Former Real Housewives of New Jersey star Jacqueline Laurita revealed in a new interview if she is still friendly with her former adversary, Teresa Giudice.
While she no longer appears on the Bravo series, she apparently still keeps up with its storylines. She recently appeared on the June 9 episode of the #NoFilter With Zack Peter podcast, where she talked about Teresa’s rumor-spreading behavior during Season 11.
One of the biggest storylines of the season revolved around a rumor that Teresa said she heard and repeated to her fellow housewives. Teresa asked fellow cast members Melissa Gorga, Dolores Catania, Margaret Josephs, and Jennifer Aydin whether they had heard that Evan “screws around” with other women when he goes to the gym.
Teresa claimed that she “did not spread a rumor” but simply “heard a rumor.” Jackie then tried to give Teresa a taste of her own medicine by making up a rumor about her 20-year-old daughter, Gia. “Okay well, you know what? I heard that Gia snorts coke in the bathroom at parties,”
Jackie then said. “I’ve heard it. I don’t know where I heard it, but I heard it from somebody. But it’s the same thing! How is that not the same thing.”
This infuriated Teresa, who yelled a string at expletives at Jackie for bringing up her daughter. This baseless rumor was the crux of the women’s relationship for the entire season.
Jacqueline suspected Teresa made up the cheating rumor about Jackie’s husband. She claimed that it was a way to give Teresa a storyline for the season.
Jacqueline weighed in on the controversy
The former RHONJ star expressed her feelings on the overall tone of the storyline.
“She either made it up or heard it. What I think upset Jackie was, [Teresa] took that rumor and [she] made it into a storyline. And I think that’s what [Jackie] was trying to say to Teresa, like, ‘I hear stuff, maybe, maybe not, about you, your family, your kids, but I don’t talk about it on the show because it becomes a storyline,’” Jacqueline explained.
“I think she was giving Teresa a taste of her own medicine,” she said.
Jacqueline claimed she felt it was obvious Teresa spread the rumor about Evan to jump-start a big storyline for the season.
“It was very obvious she was hoping that rumor would get picked up or she wouldn’t have said it to this person, this person, this person. It was purposefully made into a storyline which is sad for Jackie,” she said.
Jacqueline Laurita also weighed in on Joe Gorga
Another big storyline this past season on RHONJ was the marriage drama between Melissa Gorga and her husband Joe. One of the earliest episodes focused on yet another rumor, this one regarding Joe Gorga. It alleged that the contractor owes a lot of people money.
“I’ve heard those rumors many years. I think I had this talk with Joe before about the rumors actually a long time ago, and the way he was trying to explain it to me was when you’re in the business he’s in — this is what Melissa would tell me — when you’re in the business he’s in, in contracting, or construction, or whatever, you hire people to do jobs and if they don’t do the job right, then maybe you don’t pay them,” Jacqueline revealed.
“Those rumors have been around for a very long time. I don’t know if they’re true or not,” she added.
The Real Housewives of New Jersey is currently on hiatus.