Credit: BauerGriffin/INSTARimages.com/Cover Images, Bravo
Melissa Gorga has taken note of the many times Teresa Giudice has bragged about her new sisters-in-law — and Joe Giudice‘s response to Teresa’s latest post in which she gushed over husband Luis Ruelas‘ sister, Dr. Veronica Ruelas.
Before sharing the “biggest misconception” of The Real Housewives of New Jersey season 13 and reacting to Teresa blaming her for their messy family feud, Melissa was asked how she felt about Teresa labeling Veronica as the sister she’s “always dreamed of.”
“Good for her. You got them. Good. I’m glad,” Melissa stated during an interview with Entertainment Tonight.
As RHONJ fans may have seen, Teresa’s ex-husband took notice of the apparent dig and commented, in a since-deleted message, “I thought you loved Melissa,” which even Melissa was amused by.
“That’s where funny Joe Giudice comes into play. I thought that was funny,” she admitted.
According to Melissa, the “biggest misconception” of the upcoming episodes is the speculation surrounding her and Joe Gorga‘s decision to skip Teresa and Luis Ruelas‘ wedding.
“I think they’ll understand why I didn’t go to the wedding. I do,” she insisted. “I think it’ll make sense, not to everyone. I think some people might view it differently but it made complete sense for me and my family.”
As for why Melissa believes Teresa previously blamed her for her estrangement with Joe, the RHONJ cast member said Teresa simply doesn’t want to hold Joe responsible.
“I think it’s easier to blame me. We’ve seen that throughout the years. It’s nothing new,” Melissa noted. “It’s always, all roads lead to Melissa.”
While the trailer for season 13 teased plenty of family drama, Melissa suggested that Joe didn’t film much with his sister.
“I don’t think he’s in one scene with Teresa almost the whole entire season. There might be one,” she revealed. “He’s very upset over certain things that you’ll find out at the finale.”
Melissa also clapped back at Teresa’s suggestion that she’s always wanted to keep Joe away from her.
“When you fully keep anything that has to do with your brother, his whole entire family out of your wedding, don’t invite my mother, don’t have my daughter, don’t have your sister-in-law, your only brother’s wife, it’s definitely not me breaking up the family,” Melissa declared. “I think someone needs to look in the mirror.”
Looking back, Melissa gave a nod to the “crazy” season 12 reunion, which featured Teresa slamming her brother as a “b-tch” as Jennifer Aydin had done during the season.
“The reunion was crazy. It was very sad. That is where Joe kinda like… It was rough between Joe and Teresa at that reunion and I think he was very insulted leaving there,” Melissa admitted. “He felt like she was ganging up on him with Jennifer instead of sticking up for him and it’s always a double standard.”
When the 13th season began filming shortly after the reunion, Melissa declined an invitation to Teresa’s 50th birthday.
“It felt fake. It felt forced. It felt like it made zero sense after announcing on national TV that I was the only sister-in-law not in the wedding,” Melissa explained of the decision.
She then noted that she believes Teresa only invited her due to the backlash she received following her bridesmaid snub.
“I think she got a lot of backlash, if I’m being honest, about kinda nixing us from anything that had to do with the wedding. I think people were like, ‘Why did you do that?’ and she was trying to clean up a little bit of a mess that she made,” Melissa suggested.
“I’m not punishing her. That’s not the point here. I don’t want to play games anymore. I’m done with the games… I’m just being real with the fact that I don’t believe that you want to spend five days with me on an island,” she added.
The Real Housewives of New Jersey season 13 airs Tuesdays at 9/7c on Bravo.