Joe Gorga threw the greeting card into the flames before ever having a chance to read what it said inside.
Teresa Giudice’s gesture to her brother on The Real Housewives of New Jersey went down in flames … well, at least part of it had.
In a preview for Season 14, Episode 8, Teresa, Jennifer Aydin, and Dolores Catania gathered for a sound bath and crystal session at the Zentuary Healing Center, an effort to rid themselves of the stressors they’ve faced so far this season. Inevitably, the conversation went to the much-talked-about housewarming gift Teresa sent for her brother, Joe Gorga, as captured in Episode 7.
Joe and Melissa Gorga — in what Jennifer would later refer to as a “sh-it show of a housewarming party” — opted to keep the bottle of liquor (bow included), but Joe made a statement with his response to the unopened card, Jennifer informed Teresa.
“He didn’t even open it or read it; he just threw it in the fire,” Jennifer said.
Teresa said she was “not at all” surprised.
“My brother’s very petty,” she told producers.
What did Teresa's card to Joe say?
Teresa told the others what the handwritten inscription on the card, a gift from her and her husband, Luis “Louie” Ruelas, actually said.
“I mean, the only thing that was in the card was ‘Congratulations on your new home. Love, Louie and Teresa,’” the Skinny Italian author said. “Like, it wasn’t an olive branch; it was just a gesture.”
Later, when speaking to RHONJ producers, Teresa claimed the card had little to do with her.
“I’m not gonna take the credit for that; I don’t wanna take the credit for that,” said Teresa. “That was all my husband.”
She said as much to Dolores and Jennifer, which Dolores acknowledged as a “very nice thing to say.”
“I really didn’t want to send it ’cause I’m not kissing anybody’s ass, I don’t want to make up with him,” Teresa continued to producers. “[Louie] is like, ‘Babe, it’s a nice gesture,’ and I’m like, ‘OK, fine.’”
Teresa’s sentiment matched her recent statements on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen following a fan’s question.
“That was my husband’s doing,” she said. “Louie is that kind of guy. I didn’t want to do that. I mean, that was his doing so.”
What did Melissa have to say about the housewarming gift?
All in all, Melissa didn’t find her sister-in-law’s housewarming gift authentic, as noted in the new preview.
While at her newest Envy boutique location in New Jersey, Melissa had fellow fashionista Danielle Cabral swing by ahead of the Envy fashion show. Danielle — a guest at the limoncello-themed soiree — said the “gift situation” between Teresa and Joe was “crazy.”
“Can I just ask: Why in the world do you think that that bottle was sent?” Melissa wondered. “Honestly, what do you think?”
Danielle warned Melissa that her answer would be based on a similar experience with her brother when she tried to extend a gift amid family drama. Danielle was referring to an update she gave at the Season 13 reunion when she said she’d sent a present for the birth of her new niece, only for the token of love to be returned.
Unlike Teresa, however, Danielle did not try to send her gift through mutual friends. Before their big blow-up, Teresa tried sending her brother’s gift through Rachel Fuda and John Fuda, but when that failed, she sent the gift through Dolores and Paulie Connell.
“Right, you do it when it’s a personal thing, when it’s real,” Melissa told Danielle. “This was not a personal thing. This was a spectacle.”
More to come as Season 14 of The Real Housewives of New Jersey continues, airing Sundays at 8/7c and streaming the next day on Peacock.
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