Joe Gorga is not only Gia Giudice’s uncle, but he is her Godfather and thinks of her as another daughter. Over the seasons, he has shown his love for all of his nieces and has a very special bond with Gia.
He and his niece are in a good place now, but earlier this season, the tension was palpable as the two continued to feud over things Joe had said about Gia’s father, Joe Giudice.
Joe’s daughter, Antonia, had feelings about the battle between her dad and her cousin. Joe shared with viewers how she responded.
Antonia Gorga doesn’t want to get in between her dad and her cousin
During an appearance on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen this week, Melissa Gorga said that her kids don’t read anything that is written about their family. Daughter Antonia and sons Gino and Joey see the conflict between their dad and their Aunt Teresa and do not want to be affected by the family drama.
On the WWHL After Show, Joe admitted that family strife does get to Antonia. “Honestly, I see it affecting her a little bit now. She really doesn’t get involved. She’s starting to get a little annoyed. I don’t really want to talk about it too much.”
Joe said that Antonia loves her cousins – Gia, Gabrielle, Milania, and Audriana – and is very close to them. He added, “I think she gets a little disappointed.”
The issue with Gia is surrounding Uncle “Zio” Joe talking negatively about Joe Giudice, and Gia seemingly had enough of hearing her uncle discredit her father. She went on the attack after a long period of not speaking with Joe Gorga.
After a fight at Teresa’s summer kickoff party, Gia and Joe Gorga verbally fought it out and made up that evening, and Gia called a truce with the uncle with who she was once so close.
There are no winners in the family feud
Joe asked Andy if he could shed light on his side in the conflict, which stems from issues in the last season of RHONJ. “I never really speak about Joe Giudice — ever — and there’s a ton of articles about me with him, about my wife and I. I wonder if they ever yell at him for anything. If you go out and look, there’s 11 articles. I’ve never said anything,” he said.
“Before that day, my sister’s telling me — they’re going through a divorce — and she’s telling me all these things that he’s saying to her. So I’m sitting there and I’m thinking about all this, and then we had that episode a couple days later, so I explode. That’s my sister. I’m trying to protect her.”
According to Melissa, the Gorgas and Giudices are in a better spot these days. “I just think that everyone’s just so over it now. Everyone doesn’t want to discuss all the hardships that went on the last five years with everything in our family, with my in-laws and passing away. There’s a lot of hard feelings there, which everyone is working through,” she says. “But I think we’re past it now. I think we’ve gotten it all out. I can honestly say, this past year, we’ve all gotten it off our chest.”
The Real Housewives of New Jersey airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on Bravo.