Joe Gorga Shares How Daughter Antonia Reacted to His Issues with Gia Giudice
The RHONJ husband also makes a major clarification about his Season 12 tension with his niece.
Family and loyalty are at the heart of The Real Housewives of New Jersey, and the March 1 episode was no exception.
Teresa Giudice expressed that she felt like she didn't have the support of her sister-in-law, Melissa Gorga, as the group confronted her about leaving Jennifer Aydin's Jersey Shore rental earlier in the day, and the topic soon turned to her boyfriend, Luis "Louie" Ruelas.
When Melissa appeared on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen with husband Joe Gorga on March 1, Andy Cohen asked her the "No. 1 question" he had been receiving from fans about all the RHONJ Jersey Shore drama: "When Teresa texted you to have her boyfriend's back, do you feel like you betrayed her when you immediately told the other women?"
Melissa definitely did not agree with that statement. "I mean, no, I was basically saying, 'Guys, she doesn't want us talking about Louie tonight, I'm telling you that right now,'" she explained in the below clip. "I was basically saying, like, 'Don't go in there with the cameras and all talk about Louie.'"
She then pointed out that Teresa had also spoken about their personal family matters with her daughters in the RHONJ Season 12 premiere. "Episode 1 opens with Gia and Gabriella and Teresa and all of [Joe's] nieces reading his text messages," Melissa said. "What's the difference?"
Speaking of that earlier drama between Joe and his nieces, Andy spoke with the RHONJ couple about what it was like for him to watch the family go through that this season. "I've got to tell you, those were some tough conversations between you and Gia at the beginning of the season, and it's one of those things where you're watching at home and you're both right," the WWHL host said in the clip at the top of this post. "You can understand she doesn't want to hear it anymore about [her] dad, and you're in this position of you're trying to stand up for your family."
Joe then clarified his actions in the conflict, which stem from Season 11 of RHONJ. "I never really speak about Joe Giudice — ever — and there's a ton of articles about me with him, about my wife and I. I wonder if they ever yell at him for anything. If you go out and look, there's 11 articles. I've never said anything," he said. "Before that day, my sister's telling me — they're going through a divorce — and she's telling me all these things that he's saying to her. So I'm sitting there and I'm thinking about all this, and then we had that episode a couple days later, so I explode. That's my sister. I'm trying to protect her."
Melissa added that her and Joe's three children, daughter Antonia and sons Gino and Joey, don't want to read anything that's said about their family in the press, either. And during the WWHL After Show, Joe shared that his issues with his nieces have had an impact on his eldest, Antonia. "Honestly, I see it affecting her a little bit now. She really doesn't get involved," he said in the below clip. "She's starting to get a little annoyed. I don't really want to talk about it too much."
Joe confirmed that Antonia does watch RHONJ, and at the end of the day, "she loves her cousins," which Melissa seconded. "Loves them. So close to them," she said. "I think she gets a little disappointed."
Things memorably came to a head between Joe and Gia at Teresa's pool party at the start of this season, a moment that caught the RHONJ daughter off guard. "I was a little surprised by the way he reacted towards me and how defensive he was, because [bottom line], it is my father," Gia said when she appeared as the guest bartender during her mom's WWHL appearance last month. "So have a little respect, just a little."
Gia and Joe ultimately agreed to move on from this conflict, and we later saw the family come together for a pizza party at Louie's house, where they experienced some real healing. "So, listen, we always get in this rut, because we're still living in the past. We have to let go of the past," Joe told his family during their get-together. "This family's been through a lot, and we all can be angry because we've all hurt. But then we love. Let's love, and let's not ruin our family."
Want more RHONJ? New episodes air every Tuesday at 8/7c or catch up on the Bravo app.
Photo: Getty Images; Gia Giudice/Instagram
