There’s a major divide between the cast of The Real Housewives of New Jersey after they filmed season 13 this past summer. Things are so bad between Teresa Giudice and her family members Joe and Melissa Gorga that the cast had to be split in two separate panels at BravoCon 2022 in New York City. HollywoodLife spoke to the women of RHONJ and we got some major teasers about the upcoming season.
“It’s a hard season for me,” Teresa told us EXCLUSIVELY, with her new husband Luis Ruelas by her side. “Sad. Devastating. You’re gonna have to see how it plays out,” she added.
Teresa did note that season 13 has a “happy ending” with her glamorous wedding that took place on August 6 in New Jersey. Joe and Melissa didn’t attend the wedding because of a major fight that went down at the finale and allegedly involved a new cheating rumor. The Gorgas haven’t spoken to Teresa since.
“There’s lot of speculation about what’s going on and why we didn’t go to the wedding,” Melissa said to HL at BravoCon. “And I feel like you’re gonna get all your answers. I don’t know how to explain it other than like, you’ll understand it more when you really get into it and listen to what happened and what’s going on.”
We also caught up with Margaret Josephs who called the new season “explosive and emotional.” Marge went on to say, “I think everybody’s going to really love it. I think just being here at BravoCon, everybody’s going to tune in considering our panel is split. We sat separately on the stage. But I think it’s also going to be a lot of fun.”
Margaret also said that she was “surprised” by what went down at the season 13 finale taping. “It wasn’t just Melissa and Teresa, everybody got into it, including myself, with other cast mates,” she teased. “It was ugly, and uncalled for. People thought they were going to pull the wool over mine and Melissa’s eyes, but that’s not what happened. They didn’t and that’s totally not what happened. So we really pulled one out. And so I think people are going to be shocked. It’s shocking.”
Dolores Catania told HL that season 13 has “different dynamics” with so many brutal fights. “There’s fights that I don’t know if we can come back from,” Dolores admitted. “We’ve come back from a lot over the years. A lot. I don’t know if we can come back from some things that have happened. It’s riveting. The finale, you’re going to shit your pants basically.”
Jackie Goldschneider revealed that viewers should expect “a lot of fun times,” but also “a lot of drama” when RHONJ returns to Bravo. Jackie also explained how she navigated the drama between Teresa and Melissa in the upcoming season.
“It was hard because it took a long time for me and Teresa to get to a place where we could celebrate each other,” Jackie said. “And I wanted to celebrate her getting married and be there for all of that. But at the same time, I had to walk a fine line to show Melissa that she was my friend. And I think I made her feel supported off camera a lot, too, just reminding her that I was always there for her. But it’s hard. I wish our whole cast could be together right now.”
Season 13 of The Real Housewives of New Jersey is expected to premiere in early 2023 on Bravo.