Joe Gorga dished on a recent “really rude and nasty” encounter he had with Richard “Richie” Wakile as Melissa Gorga responded to Kathy Wakile‘s recent shade against her on Friday’s episode of her podcast.
After Kathy, 58, appeared on Watch What Happens Live, where she slammed Melissa’s comments about wanting to reconcile as “convenient,” the 45-year-old Real Housewives of New Jersey star admitted to being “taken back” by the diss as she admitted to feeling regret over extending an olive branch and reacted to rumors of a potential cast reboot after season 14.
“I felt like she had a negative flair when asked about us,” Melissa said of Kathy’s WWHL appearance on the July 19 episode of PodcastOne’s On Display With Melissa Gorga. “What I had said on [Jeff Lewis Live] was I thought very nice and very in a way of moving forward in some which way and it wasn’t like a ‘Hey, I want you on the show’ or ‘I want you back in our lives.’ That wasn’t really what I was saying. I was saying it would be nice if we live on the same street and there are two cousins living on the same street and they bumped into each other it would be really nice to have them talk and work it out and talk it out.”
Although Melissa’s intentions were good, she now feels that she shouldn’t have made an effort with Kathy and her husband, Richie.
“I’m like, ‘Huh? Do I regret saying that after she had that weird attitude on [WWHL]?’ It was weird. I think she forgets who said they’re gonna cut the cancer out,” Melissa reasoned, signaling to Teresa Giudice, 52, previously cutting ties with her and Joe’s cousin, Kathy. “[Joe Gorga] did what [he] had to do, which was support [his] family. [His] sister asked [him] for something and there [he was] being a good brother and did what [he] had to do.”
“That’s basically what I was saying to Jeff Lewis on his podcast, like, these are real cousins. And that’s me extending an olive branch,” she explained.
According to Melissa, she wanted to get to a place with the Wakiles, who recently moved onto her street, where if they saw them in their neighborhood, they’d be civil.
“But you know what? Your loss. Stay on your side of the street. All good. I tried to say something nice. I don’t think I liked the attitude. I’m like, it’s weird. We haven’t seen her in a very long time so I just thought it was a little petty,” Melissa admitted.
Meanwhile, Joe shared a story about a recent run-in with Richie, noting that after asking his cousin’s husband, “What’s up, Wakile,” he was immediately shot down.
“That’s Mr. Wakile to you,” Richie said in response before driving off.
“[He was] really rude and nasty,” Joe shared. “You’re still bitter that you got kicked off the show … That’s what it is … Get over it.”
Melissa then moved on to the remaining episodes of RHONJ, saying that the last three episodes of the season are “really, really, really good.”
“They are drama-packed. I feel like we saved the best for last,” she teased. “I know this season got off to a little bit of a slower start but as the season goes on, it gets better and better.”
As for the finale, Melissa exclaimed, “Oh my, God.”
“We did film a little special. I know you’re not getting a reunion but you will get some type of closure. I can’t tell you how we’re doing it or what. But you will get a special that is not a huge reunion but you’ll get an episode of our closing thoughts,” Melissa revealed of the apparent watch party after the finale.
Looking ahead to the potential 15th season of the show, Melissa admitted it would “be an adjustment” if she and Joe were no longer a part of the show before clarifying that “no decisions” have been made quite yet.
“There is absolutely zero decisions made on what’s happening for the next season of [RHONJ]. The executives have told us over and over again they are not even thinking about it and I know that’s a fact,” she stated. “They don’t think about this until after the reunion airs.”
“Either way, I think that we’ve shown a lot of our lives and I’m happy to continue to showing it and I’m also happy with the memories that we made. So we’ll be at peace either way,” she concluded.
The Real Housewives of New Jersey season 14 airs Sundays at 8/7c on Bravo.
