Weathering the storm! Melissa Gorga and her husband, Joe Gorga, had some difficulties during the last season of The Real Housewives of New Jersey, but now they’re back on the right track.
“We’re doing great,” the Bravo personality, 42, exclusively told Us Weekly on Tuesday, February 1, ahead of RHONJ‘s season 12 premiere. “The pandemic was a little rough. I think it brought out a lot of our real feelings.”
The Love Italian Style author and her husband, also 42, tied the knot in 2004. The duo share daughter Antonia, 16, and sons Gino, 14, and Joey, 11.
The “On Display” singer said that being stuck at home during the coronavirus pandemic gave her and Joe “way too much time” to discuss any of their relationship issues. “We’re just both sitting on the couch, looking at each other,” she told Us. “And I’m like, ‘I got a lot to say.’ He’s like, ‘So do I.'”
Eventually, however, that extra time allowed the couple to figure out how to communicate better.
“We’re so much better now,” the Lip Sync Battle alum explained. “It was probably good for us to talk it through. I didn’t know how he was feeling, and I don’t think he was getting where I was coming from.”
Last year, Melissa told Us that some of the pair’s tension stemmed from Joe learning adjust to the increasing demands of her career. “Joe is not big on change and he likes things to stay the same,” she said of the Gorga Guide to Success author in July 2021. “He likes to know that everything’s going to be intact and probably, that’s what makes him a great husband. But for me, I’m all about change right now.”
The twosome may have had their ups and downs, but they’ve remained supportive of each other’s endeavors — including Joe’s stand-up comedy career.
“He’s shockingly good,” the Envy by Melissa Gorga designer told Us on Tuesday. “And he’s doing a great job. I just look at him like, ‘You’re so busy. You have so much going on. Like, why do you wanna do this?’ But you know, I don’t want to knock it because there were things I wanted to do in life, and I went ahead and did that.”
Still, there’s one thing she might change if she had editorial control over his routine. “He talks about my body parts a lot of the time, which I don’t love,” she quipped. “But everyone knows he’s good for a good relationship laugh, you know? So, it’s a fun night out.”
The Real Housewives of New Jersey airs on Bravo Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET.
With reporting by Christina Garibaldi
