The Entire Timeline Of Melissa Gorga And Teresa Giudice's Fallout

When it comes to the "Real Housewives" franchise, you can always count on the ladies from "The Real Housewives of New Jersey" to bring the drama, especially Teresa Giudice and Melissa Gorga. Giudice, in particular, is one of the OG Bravo housewives, having been part of the franchise since "RHONJ" debuted back in 2009. Gorga has had a long run as well, having joined the reality show during Season 3 in 2011. However, since then, the women have pretty much been at odds despite being sisters-in-law, with Gorga being married to Giudice's brother, Joe Gorga.

It appears that Giudice may not have wanted the Gorgas to join the show in the first place and is still angry to this day because she feels they went about it sneakily. Yet Gorga told ET, "No matter how bad you try and backtrack it and make it seem like it was some kind of crazy thing that we were scheming up behind [your back], it was not."

Regardless of what happened over a decade ago, the women claimed in 2023 to have put their beef to bed even if they're not on good terms. Giudice explained to ET, "The fight is over. I don't want to fight anymore. I just want peace in my life." From the looks of their relationship history, it's safe to say that the feud between Gorga and Giudice may never really be over, though—it just takes breaks. So with that said, let's break down the entire timeline of their fall-out.

Most "Real Housewives of New Jersey" fans know that Teresa Giudice and Melissa Gorga's feud goes all the way back to 2011 when Melissa and her husband, Joe Gorga, joined the show. The drama seemingly started at Gorga's son's christening when the Giudices got into a full-on brawl with the Gorgas over Joe calling Teresa "garbage." There apparently had been tension between the families over Giudice not visiting Melissa in the hospital after she gave birth, as well as throwing away her Christmas cookies.

While Giudice claimed she had felt Gorga was stealing her brother from her, Gorga felt that they just had major differences. She explained to People, "I think the root of a lot of our problems is just that if Teresa says black, I say white." Yet Gorga later revealed that the drama was actually because Giudice didn't want them on the show. She revealed to ET, "She would not film at my christening ... and Joe was offended by that."

It didn't help that Giudice threw shade at their marriage too. "When I hear her call me pretty much a gold digger, it's like putting a knife in my heart and twisting it," Gorga told E! Although Giudice had blamed Melissa for all their family problems, she told ET that she realized when binging Season 3 years later that her brother was equally at fault. "I just never thought my family would do that to me ever," she said.

If you ask the Gorgas, Teresa Giudice has been trying to take Melissa Gorga down ever since she joined the "Real Housewives of New Jersey." In 2012, for example, Giudice allegedly tried to shame Melissa's past by bringing a man to a fashion show, who, per Radar, knew Melissa from when she worked at a gentlemen's club. That man claimed, "They had me do this thing, ya know ... 'Melissa! Wow, I almost didn't recognize you.'" While Gorga initially said she didn't know him, she later admitted, "I'm not ashamed of it ... Technically, it's not a strip club, it's a bikini bar."

Giudice apparently tried to cause drama in Melissa's marriage with Giudice's brother, Joe Gorga, too. Melissa explained on a Bravo blog in 2012, "Joe tells me his sister said to him that, 'I would leave him for a richer man.'" She continued, "When Joe confronted Teresa on what she said about me, she once again had no excuse and said, "I heard rumors." That next year in June 2013, In Touch reported that Giudice did that again by saying Gorga had cheated on her husband with an ex-boyfriend.

The rumors eventually impacted the family since Joe Gorga called Giudice "scum," overspreading them. That led to a physical altercation between Joe Gorga and Teresa's then-husband, Joe Giudice, at what was supposed to be a healing retreat. Melissa even admitted in a confessional, "This is the absolute worst it can get. We've hit rock bottom."

You could say it took a crisis for Teresa Giudice to at least temporarily get along with her sister-in-law, Melissa Gorga, since the families came together after Teresa and her then-husband, Joe Giudice, were sentenced to prison. The "Real Housewives of New Jersey" star was arrested on fraud charges in July 2013 and received 15 months behind bars. While the Giudices would need support, Joe Giudice didn't expect the Gorgas to help care for their four daughters. He dished on "Watch What Happens Live," per Us Weekly, "They wouldn't want to go there...Because of all the things they say on television about their mom."

However, the Gorgas did end up helping take care of Giudice's daughters, which Teresa said she was very thankful for. She gushed on another "WWHL," "Family means the world to me. I love my brother. I love Melissa... I want them in my life." That doesn't mean Melissa visited her in prison, though, with Teresa admitting to her brother, "I really didn't want to spend five hours sitting with Melissa and chatting with her in the visiting room."

Regardless, Teresa and Melissa's relationship was finally in a good place once Teresa was released from jail in 2015 since they made a pact to get along like they had before the show. Teresa even told her in a Season 7 episode (via People), "I just want us to get back to how we were when you first met Joey."

It seemed in 2016 that Teresa Giudice and Melissa Gorga had really put their feud behind them, vowing to look out for one another on the "Real Housewives of New Jersey." According to People, they called a truce during Gorga's Christmas Eve party, with Giudice telling her, "Someone's bashing me –- you stick up for me. And I promise you, I will too." Gorga agreed but wanted to work on connecting with each other too, explaining to Giudice, "Sometimes I feel like you put this wall up with me ... You don't let me in, and I want to be your family."

Yet like most real housewives, what ended up bringing them together that season was a shared enemy in co-star, Jacqueline Laurita. Giudice told E!, "People that try to hurt you and bring you down, I have no time for them in my life at all." The sister-laws also teamed up outside of the show too, opening the restaurant Gorga's Homemade Pasta & Pizza with Melissa's husband and Giudice's brother, Joe Gorga. Melissa explained to People, "I think any time you're working with family, you spend so much more time together—sometimes that can be good or bad, but thank God we're doing good."

Unfortunately, the business closed down soon after in 2018, with Gorga blaming management and spacing issues as the reason, not family drama. She dished to "The Morning Breath," per The Daily Dish, "There were a couple of shady things going on."

It shouldn't come as a surprise that the peace between Teresa Giudice and Melissa Gorga didn't last long. In 2018, when discussing Season 9, Gorga even told E!, "We're not going to have knock-down, drag-out fights, but Teresa and I do fight this season." One of those arguments was apparently over Giudice calling out Gorga's husband, Joe Gorga, for not spending enough time with their father on Easter. Giudice had dished on the show (via People), "I'm really nervous to say anything to him because when I brought this up in the past, it got ugly."

Melissa ended up getting annoyed with Giudice, too, though, explaining, "Who brings up a super sensitive, going-to-cause-a-problem conversation on Easter Sunday? Especially in front of my father-in-law, who is super upset as it is." Yet things got messier when the women discussed that issue in front of the other housewives since Giudice suggested that Melissa didn't do enough to make her husband understand the problem. Melissa then got visibly frustrated, telling Giudice, "No one tells me how to speak to my husband, not my sister-in-law ... no one ... I can't make him ... I'm like talking to a wall."

By 2019, their pact to be on each other's side seemingly went out the window altogether due to Margaret Josephs and Danielle Staub's own feud. After Giudice took Staub's side, Melissa told her, "Teresa, this one's got you going in circles ... You drank the f***ing Kool-Aid," to which Giudice responded, "You're drinking the Kool-Aid ... And it's not right" (via People).

Teresa Giudice's wedding to her second husband, Luis Ruelas, appeared to be the source of her reignited feud with Melissa Gorga in 2022. That's because it seemingly started again when Teresa announced on "Watch What Happens Live" that March that Gorga wouldn't be a bridesmaid. She told a surprised host Andy Cohen, "Don't make a big deal. I mean, come on." Gorga reacted to the news on her podcast, "On Display," though, saying, "I pretty much assumed that, but I guess my big caution is, are her new sisters-in-law in the wedding?"

It was later revealed on "Real Housewives of New Jersey" that it was a big deal since Giudice told Margaret Josephs that Gorga had failed her "tests" to make the bridal party. "When I texted Melissa, 'Please don't talk about Louie,' what did she do? Come out and read you guys the texts ... That was my text to see if she had my back," Giudice revealed.

In April 2022, when it was Gorga's turn to be on "Watch What Happens Live," she confirmed that she and Giudice weren't even speaking. She later explained to Extra that they were done trying to pretend that they liked each other for the show since they would never be "besties." Gorga dished, "I just feel like I've tried for so many years and ... at some point, you have to say, 'Okay, we're not going to be this, but we're family, and we're going to respect each other.'"

The drama seemingly came to a head in August 2022 when Melissa Gorga and her husband, Joe Gorga, decided not to attend Teresa Giudice's wedding to Luis Ruelas. Despite initially downplaying it, Melissa appeared to be upset about not being in the bridal party. The "Love Italian Style" author told Extra, "I would never have every one of my sisters and like all of their family and just leave out one part." What she would do though was go on to skip the wedding altogether over something that happened on Season 13 of the "Real Housewives of New Jersey." A source told People, "Teresa betrayed them in a way that's unforgivable. They're not going to celebrate Teresa's new marriage when all she does is try to tear apart theirs."

Melissa later explained herself on her podcast, "On Display," dishing, "Obviously, there was something that went down at the finale of filming." While she couldn't talk about it until it aired, she continued, "I'm not going to sit here and say that there wasn't drama, that it wasn't crazy. Yes, there was a little aggression from certain people that could've been a little scary."

Giudice also addressed the Gorgas skipping her wedding on her own podcast, "Namaste B&tches," saying, "I found out a few days before my wedding that they weren't coming. I'm totally fine with it." She seemingly did care but added, "Everything that happened is the way it was supposed to be."

By October 2022, Melissa Gorga apparently had enough of her years-long dispute with Teresa Giudice. When at BravoCon, the "On Display" host told People, "I got off the roller coaster ... I'm done." Gorga and her husband were apparently tired of trying to mend their broken relationship with Giudice since it never ends up sticking. "How many times do you want to go in and out, in and out? Eventually, you need to protect your immediate family," Gorga said.

While Gorga claimed to be over it, both women definitely still played up their beef in their tag lines for Season 13 of "Real Housewives of New Jersey." That's because Gorga's was, "You'll never see how toxic someone is until you breathe fresher air," which is obviously about cutting ties with Giudice. As for Giudice, hers was, "Blood may be thicker than water, but it's harder to clean when it spills," seemingly referencing their family problems. If that sounds like something you'd hear in the early days of "RHONJ," Gorga agrees, telling Us Weekly, "Unfortunately, you're gonna feel like it's the beginning all over again."

Yet Gorga did point out that what makes Season 13 different is the fact that she's finally done trying to be friends with Giudice. She explained to ET, "I feel like I've — for many years — tried really, really hard, and it felt toxic over and over again," adding, "I do wash my hands of a lot of the B.S."

As of 2023, it appears the feud between "Real Housewives of New Jersey" stars Teresa Giudice, and Melissa Gorga may never end since neither has plans to make amends. Gorga, for one, told People, "I mean, the door's shut right now [on a reconciliation]. Just is." Gorga was not only exhausted by the ups and downs in their relationship but was confident that she had done everything she could to get along. "I am secure enough that I don't feel guilty anymore," she said.

Giudice seemingly also feels that she doesn't ever see herself working things out with Gorga or her brother, Joe Gorga. She told E!, "I'm really big on loyalty and respect, and I feel like when you cross that line, it's hard to come back from that, especially when it's done on national TV."

However, both women have no plans to leave the show either, even if they refuse to interact with one another. Giudice explained to ET, "I guess that's a call that Bravo would have to make. We're not speaking, and I need to heal myself." As for Gorga, she admitted in a separate interview with ET, "I don't know where we go from here if I'm being honest. This is definitely the lowest of the low." All in all, it seems as long as cameras are present in their lives, Gorga and Giudice will probably continue to clash, but at least they always keep things interesting for fans.