From co-stars to neighbors.
Melissa Gorga revealed that her former “Real Housewives of New Jersey” co-star Kathy Wakile and husband Richard “Richie” Wakile recently bought a property right “across the street” from her new home.
“Her and Richie just bought the lot on my street, across the street from me, and they are building a house diagonal from me across the street on my street. Literally,” the reality star said on Monday’s episode of SiriusXM’s “Jeff Lewis Live.”
The “RHONJ” star, 45, discovered the news after her husband, Joe Gorga, was driving through the New Jersey neighborhood when he noticed a property for sale on the lake.
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“[Joe] goes, ‘This went up yesterday. I am going to bid full price,’ and I was like, ‘Really Joe?’ He’s like, ‘Yes, it’s on the lake. This never happens. One came up,’ so Joe offered full price for the property, which was pretty high,” she explains.
However, Kathy apparently already “had an in” with the previous owner, because she’s “loved [the house] forever.” Joe offered full price for the home, but the realtor informed them that the house had already been snatched up by Kathy and her husband.
Melissa and Joe –– who is Kathy’s cousin –– have been estranged from the Wakiles ever since Joe’s sister, Teresa Giudice, and Kathy feuded on Season 7 of “RHONJ.” Kathy, 58, subsequently left the franchise and has not returned.
At the time, Joe, 49, was trying to improve his relationship with Giudice. However, they have since had their own falling out and haven’t been speaking since August 2022.
“I secretly hope like Joe and Kathy are walking down the street one day and bump into each other,” Melissa continued on “Jeff Lewis Live,” calling Kathy a “good” person.
“I do think that [Joe] regrets, you know, he did what he had to do at the time to back his sister up and do what he had to do. But I really think he enjoyed Kathy.”
Melissa added that Joe also had a “great relationship” with his other cousin and Kathy’s sister, Rosie.
“Growing up, those two were extremely close, Joe and Rosie, so I do think it’s unfortunate that that’s family and they’re not together … That’s sad to me that whole thing,” she said.
The Envy owner added that at the end of the day, their relationship “has nothing to do with the show,” so she hopes her husband can focus on rebuilding his relationships with his soon-to-be neighbors, his cousin and his aunt.
“It is what I want for him, and I think deep down inside, he wants it too. Joe’s an emotional guy. He wears his heart on his sleeve,” she explained. “He, you know, it’s hard. He comes from a place where he feels like he has to please. He felt like he had to please people his whole life and you know, you never know what people, how people grew up or what went on in life.”
Melissa and Joe moved into their new home last year after Joe helped build the six-bedroom, 5,000-square-foot mansion from the ground up.
Even though the Gorgas and Wakile families haven’t spoken or starred together on “RHONJ” since 2016, they reignited their feud in 2021 after Wakile’s son called the Gorgas “farm animals” in a comment on Pvnew’s Instagram post.
“Look, I know they are a little sour about not being on the show any longer, and it’s unfortunate, to be honest. I wish them all well; I love the Wakile children,” she said on “Watch What Happens Live” in March 2021.
Shortly afterward, Kathy spoke to Bravo and shadily explained that “certain people” have continued to live in the “bubble” of reality TV.
“They don’t realize that there’s a whole world outside of the bubble. It’s sad that that happens, but yeah; I stepped out of the bubble,” Kathy said in March 2021.
“I wish them well, but I’ve moved on,” Kathy continued. “You try to do the best you can in a relationship and that happens in real life. That happens without reality TV taking a part in it.”
