Melissa Gorga is excited for fans to see her new family dynamic on display.
The Real Housewives of New Jersey star revealed it was “amazing” going into filming season 15 of the series now that she and husband Joe Gorga have put their 15-year feud with his sister Teresa Giudice to rest.
"That's what it's all about," Melissa exclusively told E! News while celebrating the premiere of Ultimate Girls Trip: Roaring 20th, debuting on Aug. 9 on Bravo. "We were so proud that we were able to turn it around, and maybe we can be an example for people who think they're never going to speak to their family members again."
Fans witnessed the Gorgas navigate a complicated relationship with Teresa, 54, since season two of RHONJ, a dynamic that was further strained by issues with Teresa's ex Joe Giudice, also 54, ultimately snowballing into tension with the Giudices' 25-year-old daughter Gia Giudice.
Given the hard work it took to reach a reconciliation, Melissa, 47, noted, "If we can do it, anyone can."
And the united family front came just in time for the highly anticipated return to filming of the Housewives franchise, which went on a two-year hiatus after the last reunion was canceled due to cast conflict in 2024.
"The break was really nice," Melissa admitted, adding it came with the bonus of making the group "more energetic going back into it."
Aside from a "really crazy" climax, Melissa pointed to fresh costars (not yet announced by the network) as a highlight of what's to come.
"To meet all these new girls," Melissa continued, "it was exciting."
The new women also join Dolores Catania, who is confirmed to be in the cast, along with Melissa and Teresa. But Melissa confessed she wouldn't mind seeing alum Caroline Manzo reenter the mix, either.
"I love a good [Caroline] moment," Melissa said, "with the family and the kids and the cooking."
Need a refresher on what happened in Jersey at the end of season 14? Keep reading...
Aydin and Cabral got into a physical fight earlier this season after Aydin accused her costar of taking money from a charity event to repay herself for expenses. They nearly came to blows for a second time during the dinner where Aydin doubled down on her previous allegation by claiming Cabral "can't afford" to host such galas.
"You want my life. I get it," Aydin taunted her. "You get to my house, ‘This is what I want.’"
Cabral fired back, "I want nothing that you have. You have 18 f--king bathrooms. Your house is empty."
Cabral then attacked her costar's marriage to Bill Aydin, adding, "You are sad and I know you cry. I know you cry alone at home. I go home and my husband is waiting for me at the door."
Aydin responded with a biting, "Your husband with the boobs?" which prompted Cabral to toss a pitcher across the table before producers removed her from the room.
Following Cabral's outburst, Giudice chastised her two castmates—a reaction Gorga deemed hypocritical given Giudice's table-flipping past.
"Cut it out? You’re the queen of this s--t!" Gorga told her estranged sister-in-law. "They learned from the best, white trash!"
The dig resulted in half a dozen "f--k yous" from Giudice, who also fired back with, "My brother married a whore!"
With the first two interactions resulting in utter chaos, Fessler had had enough of the volatility.
"You guys, I’m going," she announced before leaving the eatery early. "I can’t mediate this. You guys have gotten used to this level of disgusting. I’m not used to it. I don’t want to be around this, it’s f--king gross."
In a confessional, Fessler, who cohosted the attempted peacemaking gathering with Catania, lamented, "In my world, you smash glass or you break bread. They don’t really go together, right? Lunch is over."
Giudice didn’t just exchange words with her sister-in-law as she Fuda remained at odds after Giudice accused her husband John Fuda of being a drug dealer earlier this season.
"It’s not your f--king place to talk about my f--king husband," Fuda yelled at her nemesis. "Stop talking about my f--king husband!"
Mocking Fuda, Giudice replied with half a dozen f-words, only infuriating her more. So, she went after Giudice's alleged cosmetic procedures.
"Keep my mother f--king husband’s name out of your fat, f--king hotdog-lipped mouth," Fuda fired back. "You’re a-- needs to be checked!"
Giudice's rage was later redirected at Josephs, whom shw previously claimed had tried to dig up dirt on her husband by talking to his ex-wife Marisa Ruelas—with whom he's been battling in court since their contentious breakup.
While Josephs insisted she was never in contact with his ex until 2022, she declared she never leaked anything about Ruelas to the press. But Giudice didn't believe it.
"Margaret, all she does is lie through her teeth," she claimed in a confessional. "We had proof that she was talking to this individual, that’s why we subpoenaed her and she never showed up in court. And if she was telling the truth, she would have no problem to show up and say I wasn’t speaking to this person."
Giudice then unleashed a tirade at her costar, calling Josephs “full of s--t” and a “disgusting pig” before slamming her husband Joe Benigno's profession as a plumber.
But the bombshell Josephs dropped next shocked everyone in the room. She accused Goldschneider—who did a 180 this season by befriending her former enemy—of having Ruelas' ex at her house in 2021 right before that cringe video of him was leaked online.
After Goldschneider initially denied it, Gorga warned, "Admit that if it’s true, because I’m sure there’s proof."
And Goldscneider did, in fact, admit the claim was true. Even more jaw-dropping was that Giudice didn't care about her friend's betrayal and continued to harp on Josephs.
"I met with her," Goldschneider told Giudice, referencing the ex-wife. "We hated each other, you went after my husband. But you know what? I’m glad that you know because I was always nervous that you were going to find out."
And after Giudice started a cheating rumor about Goldschneider's husband Evan Goldschneider, she totally understood her motives.
"I’m not surprised that Jackie talked to this person," Giudice said in a confessional. "I get why she did it because she thinks I was trying to hurt her with the Evan rumor which, swear on my kids, I was not trying to hurt her."
After the disastrously failed attempts at mending their friendships, the cast came to terms with the fact that there was no moving forward as a group.
"Today’s meeting was a complete failure," Gorga reflected in a confessional. "Pretty much everybody’s walking out the same way they walked in. Zero resolution."
And Catania was in a complete state of mourning. "Family is everything, but this group is no longer a family," a defeated Catania shared in a confessional. "How did it all come to this? It came out of really just people don’t know how to stop hating. It just built up and everybody just cuts so deep. It’s toxic. I look at this sit-down like a death."
With a flashback montage of the cast's happier times played, it all but confirmed the chapter is closed on the current cast of Garden State Housewives.