What's Really Going On With Melissa Gorga's Marriage?

Melissa Gorga and her husband Joe Gorga have shared all the highs and lows of their marriage since they joined The Real Housewives of New Jersey in 2011. The two tied the knot in 2004 and have been total #CoupleGoals ever since, having welcomed three children and regularly gushing about one another on-screen, on social media, and in interviews.

The couple's marriage seemed nothing but strong during their earlier RHONJ seasons, and Melissa was so confident in their relationship that she even dished out advice in her 2013 book, Love Italian Style: The Secrets of My Hot and Happy Marriage, in which she encouraged wives to treat their husband like a "king" (per Bravo). However, viewers saw things take a turn in the couple's relationship after Melissa opened her New Jersey boutique Envy in 2015 (via Entertainment Tonight), and she even admitted a few years later that she no longer agreed with a lot of the advice she offered in the book.

Admitting she'd "changed a lot" since then, Melissa told E! News in 2018, "I'm just coming into my own, and I feel like just the way that [Joe] and I run our household has changed a lot over the past couple of years." She added, "I don't believe in that like I used to. I wrote a whole book about it and I don't know if I agree with everything I wrote any longer."

But what's really going on with Melissa and Joe's marriage now? Read on to find out.

The Real Housewives of New Jersey fans got a shock in the midseason trailer for Season 11 in which Joe Gorga told Melissa Gorga he's "done" with their marriage. The couple got into a heated argument as Melissa admitted they're "growing apart," to which he responded, "Maybe we are!" In another scene, Melissa told her husband, "I'm not going to give up what I want to do in life. You're holding me back." Joe then shockingly hit back, "Listen, go be whatever you want to be in life. We're done." The clip also featured thoughts from their co-stars. Teresa Giudice, Joe's sister, said, "Right now, you could say, like, kind of, they're broken," after Dolores Catania admitted, "I know they have things going on in their relationship."

Melissa has been open about the state of her marriage and admitted in February 2021 that she and Joe were having difficulties. She told Us Weekly she wasn't about to move out of their home, but did confirm, "we were struggling and we show it." She also touched on how her desire to grow as a person took its toll on their relationship, calling that "a scary part of marriage." Melissa admitted, "Either you're going to grow together or you're going to grow apart. And I think we're fighting really hard to grow together."

Fans will have to see what's next for the RHONJ favorites, but we're wishing them the best.