Melissa Gorga appeared on Tuesday night’s Watch What Happens Live, where she confirmed she’ll be bringing receipts to the upcoming reunion because she’s got “a lot” to prove.
In addition to accusing Jennifer Aydin of being “utterly obsessed” with Teresa Giudice, explaining why she remained friends with Margaret Josephs despite her being the potential source of the make-out rumor, and more, the Real Housewives of New Jersey star reacted to Teresa’s claims that she has “daddy issues.”
“My father passed away when I was 16 so I like to be the only one who says I have daddy issues if I’m gonna say it,” Melissa shared on the April 11 episode of the WWHL: After Show. “I don’t really want to hear anyone else say it. [And] I would never say anything like that about my father-in-law and her. I just, ugh. I was 16 when … you know. So. I just think that if someone’s gonna say they have daddy issues, it should come from my own mouth and I should explain my story that way.”
And host Andy Cohen agreed.
“That’s kind of a rough blanket to put on someone who lost their father when they were 16,” he acknowledged.
“Right. And God forbid if I ever said something like that — and she lost him when she was almost 50. It would be like hell froze over,” Melissa noted. “But I was a 16-year-old girl. My father never met my kids, never met my husband, I raised myself when it comes to that.”
Looking back at her and Joe Gorga‘s feud with Teresa and Luis Ruelas at Rachel Fuda‘s brunch on the live broadcast, Melissa responded to a fan who wanted to know if she regretted leaving the party early amid Luis’ efforts to make amends.
“At what point?” she asked. “When he was calling us losers behind our back or that we’re insecure? At which point? Honestly … At that party, yes I felt there was an attempt to try to mend something but it came off strange, let’s be honest.”
Another fan pointed out that while Melissa claimed her family’s mean tweets about Teresa were shared years ago, her mom “liked” an Instagram post this week in which Caroline Manzo accused Teresa of almost brainwashing her into disliking Melissa.
“But she should like that because that’s the truth, and she loves Caroline,” Melissa explained. “That’s not a low blow. She’s allowed to live. They overanalyze and try to make every single thing, like if I did this petty crap, I would have a longer list, trust me.”
During RHONJ season 12, Melissa was targeted with a cheating rumor claiming she made out with a family friend. But as Joe laughed about the matter on WWHL, she slammed the allegation as an old and false report.
“It’s a game of telephone on a baseless rumor that they said they heard five years ago but they’re bringing to light now,” she noted. “I mean, are you kidding me?”
And as for why she’s still friends with Margaret, whose former BFF, Laura Marasca Jensen, went to the cast with the rumor amid filming, Melissa said it’s “because it’s untrue.”
“This is a woman who wants to be on the [RHONJ], who auditioned three times and didn’t make it,” she explained.
But Andy seemed out of the loop.
“She did?” he asked.
“Yes, Andy, you know this,” Melissa fired back as he signaled to the fact that he sees “a lot of tapes” and added that he’s “sure that [he] saw her.”
“You’ve seen hers a couple times,” Melissa corrected.
When another fan asked Melissa what Teresa has said on RHONJ that she knows for a fact is a lie, Melissa first asked, “On this recent episode?” She then said, “Anything that has to do with me.”
She then addressed someone who wondered if Jennifer genuinely cared about her feelings when she asked if she was okay with her and Dolores Catania appearing as bridesmaids in Teresa’s wedding.
“I mean, the grin on her face. She was like, so excited to say it to me, which, good for her. I know she’s obsessed with Teresa, so I’m happy that she got [to be in the wedding],” Melissa shared. “I mean, facts. No one is gonna deny that she’s not completely and utterly obsessed with her so to actually be able to walk in front of her, down the aisle to her, was huge. So God bless, good for you.”
Also on the WWHL: After Show, Melissa said the upcoming reunion feels “scary.”
“I’m gonna sleep the day before … I wanna be very prepared,” she revealed. “I wanna have my receipts this time because I haven’t felt like I need to have receipts in a very long time but I feel like there’s a lot of accusations that aren’t true … I need to prove a lot, which I’m so upset about.”
“I have all my answers. Are you ready to go now? I wanna go tonight. I got my dress hanging,” she added.
As for the pajama drama involving Luis wearing a pair of his father’s unused pajamas to give comfort to Teresa and her daughters, Joe couldn’t say a thing when asked. Instead, he expressed shock on his face and stumbled to find words.
The Real Housewives of New Jersey season 13 airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on Bravo.