Melissa Gorga Vouches For Authenticity Of Husband's Picture-Perfect Meetup With Joe Giudice
Anyone who watches "The Real Housewives of New Jersey" (and even some who don't) knows about the huge, ongoing feud between Teresa Giudice and her brother and sister-in-law, Joe and Melissa Gorga.
Though their feud basically started when the Gorgas joined the show in 2011, the latest beef revolves around the Gorga's decision to bail on Teresa's August 2022 wedding. Though no one knows (yet) exactly what went down, it seems to involve Teresa accusing Melissa of cheating on Joe while filming the Season 13 finale. Though Teresa told E! News the fallout is "so sad," and admitted "it's not how I wanted things to end up," she also insists there's no returning to a friendship with them. As far as any reconciliation, Teresa added, "No, no, no, that's really it."
Considering the ongoing feud, it was surprising to see a video of Joe Gorga embracing Teresa's ex-husband Joe Giudice after they bumped into each other at a Bahamas bar. "A lot of history there. We have memories since we were kids," Joe Gorga captioned on Instagram. "We were both happy to see each other and catch up. Glad someone caught it." Immediate comments arose questioning the authenticity of the meeting, with some accusing it was staged. "You are such [an] opportunist to take advantage of the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see my father and use it for a post," Gorga's niece Gia Giudice commented. Fortunately for Melissa, she was able to address the question on her podcast.
Melissa Gorga insists her husband's meetup with Joe Giudice was not staged
It almost sounds like Melissa Gorga is trying to turn a corner on her feud with Teresa Giudice, perhaps for Gia Giudice's sake. After Gia called Joe Gorga an "opportunist" who otherwise "talked so poorly" about her father Joe Giudice, Melissa gave her take on her "On Display" podcast.
"It 100 percent was not planned. We had no idea that we were gonna run into Joe Giudice," Melissa said, explaining that she was nervous, but her husband didn't hesitate to approach him. She explained that Joe Gorga "doesn't really have a lot of family" or people from his childhood, and Joe Giudice is one of the people he grew up with. As far as capturing it on film, Melissa said, "When Joe and Joe run into each other after all these years, you can bet your a** the cameras are gonna go up. It's like hell froze over for a minute, honestly." That seemed like a legitimate excuse, considering they are all reality television stars. Despite one Instagram commenter saying, "Most people don't have cameras rolling when they 'run into' someone," the "RHONJ" cast is not "most people."
Melissa also said she too is sad about the ongoing feud between their families, calling it "a Debbie Downer 24 hours a day." She added, "We truly wanted to shed light on a positive moment, and that's why Joe decided to post this video."