Back in the early days of The Real Housewives of New Jersey, RHONJ OG Jacqueline Laurita was always closer to Teresa Giudice than she was to Melissa Gorga.
Jacqueline was loyal to her bestie Teresa, since they were both original cast members on the show. But when Melissa joined RHONJ in Season 3, Jacqueline claims she tried to drive a wedge between the OGs. In fact, there were times when Jacqueline felt like Melissa was being downright “manipulative.”
Even though she mostly ignored Melissa while trying to remain friendly, it was no secret she was firmly in Teresa’s corner. At one time, she even had a tee shirt made with Melissa in mind that said, “Namast’ay Away from Me.”
Jacqueline Laurita accuses Melissa Gorga of RHONJ jealousy
Despite all of this going down a decade ago, Jacqueline still holds a grudge. On June 26, she had a lengthy Instagram chat with RHONJ alum Kim DePaola.
In the video, she recalled Melissa being so “jealous” of her friendship with Tre. She remembered Melissa saying, “Remember, Jacqueline, she hates your guts.”
“I know,” Melissa responded, “but if she’s nice to my face, I’ll take it … I’d rather film as her friend than have her hatin’ on me. If she’s fakin’ it, whatever.”
Jacqueline added, “One night the cameras were down, and [she and Teresa] were laughing our asses off all night. For, like, three or four hours after filming. So I’m like, we’re fine. We’re good.”
But Jacqueline remembered that “something changed” on the cast trip to Vermont, just prior to Joe Giudice leaving for prison. “Melissa must’ve got in her ear,” she said. “When I watched the show, she was in Teresa’s ear saying, ‘What’s going on with Jacqueline?’ She was planting these seeds when it wasn’t even actuality.”
“She was the one jealous that I was [friends with Teresa],” she added. “She didn’t like that.”
Jacqueline recalled that Melissa even said on camera, “That’s interesting that you and Jacqueline can be friends when I try so hard.”
Further, the mom of three said, “[Melissa] was trying to flip it, like I was jealous that they were friendly. When I was the one pushing them to be friends the entire time.”
All episodes of The Real Housewives of New Jersey are streaming on Peacock in the US and Hayu in the UK and Ireland.
TELL US – DO YOU THINK MELISSA WAS JEALOUS OF TERESA AND JACQUELINE’S FRIENDSHIP?
