There is never a dull day in the land of Real Housewives of New Jersey. In my mind pretty much the entire state is wrapped up in the cesspool of drama that is this show. And while I'm not always Bethenny Frankel's biggest fan, what I'm about to write has me agreeing whole-heartedly with one of her recent tweets: "Does it ever amaze you what desperate people will do to stay relevant?" And while I'm pretty sure she wasn't referring to the ladies of Jersey, i still think it applies.
First up Melissa Gorga is not letting this season go. After spending an entire season complaining that Teresa Giudice was talking about her in tabloids, it seems Melissa really just wanted a piece of the pie. And it's tabloids and more tabloids! Speaking to In Touch Weekly, Teresa's regular haunt, Melissa has a little advice for her sister-in-law.
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“If reality TV is causing her family a lot of stress, then she should walk away,” Melissa shares. “But I don’t think she’s there yet.” While I wholeheartedly agree Teresa should walk away, I'm pretty sure heads will roll over Melissa's comment!
Melissa adds, “If I start to feel pressure at home, you won’t see me on the show anymore.But I don’t think Teresa is ready to take that step.”
So Melissa is trying to tell us that her husband's family being destroyed by a reality TV show and the fact that his children allegedly (depending on which Gorga you speak to) don't have a relationship with their grandparents isn't causing Melissa stress at home? Interesting…
Moving on, Dina Manzo is apparently tired of being the topic of conversation over a reality show she quit two years ago. Despite remaining friends Teresa, Dina still doesn't have a relationship with Caroline Manzo. Caroline has adamantly insisted Teresa is part of the blame for that (although weren't Teresa and Caroline close until last year?), while Dina maintains that's not the case.
Once again speaking out to explain her point of view, Dina shares why she agreed to film at Teresa's Fabellini party and dishes on Celebrity Apprentice! I have to admit, I've always loved Dina and she was my favorite housewife on Jersey. I think she's always kept it classy, while being fun and honest. She also seems like she has a lot of integrity about what she believes in.
So here's what Mrs. Manzo No. 2 has to say:
"Let me first say that I’ve gone to every single one of Teresa’s parties that I’ve been invited to, most of which the cameras were NOT rolling. When Teresa asked me to attend the fabellini launch my first question was 'will there be cameras there?' She said 'yes, but you can come after they leave'…as I have done in the past."
"I showed up 2 1/2 hours late hoping the cameras would already be gone (I know that it was naive of me) I was promised that I didn’t have to be mic’d at first, just show that I was there to support Teresa. When I arrived one of the producers took me aside and explained to me that Teresa was really taking a beating this season and needed some much needed 'on air' support."
"As a friend I felt bad for her, as a human being I never like to see anyone standing alone (I was always that girl in the lunch room who went to sit with the loner in the corner of the cafeteria) It is also why I was so quick to forgive Danielle [Staub] at the reunion. I don’t like when Everyone is against one person and I certainly don’t like to see this happen to someone I care about."
As for her friendship with Teresa, Dina elaborates they have always supported each other.
"Teresa has always supported me and has especially always supported Project Ladybug. She has come to every charity event I have ever asked her to and never complained taking this time out of her crazy schedule to help me. At the time I was even under the impression she was doing celebrity apprentice for ladybug. In the end she chose another worthy foundation, was I disappointed at first??? Absolutely, but she explained to me how she met this beautiful little boy with a rare disease and it really hit home for her. Now how can I be mad at her for helping a sick child?"
"I was proud of her for giving a foundation that i was told had no prior national exposure a platform. BUT I would be lying if I also didn’t feel a bit obligated to be there for her 'on air' too because of this. I would cut off my right bubbie for these kids and one quick scene on housewives didn’t seem that bad at the time…Boy was I wrong, do not mix booze with raw emotions…"
"Let me first explain that 90% of our convo was about her brother and Melissa. That is where the 'blood is thicker than water' comment came in. Think about it, does it make sense that Teresa would bring that up about her and Caroline’s relationship?? You guys are smarter than that…"
"Now from my understanding this scene was shot AFTER even the reunion and things with her brother was worse than ever." [Dina is referring to the S3 reunion, which was filmed the day following the Posche Fashion Show featured as the S4 finale].
"I was explaining to Teresa that blood is NOT always thicker than water when her brother has to get in bed with his WIFE every night and not her….and we all know (unfortunately) about Joe Gorga’s poison. Water wins in this case every time! TRUST ME!!"
"So here I am giving Teresa advice to just give her brother his space then she brings up my sister…did you see the look on my face? I was pissed but before you go getting mad at T I’m sure the producers convinced her this was a good idea, I could be mad at her but I understand the position she was in."
"I also understood via text from Jacqueline [Laurita] that I was a topic of not only season 3′s reunion that was just filmed but throughout season 4 as well. A part of me felt I should say my peace and I was pissed I was even brought up, I don’t know who did it and at this point I don’t even care. I had also had a few fabellinis on an empty stomach after a LONG day of shooting for HGTV and there was a lot of hurt off camera with my family who is on the show. So I went ahead and said how I felt about the joke in the book."
"Do I regret talking about it on camera? Was it wrong of me?? Yes yes yes… But it’s done and I can’t take it back. I should have walked away but I didn’t. I do feel that this book nonsense is all that -nonsense…but I regret talking about it on film."
Following the completion of the S4 reunion, Dina had this to say:
"It’s now Sunday night, I wrote this before I saw the last reunion tonight…I still feel the same about regretting filming but I DO NOT feel bad about defending Teresa, I know what it’s like to be on the other end of something like this and I don’t think it’s cool and for the record AGAIN She had nothing to do with my issues with my family in fact as I said before my issues stem back all the way from season 1."
"Teresa and the girls were buddy buddy up until last year, so please stop saying I chose her over my family… I would also like to say that I have 11 siblings…my family does not consist of just who is on this show and yes I do talk to the other 9 and I’m quite close to many of them and my parents."
"I will publicly say I think they ALL handled this wrong…I begged some of the players (I won’t go into who) to just respond with kindness and all this will end. But I understand how emotions can get the best of you…they did tonight after I watched the show. I do wish all this could end, I don’t like seeing people especially WOMEN and FAMILY fight like this."
"If you can’t get along with someone or you feel that they just don’t like you…JUST STAY AWAY. Well at least that’s what works for me, you can completely FORGIVE people for how they treated you but it doesn’t mean you have to go back for more. Do you guys get it???"
Well, that's it. Pretty straightforward.
TELL US – DO YOU AGREE WITH MELISSA THAT TERESA SHOULD LEAVE REALITY TV BECAUSE OF FAMILY STRESS? SHOULD MELISSA ALSO LEAVE THE SHOW? WHAT DO YOU THINK OF DINA'S STATEMENT?
Photo Credits: Izzy/Ivan Nikolov/Wenn.com
