he already had an engagement ring picked out. Danielle also told the ladies that she and her brother are still feuding, but they’d reunite the next day at her grandmother’s funeral, so she’s still holding out hope for some sort of reconciliation. Meanwhile, her and Rachel’s feud finally came to an end after all of their co-stars — and Andy — told them their fight was ridiculous and not deserving of the amount of airtime it got. So with Dolores’ help, they called a “truce” and agreed to never talk about the “rat” accusation again.
Want more drama? New episodes of The Real Housewives of New Jersey air Tuesdays at 8pm on Bravo.
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