Teresa Giudice and Melissa Gorga are both filming season 14 of The Real Housewives of New Jersey, but that doesn’t mean everything is hunky dory between the feuding sisters-in-law.
Multiple sources tell Us Weekly exclusively that Teresa, 51, and Melissa, 44, are keeping their distance as they film with the other New Jersey Housewives. “Melissa is open to filming and talking with Teresa on camera, but Teresa is not,” an insider tells Us. “Producers are trying to capture other stories.”
The duo recently filmed together at the annual charity baseball game organized by castmate Dolores Catania, but multiple eyewitnesses told Us that Melissa and Teresa didn’t interact at all.
“Melissa and Teresa still didn’t speak to each other,” the insider says. “The rest of the cast was working overtime to go back and forth to talk to both of them and have different conversations with each of them.”
After the pair’s long-running feud escalated in season 13, rumors circulated for months that one or both of them would leave the Bravo series. During the reunion in June, Teresa told Melissa she couldn’t “wait to never see your f–king face again after today,” adding, “You’re leaving.”
One month later, however, Us confirmed that both Teresa and Melissa — who is married to Teresa’s younger brother, Joe Gorga — would be back for season 14 along with Dolores, Margaret Josephs, Jennifer Aydin, Rachel Fuda, Danielle Cabral, Jackie Goldschneider and Jennifer Fessler.
While much of season 13 focused on the tension between the Gorga and Giudice families, the insider tells Us that their costars — and the show’s producers — are planning to leave some of that drama in the past.
“They’re moving on,” the source explains. “They aren’t hyper-fixating on Melissa and Teresa. There has to be other dynamics included in the show.”
Teresa claimed during the aforementioned season 13 reunion that she was done with Melissa forever, and according to the insider, she “seems to be keeping her word.”
As fans know, much of the latest drama began when Melissa and Joe, 49, skipped Teresa’s August 2022 wedding to Luis “Louie” Ruelas — but that was only the tip of the iceberg. In a May episode of RHONJ, Joe accused Teresa’s eldest daughter, Gia Giudice, of saying he could “do better” than Melissa.
During the reunion one month later, Teresa called Gia, 22, to explain her side of the story, and she denied it all. “I called him regarding the wedding, saying that he should do the right thing, that Nonna and Nonno are looking down on them and my mom wanted him to walk her down the aisle,” she recalled, referring to her late grandparents Antonia and Giacinto Gorga. “I never told him that he could do better than my Aunt Melissa. And it’s sad, Zio Joe, that you’re trying to call me a liar.”
Melissa and Joe doubled down on the accusation despite Gia’s denial, at which point a furious Teresa stormed off the set. “I really can’t,” she said. “It’s f–king disgusting. Disgusting, disgusting. This is not the way I would raise my children ever. You should be ashamed of yourself. And don’t come following me.”
With reporting by Andrea Simpson
