RealityTea.com:
Earlier this week I spoke with Melissa Gorga. I had no expectations going into the conversation and I was very excited to get her perspective on the drama that has encapsulated her life since joining the Real Housewives of New Jersey.
First of all, I have to admit – it’s very strange to speak to someone that you see on television. We as viewers are so close to these reality stars lives, yet so far away. We are offered a very limited glimpse of the truth and yet it feels far more personal than that. RHONJ has captivated fans more than any other Housewives series because, not only are the women former close friends, they are family and their drama is palpable and relatable.
Melissa understands this and was candid about discussing it. Watching the show last season I had so many questions to ask the women directly and it was amazing to get the opportunity to do so in person.
Melissa was open, honest, and heart-felt in her answers and was very forthcoming about her family drama, her feelings on reality television, and the opportunities it has presented for her and her family. She strikes me as a down-to-earth person who has a supportive marriage and a positive outlook on life. I asked Melissa questions I wanted answers to and she answered each one willingly.
It was more like a conversation than an interview. Sadly, she didn’t say “Thank you, Jesus!” once. I was hoping for it! An excerpt from our conversation is below:
RT: What was your first season of being on a reality TV show like?
MG: “It was crazy, I guess. I wasn’t used to it, but now it’s kinda – I’m easy with it. When it was airing last season I was a little uncomfortable. I was, like, what did I do? Why am I putting my life out there like this? But now, it’s just a way of life. Our show, it’s about family and it’s real. Everybody goes through it with family. Everybody has in-law issues, and sister-in-law issues, so we just kinda put it out there.”
“I’ve been very lucky,” Melissa adds. “Things have been good.”
RT: Was it worth it to come on the show? Has it been a positive experience for you?
MG: “Yeah, so far, so good! There’s always good and the bad. There’s been so many made up stories; it’s funny. There’s always these people that come out on Twitter and say the most ridiculous things, and you’re like where are they getting this from? You kinda realize it comes with the territory. It’s what you have to go through when you’re on a reality show. There’s gonna be the ones that absolutely love you and there’s gonna be the ones who don’t agree with you.”
RT: So, the infamous “stripper rumors…” How did Joe and your family handle hearing those things about you? Was it stressful?
MG: “That, I have to say, was probably the least amount of stress. It was just so absurd. It was so ridiculous. Joe [Gorga] actually used to come see me when I bartended there. I bartended when I was in college.” (Meliss seemed to have a brain lapse over when she graduated! Minor detail? Right?) “He knows! From the very start, it was just ridiculous. It seemed very set-up; it was set-up.”
“There’s usually no men at the Posche Fashion Show,” Melissa continues. Oh, the Posche Fashion Show. The paragon of NJ society. How I wait on bated breath to be invited… Anyway: “They don’t really come. There’s usually maybe one here or there, but to have, like, this table of men that have nothing to do with any of us. That happened to be the table that he’s at – Mike (the man who supposedly was Melissa’s boss at Lookers) - and he walks over to me. It was very fishy.”
“I could see maybe I would get nervous or frazzled if there was any truth, but there’s zero truth. It just seemed so fake. It just wasn’t nice. I have three little babies at home – why start rumors that I was a stripper?”
“I’m almost sure the stripper thing is the finale,” Melissa hinted. As for how she is feeling about the situation then and now, “I was a little upset at the time. I felt so set-up. And the other girls saw it and they were getting so upset over it. We just didn’t who to look at; we didn’t know who to blame. And you know certain signs point to certain things and there’s little clues here and there. But until I watch it play out on TV…”
“I’m sure there’s things that I don’t know yet, that I haven’t seen, that other people have shot. Until I really see it play out I’m not going to point my finger at anyone. In the long run, it doesn’t hurt me.” Melissa added that, thankfully, her children are too young to see gossip on the internet, and no one at school has confronted her children about the allegations.
Melissa admits that the guy who confronted her about the allegations during the PFS, actually spoke to her sister-in-law Teresa Giudice. “He didn’t even say it to my face,” she reveals. “And supposedly [this conversation], it went on behind my back with my sister-in-law and it didn’t happen in front of my face. I wish he would have said it to me so I could have been able to defend myself. I wasn’t even able to say ‘that’s not true!’”
RT: Why do you think he confronted Teresa with these allegations? This is where it gets really juicy!
MG: “Well, that’s the tricky part. That’s the part that we’re trying to figure out. How it was all so conveniently Teresa had met him earlier in the day and Teresa had went to a salon and got her hair done and he just happened to be there and he just happened to come to the Posche Fashion Show… I’m not pointing finger at anyone, because I don’t have facts and that’s not fair. But it just doesn’t feel right. I just don’t wanna believe that anyone would do that to me, especially someone who is part of my family.”
Melissa is waiting to see how it plays out on TV to get answers, “Bravo has magic,” she hints. “We’ll see which way they play it.” Melissa believes the entire thing started with a group of people who want to get on the show and want to be Housewives, so they were starting drama to catch Bravo’s attention.
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RT: Has it been helpful to have Kathy [Wakile] join the show with you?
MG: “Yes, of course. We didn’t know this world. I’m not from a world of hate. I’m happy for everyone. I’ve never felt that jealousy bug. We both were not like that, but to hear negative comments, at first I would take it to heart and so would she. And then as it went on, this is just what it is. We just started to ignore it.”
Melissa also talked about how the rest of her co-stars helped her through the process of joining the show.
“To be honest, Jacqueline [Laurita] too – and Caroline [Manzo]. Everyone kinda put their hand out and was like be careful, watch what you say, and helped lead the way. It was nice. I got along great with everyone. They were all so helpful; they were all so sweet. Jacqueline, was like, ‘Be ready…,’ but at the same time, it was scary. It’s part of the job. Teresa, was upset that I accepted the invitation to be on the show. So there was a lot of tension in the beginning. It wasn’t a pleasant time, to be honest with you.”
“Teresa and I were not speaking before the show. Do you think that would have happened at the Christening if we were a happy family? By no means did we go behind anyone’s back to get on the show. Bravo is smart, they know exactly where you are. They did call me. It took me months to sign that paper, I did not want to do it.”
“I told my husband I didn’t want do it. I left it up to him, because I told him ‘You know what, Joe – it’s your family’ Ultimately, Joe made the decision, because of the opportunity. He’s a go-getter, just like his sister.”
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