Television May 23, 2023
'RHONJ': Teresa Giudice on If She'll Return & ‘Very Sad’ Melissa Gorga Feud (Exclusive)
Teresa Giudice and her husband Luis Ruelas sat down with “Extra’s” Billy Bush in their first interview since the rumors began circulating that “The Real Housewives of New Jersey” Season 14 is on hold.
Teresa and Luis opened up about the family feud with Melissa and Joe Gorga boiling over, resulting in Melissa and Joe no-showing at their nuptials, and if there is any way the fractured family dynamics can be fixed.
After the explosive finale, Billy wanted to know if Teresa would be back. She replied, “Hello, I started the show.”
Bush followed up with, “Is everybody coming back?”
“I have no idea,” she said, confessing, “I don't even know if I'm coming back! I don't know if I'm locked in! I gotta check with my lawyer.”
Billy commented, “That's how good life is with Luis, that you don't even know if you're coming back to work.”
Teresa, “No, I need to come back. I have four daughters — one’s going to law school”
Right now, they're all just trying to survive the family drama. Last week's explosive finale ended with Teresa estranged from her family! After years of tension, the toxic relationship between Teresa, her brother Joe, and his wife Melissa came to a major head when gossip spread that Melissa had cheated on Joe.
Billy said, “Someone said to Joe that his wife was unfaithful.”
Teresa insisted, “That's not me. It wasn't me.”
Bush pointed out, “That's not you, but they pin it on you. Can you somehow get to the bottom of this and say, ‘Guys…’?”
Giudice answered, “They know exactly what they're doing. Read between the lines.”
Billy joked, “Lemme feel your pulse when I ask you this question: You definitely had nothing to do with it?”
She insisted, “Nothing to do with it.”
Billy told her, “No quickening here,” joking that maybe he should check Luis’ pulse, too.
Giudice added, “You can feel it, and that’s why I was like — did you see them at the finale? I was like, ‘Please, I know what you’re doing. You want attention.’ I’m not giving it to them, and I just walked away.”
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View StoryAll of that led to Melissa and Joe skipping Teresa and Luis’ wedding.
Teresa said of them missing the nuptials, “That was very sad.”
How do they bring everyone back together? Luis said, “We’ve been trying.”
Giudice said for now, “I just need time to heal. It’s been, you know, it’s been a lot. It’s been sad.”
Luis added, “Teresa’s been through a lot.”
Teresa insisted, “I tried everything. I bent over backwards. I did backflips for them. You know, I asked her to be in my wedding. I asked my nephew to be in my wedding. Then they got upset that I didn’t ask the mom to come. And I bent over backwards. I’m like, ‘I’ll invite her.’ I tried everything!”
Billy pointed out that usually in a disagreement “there's a little right and there's a little wrong and the truth is right in the middle.”
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View StoryGiudice replied, “Listen, I wish them well, I just need time to heal. I need my space, I need time to heal. Like, it was sad what we went through. It was a lot. Like, here’s the happiest time of my life and listen, I’ve been through a lot. Not that I need anybody to feel sorry for me. But my brother knows what I’ve been through and his wife. I was just so happy. The only thorn in my side were them two, and it's so sad — it's my only family.”
Luis added, “It’s hard. This family, it’s been going on for a long time. I tried, I tried a lot. On camera, off camera… as a brother-in-law. If you want to talk about things with your brother-in-law, you talk about things with your brother-in-law. It’s uncomfortable because it’s all on TV.”
Billy recalled Luis saying he was going to “bury them,” but he insisted, “No, not like that. No, it was just frustrating because we’re getting married that day and I looked at my phone and I saw what they were doing. And it’s a shame. They're berating us, they’re making fun, bantering with Teresa. It just wasn’t fair. Most of the season felt like that toward the end.”
Billy said, “So we've got a mountain to climb,” and Luis replied, “We do, we do. But for now, allow Teresa her space.”