Joe Gorga was just as shocked about his reconciliation with Teresa Giudice as The Real Housewives of New Jersey fans were.
“I was like, ‘Is this real? This is my sister.’ I was very confused,” Joe, 51, said during the Tuesday, March 31, episode of the “Casual Chaos” podcast. “Took me a minute. I’m like, ‘Is this a joke?’”
Podcast host Gia Giudice joked that her uncle thought he “saw a ghost” after receiving the text message from her mom.
“It took me a little minute to make it comprehend and sink in,” he recalled. “I answered her right away. That’s exactly what I wanted, because it’s not me. I always want her in my life.”
He added, “But she pushed me away, and she had to. She had rights. Whatever she was going through in life, and I can’t blame her, because she went through a lot of things in life.”
Joe said hearing from Teresa was “the best moment.” (Teresa reunited with her brother, Joe, and sister-in-law Melissa Gorga late last year after a years-long feud, which was chronicled on RHONJ.)
“It was a great moment to receive that text,” he continued. “When we met it was just like, ‘Listen, I love you. I don’t want to hear nothing. … I don’t even care. It’s over. Let’s move on.’ And that’s what we have to do. Move on. And that’s it. Not bring up the past. The past is over. It’s done, it’s gone. It’s behind us. But we are older now, we are smarter now. We’re all more mature.”
Melissa, who was also on Tuesday’s podcast episode, said she was “nervous” to meet up with Teresa initially. Joe felt differently.
“I have no anger inside me. I just wanted to make up. I don’t care, it’s over,” he said. “I wasn’t nervous. I was just happy. Let’s all get together.”
Joe and Melissa also addressed speculation that they only reconciled with Teresa to film RHONJ again. (The series was put on hiatus following the season 14 finale in 2024.)
“We’re not good actors,” Melissa said. Joe added, “How can you fake this s***?”
Melissa continued, “We’re not good at putting on a show, because we all just, like, spit it out.”
Both Joe and Gia agreed that Teresa “can’t fake it” either.
It was announced on March 24 that RHONJ would be returning for season 15 with Melissa, Teresa and Dolores Catania. The news broke while Joe and Melissa were recording their podcast episode with Gia.
“Jersey’s back, baby,” Melissa said. Gia added, “And you guys are going to see a united family.”
Melissa continued, “Thank you, Jesus.”
