Credit: Charles Sykes/Bravo
Jennifer Aydin is explaining her role in spreading infidelity rumors about co-star Melissa Gorga, and the reason why should come as no surprise to viewers.
The Real Housewives of New Jersey cast has been divided for months now as tensions continue to flare between Melissa, her husband Joe Gorga, and her sister-in-law Teresa Giudice. Talk first began to swirl last year as cameras began rolling for season 13 of the franchise. Then, it was revealed that Teresa brought up rumors of Melissa allegedly stepping out on her marriage to Joe with her long-time friend, Nick Barrotta. The couple has openly “laughed off” the claims.
Jennifer concedes that she repeated the rumors because she felt the need to be “authentic.” Her intention was “not to hurt Melissa,” but rather, she wanted to expose Margaret Josephs, who she claims had an off-screen conversation with an ex-friend, Laura Lee Jensen, about the gossip. Margaret was allegedly the source of the hearsay.
“It’s to show … everybody what [Josephs’] true colors are,” Jennifer told Page Six’s Virtual Reali-Tea podcast. “There is a source here. So, I say bring Laura on. Bring Laura on, have them duke it out. Like, don’t shoot the messenger here.”
“I’m repeating something,” Jennifer continued, claiming Laura told her Margaret was the source of the rumors. “She’s telling me things that Margaret has told her. Why is Margaret telling her these things?”
Jennifer explained that though she helped spread the rumors, she took the information with a grain of salt and never actually believed any of it. According to Jennifer, the point was to show the rest of the group that Margaret could not be trusted.
“Me saying this about Melissa, I’m not saying that it’s true. I don’t know it to be true, I don’t believe it to be true,” Jennifer explained to the outlet. “What I’m trying to say is we need to just tread lightly when it comes to Margaret because this is how she gossips within her circle of friends.”
Jennifer further defended her choice to spread the attacks on Melissa’s character, claiming, “If I don’t do it, someone else will…”
“At that point in time, we got one of Margaret’s ex-best friends going rogue,” the RHONJ star said. “I don’t want to hide things when we’re filming, I want to be authentic to what’s going on in real life and this was going on in real life.”
The Real Housewives of New Jersey airs Tuesday nights at 9 p.m. EST on Bravo.