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Melissa throat and his wife, Joe throatback on the Bravo screen as the 13th season of The Real Housewives of New Jersey premiere with bang on Friday night.
The couple has mired in “toxic” and “traumatic” conflict with Teresa Giudice for a month, but despite the impending drama and the collapse of the relationship, Melissa said that she is not planning to leave The Garden State franchise anytime soon.
“Right now, I love Bravo. I love being a part of the show,” Melissa recently told PEOPLE. “I think it was right [now]. We have been dealt with here, we are fine, but when the time is right, I will walk, and I will think of it as a wonderful memory.
Melissa said she’ll “know when the time is right,” but now viewers “will be seeing me for a while.”
The feud between Gorgas and Teresa has been escalating for months with Melissa teasing that fans will finally see the “truth” behind Teresa’s “bonkers” attack on her character as season 13 of RHONJ unfolds. In fact, it’s so old and tired that Melissa says she’s “over it.”
“Nothing comes out, nothing new. It’s the same thing we’ve said over and over again, and the fact that he wants to dig in the past 10 years to make a reason in his head to be angry, it’s more confusing for me,” Melissa told the outlet . .
“I didn’t change my story and she didn’t change hers,” said the Envy Boutique owner. “He can shout about it all day long. I’m over it…. He and I have talked a thousand times, and since then we’ve been living a normal life – we’ve been on vacation together, we’ve held hands, gone on girls’ trips. Suddenly, we’re different? I can’t help anymore.”
Melissa explains that she no longer “feels guilty” about mending fences with her sister-in-law.
“I’m comfortable enough in my own skin. I’m secure enough that I don’t feel guilty anymore. I know I always do the right thing. It’s not perfect, but I’ve tried to help and fix it, so now I wash my hands. I’m done. I’ve done with poison.
The feud isn’t easy for Joe either because he’s stuck between his love for his sister, Teresa, and his loyalty to Melissa.
“I think Joe was like, ‘I’m out.’ Joe sits in the corner, can’t lie. He’s been very heavy this season,” he told PEOPLE. “He’s upset for a lot of reasons that you don’t hear until the end and that’s why he’s not lying,” Melissa said.
He went on to add, “He doesn’t get to do a lot of shows. He’s like, ‘I’m good.'”
The feud between the three family members erupted after an altercation between Teresa’s current husband, Luis alleys and Joe, leading him and Melissa to not attend Teresa’s August 2022 wedding just days before it was scheduled.
“For me, it’s devastating. It really is. It’s one of the hardest days of my life. It’s bad,” Joe said earlier. “But listen, let’s get back to the reunion. He does this, you know? This is all in him. This is what we really want. He didn’t want to [Melissa] at the wedding, they didn’t want my kids in the wedding, they almost didn’t want me.
Real Housewives of New Jersey it airs Tuesday nights at 8 pm EST on Bravo.