It's been a busy, changeful few years in the Guidice-Gorga households — there have been prison stints and new Househusbands and, allegedly, forehead surgeries. But through all of those major life events, one thing has endured: the seemingly never-ending feud between real-life sisters-in-law and The Real Housewives of New Jersey stars Teresa Giudice and Melissa Gorga. Now, Gorga is explaining how the two filmed the new season of RHONJ despite her feud with Giudice.
The familial fallout that stretches back seasons hit a fever point when Melissa and husband Joe Gorga skipped his sister Teresa's wedding to polarizing fiancé Luis "Louie" Ruelas in August 2022, after the bride-to-be had spread rumors that her sister-in-law was cheating on her brother during Season 13 of the Bravo show.
As a result, there was much contention over whether both reality TV personalities would be returning to the long-running franchise when production resumed for Season 14. In July 2023, per People, it was announced that the network made offers to both Guidice and Gorga to return for the season on the 2024 TV schedule, which both women accepted. But that doesn't mean they had an easy time filming together, as Melissa recently revealed to Entertainment Tonight. As she told ET's Ash Crossan while at the Lift premiere on Monday, January 8:
The biggest misconception is that it's gonna be more drama between me and my sister-in-law. We don't even, like, look at each other.
The last time Bravo fans saw the sisters-in-law together onscreen was during the three-part RHONJ Season 13 reunion in July 2023, during which Teresa stormed out following a heated argument with her brother Joe and his wife Melissa. At the time, Giudice acknowledged that she didn't know how she and Gorga were "gonna coexist" as co-stars of the Jersey franchise, saying that Melissa was "gonna be out of [her] life after tonight."
Obviously, it looks like that didn't exactly happen, but Gorga explained to ET that the estrangement is their "new normal," even though she's not happy about the circumstances:
It is the new normal. I think it just is what it is. I always say it's unfortunate. I'll never be, like, happy about that. But we're all living, and we're happy, and sometimes things just need to take its course. Right now that's definitely how it is.
She also gave an update as to when RHONJ fans can expect to see Season 14. The show usually airs on Tuesday nights on Bravo, but it is available to stream with a Peacock subscription, so make sure you have those ready, as the reality star said:
You're gonna get early, early spring. We're done [filming].
Based on a preview trailer that aired during BravoCon 2023, Season 14 of The Real Housewives of New Jersey will be as drama-filled as its predecessors, with Guidice notably getting into a hot-headed exchange with John Fuda, the Househusband of returning castmate Rachel Fuda.
It was during a BravoCon 2023 panel (via People) that Melissa Gorga disclosed that she was keeping her distance from "really toxic" people and trying to protect her peace going into the future of the franchise:
I've come to a point in my life where, you know, you can try, you can try, you can try, but at some point you need to protect your peace and you need to create a boundary and I think that's what I did and that's what we're doing. I think, you know, when something is really toxic and it doesn't work for you and it makes you uncomfortable, you don't need to force yourself to be around it. It’s okay to let something go. I am protecting my peace. We should all protect our peace. I think that’s a wonderful thing and everyone should do that.
But will she actually be successful in refraining from reigniting her fiery feud with Teresa? We'll have to stay tuned—keep an eye out on the 2024 TV schedule to see when the next Gorga-versus-Giudice battle is set to hit our screens.
