Credit: Instagram
Fans have been clamoring for new episodes of The Real Housewives of New Jersey for quite some time now.
The show hasn’t aired since 2024, and in the time it’s been off, Teresa Giudice, 54, and Melissa Gorga, 47, who famously feuded for years, finally made amends.
In a new interview with Us Magazine, Teresa and Melissa opened up about their reconciliation.
When asked if there was one particular thing that stood in the way of them making up, Melissa shared, “It was really hard to swallow a lot of the things. She has her reasons, and that’s just why we were where we were for so long because I couldn’t swallow a lot of things, and neither could [she].”
Teresa shared that she made the first step toward making amends, and she reached out to Melissa’s husband, Joe, who is Teresa’s brother, first.
“I texted my brother. I just wanted peace for my daughters because I never wanted them to say to me, ‘Practice what you preach,'” she said. “I can never say to my kids, ‘Don’t fight,’ because then they’re gonna be like, ‘Look what you did,’ you know?”
“Joe was confused at first because it came out of nowhere,” Melissa noted of Teresa’s text. “He really wasn’t sure if he wanted to meet up with her…He thought about it because he knows it gets so toxic between the two of us. So he wanted everyone together and see how it went, but [Teresa] wanted to meet alone. So he agreed, and if that went well, then they’d meet with us.”
Melissa continued, “And it went well because he came home and I could see it in his face. He looked like a little kid who got his big sister back. I have a heart, obviously, and I was like, ‘I’m never gonna keep you from your sister and your nieces.’ Then we arranged to [go to] the park, me, Luis, Teresa, and Joe. We talked it out for a couple hours; it wasn’t perfect right from the start. But we got to the point where we left there and went to lunch. We’ve been together ever since.”
Teresa shared that she and Joe had met where their parents were buried, and at first, he didn’t want to talk about anything.
“I said, ‘No, we do need to talk a little,'” she recalled. “He just wanted to move forward, and I was like, ‘So it doesn’t happen again, we need to be on the same page.’ In therapy, they teach boundaries. Boundaries are very big because you just can’t jump into it again. You don’t want outsiders to come in and ruin it again.”
As they made up off camera, fans didn’t get to watch it, but Teresa said that everyone said they were sorry to each other.
“We took accountability for the things that have hurt each other,” Melissa added. “And we also took accountability [for things] I still don’t fully agree with, and vice versa. But we’re gonna move on and not talk about it anymore.”
As for where they stand today, Melissa said she and Teresa “actually have fun together,” and she doesn’t get “offended” anymore.
“It’s like how we were in the beginning,” Teresa noted.
In addition to featuring Teresa and Melissa talking about patching up their family, Us Magazine also officially revealed the new RHONJ cast.
The cast will be comprised of Teresa, Melissa, Dolores Catania, Malvina Blloshmi, Xio Cammarota, Juliette Collazo, Natia Rufolo, Deeba Patel, and Vanessa Barrera.
The Real Housewives of New Jersey season 15 cast. Credit: Bravo
In keeping with the tradition of RHONJ focusing on family dynamics, Xio and Juliette are sisters.
The show is due to premiere its long-awaited 15th season in December.