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Yesterday Reality Tea had the opportunity to chat with Victoria Gotti about her feelings about reality TV then and now, her decision to return to reality TV in Growing Up Gotti: 10 Years Later, and whatâs changed in her life after reality TV. Victoria also shared an update on her sonsâ lives.Â
Victoria was candid, unapologetic, a dedicated mother, and exactly what you see on TV â which was a refreshing. She was adamant that the âblame the editorsâ adage so many reality stars cling to is ridiculous, but she also admitted that reality TV has changed over the years. I take it her recent experience on Real Housewives Of New Jersey led her to that conclusion.Â
Victoria is excited to show viewers how her family has grown since we saw them on Growing Up Gotti, and she maintains that her experiences on that show, and on other reality shows, have been a positive ones, which is why she decided to open her life up the cameras again for an update.Â
Quoting Al Pacino from The Godfather III, Victoria joked, ââJust when I think Iâm out, they call me back in.â No pun intended. But I think once you do it, thatâs it!â Victoria says she has âno regretsâ about participating in the original incarnation of Growing Up Gotti â and neither do her sons. âI loved it! When I was asked to come back, do this, I didnât hesitate.âÂ
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Growing Up Gotti: 10 Years Later will also feature Victoriaâs larger-than-life sons Carmine, Frank, and John. âWe all have grown, the boys astoundingly so, but myself as well, and I think everyoneâs going to be pleasantly surprised,â says Victoria of the showâs premise.Â
Victoria says at first her sons were âambivalentâ about participating in the update, but ultimately decided to sign on. âAs much as they wonât admit it, they missed it,â Victoria shares. âWe sat down as a family, we decided as a family, and then did it. And afterward, I spoke with each one of them â everybody loved it. They were happy with what they did, they were happy with the end result, and I think overall they were really glad they did it.âÂ
They also decided doing the show made sense from a professional standpoint. âWe could do what we love with a purpose,â Victoria explains. âItâs a real big gift for me; a special gift. It not only gives me the excitement that I love in my life, to do what I wanna do â write, be in the entertainment industry on the other side â it gives you kind of a birdâs eye view and then to be able to do it with my children, itâs incredible!âÂ
Reflecting on why reality TV has been such  positive experience for her, Victoria reveals that it all comes down to working with her family.âI love, love, loved traveling and working with the boys. For me, I have what a lot of people donât have, I have not photo albums of my children growing up, I have a series.âÂ
As for what Carmine, Frank, and Joey are up to now they currently own their own steel plant business. They arenât âout there partying,â Victoria says.âTheyâre very hard working kids. The business works â itâs a very successful business. They donât always see eye-to-eye, but they generally get along, they know what it takes to make it work.â Â
âIt worries me,â Victoria does admit, âbecause I think all they do is work. Iâm proud of them for that, but I do worry â thereâs a lot more to life.âÂ
Initially Victoriaâs sons werenât to be a focus on Growing Up Gotti, which was planned to be about her work in the entertainment industry as a correspondent and columnist, combined with her being infamous mobster John Gottiâs daughter. Per the showâs original goals, Carmine, Frank, and John were to be âbackground noise in my crazy, busy life, as the network phrased it, âas a socialiteâ â they felt that was a glamorous enough life, and then coupled that with who I am, my fatherâs persona, they thought was exciting enough,â recounts Victoria.
A âcameoâ from the boys during the first episode took off with viewers. âAnd Boom! Itâs the birth of a whole new show,â Victoria recalls. âIt was a complete revamping from what I had signed on for â I had a little bit of reservation in the beginning. My biggest concern was if I saw any one kid where he was kinda floating off the ground, even an inch, I would be there to pull him right back down. Thatâs not the way my children were raised and thatâs not the way they were going to be raised. Having said that, having done that â looking at them now: No regrets.âÂ
Victoria feels that one reason her family was able to be successful with reality TV is that they never let the show define them. âWeâll never be that family â Iâll never be that person â that will come out, and I know a buncha people that have done it who I can name off the top of my head, âOh my God, the reality show ruined my life.â or âOh my God â we went here and we did this and we were broke and my kids went amokâŚâ We never looked at this as some sort of future or financial gain. We did it because I, at the time, decided to do it.âÂ
âI donât believe in that whole thing âreality cameras ruined my life.â Hey â somebody made that decision,â Victoria adds. âWe are all responsible for our own choices in life, good or bad, and no one forces anyone to do anything for any other purpose, whether it be money, whether it be fame, whether it be some sort of gain. So, every decision I make in my life, I try to weigh out very cautiously. And every decision I make, even now, while theyâre much older, I ask myself, âHow will this affect my kids?â and then, âHow will this affect me?'âÂ
âI feel like people look for scapegoats too, âOh no, it wasnât us â weâre not the weak-minded people, it was the reality show, it was those guys, it was everybody else but us,'â Victoria states. âTake responsibility â it was you, it was your family maybe, everybody has trouble, everybody is human, no one is perfect, there is no normal today, but the labeling elsewhere â I donât believe in that.âÂ
And Victoria knows firsthand about labeling â she has been fighting a battle against her fatherâs legacy her entire career, and how that reflects how people view her. Victoria doesnât think it will ever be cleared up. âI can show you who I am, what I do and thatâs it. Theyâre always going to suspect you â I canât change that.â
Victoria does concede that reality TV has changed over the years. âWhen we did it⌠it was before anyone else did it â and there was nothing we were ashamed of. There was nothing in our lives at the time that we were hiding from cameras â it was what it was, good and bad. It just was⌠reality,â Victoria describes. âToday, I think theyâve gone just way too far in some outlets.âÂ
Despite enjoying her experiences, Victoria hasnât quite decided whether or not she would commit to full season of a reality show. âThat depends,â she said. âWeâve been discussing it. If itâs right, if itâs the right project, the right timeâŚâÂ
Outside of reality TV, Victoria is currently working on another novel, which will be out in the Spring. She is also currently working on a different TV show, but isnât permitted to give away any details!
TELL US â WILL YOU BE TUNING IN TO GROWING UP GOTTI: 10 YEARS LATER?Â
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