After 12 years on Bravo’s Real Housewives of New Jersey, is main castmate Melissa Gorga bowing out? There’s certainly talk that she might be, and it largely started when Gorga and her husband Joe decided to skip his sister Teresa Giudice’s wedding to Luis Ruelas on August 6. Their absence was reportedly due to a major row with the bride just beforehand, as Giudice was supposedly spreading rumors about her sister-in-law cheating with a family friend during filming of their show’s Season 13 finale. Melissa broke her silence about the situation on her podcast, but it only seemed to increase speculation about her quitting the series. So now, she is attempting to clarify what was said prior.
What Melissa Gorga Said About Reported Cheating Scandal
First, though: the podcast. During the August 11 episode of Melissa Gorga on Display (opens in new tab), the reality star candidly shared that they didn’t go to the over-the-top wedding for a “laundry list” of reasons that she couldn’t entirely get into due to contractual obligations. Yet, she did confirm that part of it stemmed from a problem with Teresa Giudice and Luis Ruelas during the latest Real Housewives of New Jersey finale, but stated that the whole story wasn’t out yet. However, it was Gorga’s partial statement reposted to her Instagram (see below) that was what was really raising some eyebrows.
Technically, the TV personality was speaking abput their absence from the wedding, but it wasn’t much of a leap for fans to assume Melissa Gorga was implying that they were likewise “walking away” from RHONJ itself if nuptials were in fact too “toxic” for them. The suspected cheating allegation leveled at her was seemingly just the last straw in a long history of discord within the family. I mean, even after their heightened arguments last season regarding loyalty, Gorga famously said she was “done” defending Teresa Giudice.
RHONJ Alum Addresses Potential Exit
In the wake of the hoopla over her commentary on the in-house matter, Melissa Gorga had to backpedal people’s assumptions a bit. The 43-year-old, who also starred in the premiere season of the spinoff Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip, followed up on her Instagram stories to share that she and her hubby are definitely not quitting the long-running reality series that she headlines alongside Teresa Giudice. Or, at least, there are “no plans” presently to do so. Check out her post here:
So, I guess that’s that, until it isn’t, but the family feud does remain an obvious problem. Their Season 5 riff in the early-2010s almost fractured their relationships entirely, and it sounds like history is repeating itself. While Joe Gorga famously got into a physical fight with Teresa Giudice’s first husband over talk about his own wife being a “prostitute” back then, it’s being said that there was yet another fight (or almost fight) in Season 13. Melissa Gorga admitted on her podcast that there was “aggression from certain people” that made things “a little scary.”
The couple continued in claiming there have been “past altercations” with Luis Ruelas, who has actually been accused of domestic violence by old romantic flames in the press. (He’s also been accused of using his now-wife to be on TV.) Nevertheless, the Gorgas hope that this new marriage is the kind of “happily ever after” that Teresa Giudice thinks it is.
Teresa Giudice certainly invested a lot of time, money and effort into the shindig. The $10,000 viral wedding hairstyle and special, custom-made veil and gown indicate as much. Although, will it cost her her family in the long run? I guess we’ll find out when Season 13 of the Real Housewives of New Jersey comes out, which is expected for early 2023.
Hopefully, this isn’t just another case of the cast leaning into Bravo misleading the fanbase, as they did with supposed “scandalous” footage of Melissa Gorga in Season 12. Catch up on all the old seasons of the show with a Peacock Premium subscription.