It is a fact universally acknowledged that no matter what, some celebrity feuds will likely always stand the test of time. Some examples, you ask? Taylor Swift and Scooter Braun, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kim Cattrall, and none other than The Real Housewives of New Jersey’s Teresa Giudice and Melissa Gorga. Like, the sisters-in-law-turned-enemies have been going at each other since we first saw them share the screen on the Bravo show’s third season.
And, yes, even 84 years later (’kay, it’s only been 13, but still!), the vibe is still very much...
As you can imagine, in all that time there’s been a lot of drama surrounding these two. Enter: us, with a handy-dandy timeline of Teresa and Melissa’s ongoing feud. Let’s start at the very beginning, shall we?
May 16, 2011
Despite fans of the series going way back to season 1 of RHONJ with Teresa (I mean, who could forget *that* table scene), Melissa was actually introduced to the show in season 3...and things were, erm, explosive even on day one.
Titled “In The Name of the Father,” the debut saw Teresa’s brother/Melissa’s husband Joe Gorga call Teresa “garbage” at his son’s christening, which led to a full-blown fight between Joe Gorga and Teresa’s then-husband Joe Giudice.
The whole ~thing~ led to a long-running narrative that Melissa was taking Teresa’s brother away from her.
June 24, 2011
Teresa called Melissa a “gold digger” and accused her of marrying Joe for money. During a subsequent interview, Melissa told E! News she was hurt by her sister-in-law’s words: “Joe and I have been married for seven years and have three kids. We went through a time where we couldn’t even buy diapers. We had to sell every house we lived in...Did I go anywhere? Would I ever? No. It hurts me that she would even put that out there, to put that in someone’s head. And it doesn't even hurt me as bad as it hurts her brother.”
April 23, 2012
Another day, another rumor! This time, it was Teresa trying to spread the news that Melissa was cheating on Joe Gorga.
Melissa responded to the hurtful allegation on BravoTV, saying, “What if Joe listened to her and came home yelling and arguing with me in front of my kids, is that what she wanted? Leave him for a richer man? Really? Come on, evidently, I have no idea what I was dealing with here, but I do think it’s very clear to everyone what she is trying to do, so I’m not going to get into it that much. I think watching me and Joe it’s quite obvious how we feel about each other.”
July 2013
Both Joe’s and their wives got into a now-infamous brawl after Teresa hold Joe Giudice that Joe Gorga had called her “scum.” TL;DR: The two men ended up legit fighting each other, while Melissa was trapped in a corner urging Teresa to get help.
Around this time, Teresa and Joe Giudice were both sentenced to terms in prison, which kinda resulted in a momentary truce between the sisters-in-law. In the end, Teresa served an 11-month sentence, and the Gorgas helped take care of her four daughters with Joe Giudice (who went in after Teresa came out) at the time. However, this would eventually be contested by Teresa. More on *waves hands frantically* that in a bit...👀
July 7, 2016
Teresa and Melissa eventually managed to *checks notes* bond over the common enemy that was fellow RHONJ castmate Jacqueline Laurita. The two opened up to E! News about the sitch, with Teresa revealing, “I think that my relationship totally changes this season, with her, completely. And it was pretty shocking and I think she tried to be hurtful in certain situations.”
Melissa, for her part, added, “I think [our trip to] Vermont is [a] big turning point. When we go away on the girls’s trip, it was a big turning point for me, for my and Jacqueline’s relationship. It took my rose-colored glasses off and it was like really seeing someone in front of me that I didn’t see before.”
May 19, 2017
Teresa, Melissa, and Joe^2 started a pizza restaurant together, which kinda signified a ~new beginning~ for the family members. How-ev-er, just one (!!!) year later, it shut its doors. According to the family, the management was shady, but that’s pretty much all fans were told, leaving a buncha questions that were never answered. However...
...during a January 2018 interview with The Morning Breath, Melissa briefly talked about the subject and revealed, “I can speak about it mildly because it’s a major situation, unfortunately. I will admit one thing: We are overwhelmed with the amount of people that are going. We had no idea it was going to be as busy as it is; that’s first of all.”
“Second of all, yes, there are partners, obviously, that we’ve gone into it with. We were having issues with the management and the way they were running it. There were a couple shady things going on,” she added.
*cue le dramatic music*
May 19, 2021
During the first part of the season 11 RHONJ reunion, Joe Gorga told host Andy Cohen that he was still waiting for a “public apology” from Joe Giudice for landing his sister in jail.
“So have you been holding back your anger at Joe Giudice for a long time?” Andy asked Joe, who in turn replied, “A long time. An extremely long time. My parents held it in for a long time, because they had four granddaughters that they took care of and they loved. It was a very hard time.”
“The other day, Antonia came into my room with an article, and she’s like, ‘Mommy, why does [uncle] Joe always write these horrible things about you?’ Antonia’s reading it too,” Melissa added, speaking about her and Joe Gorga’s daughter.
In the end, Teresa, Melissa, and Joe agreed to put the situation behind them, with Joe Giudice saying, “We’ve made an agreement: it’s done. After this we’re never gonna say [Joe Gorga’s] name again, right?”
November 18, 2021
Teresa and Melissa were both cast in the inaugural season of the crossover Housewives series Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip. Off the bat, tension between the two was brewing, with one of the plot lines focusing on how Melissa was originally cast on RHONJ. “She was like, ‘I'm not signing this paper if you cast my brother [Joe Gorga] and my sister [in-law on the show],’” Melissa said of Teresa.
The issue prompted Teresa to claim that Melissa and Joe never told her they were auditioning for the series...which was then rebuked by Melissa, who said she did speak with her sister-in-law after producers reached out to her. *sigh*
March 16, 2022
During an appearance on Watch What Happens Live, Teresa dropped the bombshell that Melissa wasn’t going to be a member of her bridal party in her nuptials to current husband Louis (aka Louie) Ruelas. After host Andy Cohen asked if Melissa knew, Teresa simply said, “Don’t make a big deal. I mean, come on.”
A few days later, Melissa said the following in response to the update: “Yes, I watched Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, and I did find out on TV that I’m not gonna be in Teresa’s wedding and I’m not a bridesmaid, which I’m okay with, I’m fine with. I understand, to each their own.”
May 3, 2022
Melissa gave an update on where she and her sister-in-law stood during a convo with Extra. “I think that everyone was always rooting for us to be besties, but, and I just hate to let everyone down…but it’s just, it’s not going to happen,” she confessed before adding, “I just feel like I’ve tried for so many years and you know…at some point, you have to throw in the towel. You know, at some point you have to say, ‘Okay, we’re not going to be this, but we’re family and we’re going to respect each other.’”
August 6, 2022
Sources opened up about Melissa not making an appearance at Teresa and Louie’s nuptials, with one insider spilling (via Distractify), “Teresa betrayed them in a way that’s unforgivable. They’re not going to celebrate Teresa’s new marriage when all she does is try to tear apart theirs.”
Around the same time, Melissa dropped an episode of her Melissa Gorga On Display podcast and explained her reasoning for not attending, calling the situation “devastating.”
“I will let all my listeners know this: Obviously, there was something that went down at the [season 13] finale of filming The Real Housewives of New Jersey. Those exact details I obviously cannot say today. Anything that we have filmed is something that I am not able to talk about...I’m not going to sit here and say that there wasn’t drama, that it wasn’t crazy. Yes, there was a little aggression from certain people that could've been a little scary.”
Joe then added, “To me, it was devastating. It really was. It was one of the hardest days of my life. It was bad.”
“We supported everyone who went to that wedding. We sent them with love. We truly, honestly, even with everything that happened, we both will always love Teresa very much and hope that she has everything she wants now, and that her girls are happy, and that this is Teresa’s happily ever after,” Melissa urged.
August 17, 2022
Teresa took her turn at musing on Melissa and her brother skipping out on her wedding during an episode of her own podcast, Namaste B$tches.
“I found out a few days before my wedding that they weren’t coming,” the reality star began. “I'm totally fine with it. You’ll see it play out on TV...The way that everything played out with my wedding, everything that happened is the way it was supposed to be. I’m all about that. I’m all about good energy, and whoever wanted to be at my wedding was there.”
Well! Then!!!!
December 13, 2022
Melissa gave a major update on the “sad situation” while speaking with E! News in December 2022.
“It’s upsetting that there’s a lot of tit for tat going on,” the Envy by Melissa Gorga owner explained. “It’s starting to feel like people are using things as ways to win the audience over. When I don’t, I don’t like that. I don’t respect that as much.”
February 7, 2023
Melissa provided fans with yet another brief on her and Teresa’s ‘ship just prior to the RHONJ season 13 premiere. “I mean, the door’s shut right now [on a reconciliation]. Just is,” she said during an interview with People. “It’s exhausting if I’m being honest. I think I say that a lot this season. It’s up and down, and in and out, and high and not high. I’m mad, I’m not mad. I’m going to stab you. Just, how about, get away?”
“That’s the point I’m at. I’m comfortable enough in my skin. I am secure enough that I don’t feel guilty anymore. I know I’ve always done the right thing. Not perfect, but I’ve really tried to help and fix it, so I’m washing my hands now. I’m done. I’m done with the toxic,” the celeb noted.
February 21, 2023
Teresa accused Melissa of not “rooting for” her and Louie during an episode of RHONJ and asked, “Listen, do you wanna be in the wedding? I mean if you would love to be a bridesmaid.” In response, Melissa said, “Well, why are you acting like you’re doing me a favor?”
“I would love for you to be a bridesmaid in my wedding. I'm being for real,” Teresa then retorted before Melissa finally quipped with, “I would never go back. It’s like an ex-boyfriend saying, ‘I f-*cked up. I want you back.’ No, you can’t f*cking have me back.”
Yiiiiiiikes.
April 24, 2023
Andy Cohen spoke about the highly-anticipated season 14 reunion of RHONJ on his SiriusXM radio show, Radio Andy: “I’ve gotta tell you, the level—I won’t even say vitriol, I'll say hate—between Teresa and Melissa...the gloves are off. I’ve never seen anything like it.” “The way the two of them were going back and forth, it was that thing of—neither wanted the other to have the last word in any petty fight,” he added before dropping this bombshell detail: “I almost walked off at one point. I was just so annoyed.”
May 23, 2023
During a RHONJ episode that took viewers through Teresa and Louie’s wedding day, Teresa’s daughter Gia Giudice said of her uncle, “When I heard he wasn’t coming, I was just like, ‘Wow.’ At this point, it’s like, you really did just completely burn the bridge. Like, it’s over for everybody, including me and my sisters.”
June 6, 2023
One of the wildest claims Teresa made during the RHONJ season 13 reunion was that neither her brother Joe Gorga nor Melissa were there for her family while she and her ex-husband were incarcerated. Melissa retorted by discussing how much she felt she was there, but Teresa wasn’t having it and instead accused Joe Gorga of only visiting her in prison when the cameras were rolling. Enter: Melissa confessing that Teresa didn’t put Joe on the visitor list in the first place, which Teresa obvi denied.
January 9, 2024
During a convo with Entertainment Tonight, Melissa spoke about how she and Teresa’s relationship will unfold during RHONJ’s upcoming 14th season. “The biggest misconception is that it’s gonna be more drama between me and my sister-in-law,” she began before adding, “We don’t even, like, look at each other.”
“It is the new normal. I think it just is what it is. I always say it’s unfortunate. I’ll never be, like, happy about that. But we’re all living, and we’re happy, and sometimes things just need to take its course. Right now that’s definitely how it is.”
August 11, 2024
In the season 14 RHONJ finale—aka the “Off the Rails” special episode—Melissa had some final thoughts about where she and Teresa stood. Ahem: “There’s a lot of memories, good and bad. This [show] has been a part of my life since 2010. There’s just so many emotions when you watch it all, but what I see there is done. My relationship with my husband’s family, it’s over.”
“It sucks. But at the same time, I couldn’t be happier, in a weird way. To be over...I feel relieved.”
Obvi, all of this ^^^ is on the heels of there being a buncha speculation about the future of the series, which might get a complete shake-up à la The Real Housewives of New York. Only time will tell where these two go from here. 💔
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