Credit: Instagram
Melissa Gorga and her husband, Joe Gorga, welcomed his sister, Teresa Giudice, and her husband, Luis Ruelas, into their home on Sunday for some Super Bowl fun months into their latest reconciliation.
Days after Melissa, 46, appeared on a podcast, where she explained how she was cast on The Real Housewives of New Jersey, avoided a question about whether Teresa, 53, was supportive, and revealed how her and Joe’s reunion with Teresa is different this time around, the couples enjoyed a get-together.
“Watching the Super Bowl together,” Melissa wrote in the caption of a photo of herself, Teresa, Luis, and Joe, which was reshared by Best of Bravo on Instagram.
As for Melissa’s appearance on the February 3 episode of Not Skinny But Not Fat, she began by revealing that she was DM’d by producers on Facebook in regard to a role on RHONJ.
“It comes back to the sprinkle cookies. I think I put a post on Facebook complaining that my sister-in-law threw my cookies in the garbage. By the way, I don’t know if she was famous yet. I’m not sure. But anyway, that kind of sparked something, who the heck knows, and they DM’d me, and they were kind of like, ‘Hey, we’d love to have you try out for [RHONJ],'” Melissa shared.
According to Melissa, producers DM family and friends of the cast all the time. In fact, they are doing so currently as they prepare for season 15.
“That’s their M.O. They’ll come to you on social and say, ‘We’d love to interview you for the show.’ That’s, like, their thing,” she explained.
After receiving the DM from the producer and setting up an interview at her shore house, Melissa said Teresa reached out.
“My sister-in-law called me, and she’s like, ‘What’s going on? I heard you’re doing the interview.’ I was like, ‘Yeah, I didn’t do it yet. But I’m gonna do the interview,’” Melissa recalled. “I told her, ‘Yes, I’m going to have them come to my shore house. I’m gonna see if I like it.’ And then it just kind of went.”
“I don’t know [if she was supportive at that point] … [But] we’re way past that at this point. Thank god,” she continued.
As for how their Christmas interaction came about, Melissa confirmed that she and Joe decided to have Teresa and Luis’ family come to their home to celebrate the holidays.
“I was talking to her, and I was like, ‘What are you doing for Christmas Eve?’ She had mentioned that she was gonna be in her house with Luis’ family for both days or something like that. So I had said, maybe we’ll go out to a dinner or something … and then I was speaking to Joe about it, and he was like, ‘Let’s just have them all come here for Christmas Eve,’” she stated. “I think he called her and said, ‘Come to our house for Christmas Eve.’ And it was great. We had so much fun. We were up to, like, 2 o’clock in the morning playing pool, playing poker … It was a really good time.”
Because the cousins hadn’t been in touch amid their feud, Melissa said it was a “big deal” to bring them back together.
“Christmas Eve was for us to really connect the kids, and they connected instantly. They’re cousins. There’s true love there,” she gushed.
As for their future, Melissa said that their reconciliation “needs to last.”
“If it doesn’t, then shame on all of us,” she declared. “Life’s too short. [And] I don’t know that there’s any other tries after this.”
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Also on the podcast, Melissa was asked about the speculation suggesting she and Teresa are faking their makeup in an effort to resume filming on RHONJ.
“If we all still didn’t get along the way that we didn’t, it would not be worth it to fake it for the show … it is not a fun time to really not like someone and spend time with them or even fake spend time with them so everyone can believe that this is real because we would literally just pass on the show,” she stated. “I’m not going to be around someone that I feel is toxic or not good for my life, or I’m scared of. I’m not going to do it. So it’s real because I would never go any other way.”
The Real Housewives of New Jersey has been on pause since August 2024.