Heavy/Peacock Rcahel Fuda of RHONJ.
The 14th season of “The Real Housewives of New Jersey” ended without a reunion, but the cast still got together to rehash the season—although not all in the same room.
After producers determined that there was no path forward for the feuding cast members following an extremely volatile season, they set up a finale screening which was filmed at Rails Steakhouse in Towaco, New Jersey.
The non-reunion RHONJ wrap-up special, titled “Off the Rails,” featured Teresa Giudice, Jennifer Aydin, Jackie Goldschneider, and Dolores Catania watching together in one room, and Melissa Gorga, Margaret Josephs, Danielle Cabral, Jennifer Fessler, and Rachel Fuda watching in another.
Speaking with Page Six’s “Virtual Reali-Tea” podcast in August 2024, Fuda, who announced her pregnancy at the end of the watch party, said there was a big difference in the vibe between the two rooms. “We have true relationships with each other, and I think that’s the thing that was so unique about our room for the watch party,” she said of the screening room she sat in with pals Gorga, Josephs, Cabral, and Fessler.
Fuda noted that Giudice seemingly controlled the dynamic in the other room. “You watch the other room and it’s like, ‘OK, Teresa, what’s the narrative now? What are we going to say? What do we have to prove now?’” she said.
Rachel Fuda Said Teresa Giudice’s ‘Manufactured’ Friendships Hurt the Show
BravoCast members from RHONJ.
Elsewhere in the interview, Fuda said the friendships on Giudice’s side lacked “authenticity.” “It’s just very manufactured now, in my opinion,” Fuda told Page Six of Giudice’s crew. “I think that’s the biggest problem,” she said, adding that her side has “true relationships versus manufactured relationships.”
“I feel like when you were watching our room, it’s like a group of friends bantering, making comments, gasping, laughing, like, all those little things that we would do if we were sitting on my living room couch — and we have done,” she added of the finale screening setup.
In response to Fuda’s comments, Giudice posted, “Why is she so obsessed with me?”
Giudice’s fans also came to her defense.
“Poor Rachel it’s so obvious Teresa lives rent free in her head !!” one fan wrote.
“She’s been on two seasons. Two lol. Teresa is the only cast member from day one. Bravo paused filming while she was in prison because they knew without her there was no show. Why? Because she’s everyone’s storyline every single year. So Miss Rachel, I wish her well on her new pregnancy but she really does need to take a seat,” another wrote.
Rachel Fuda Revealed Another Big Difference Between the 2 RHONJ Rooms
PeacockRHONJ cast members react to Louie Ruelas’ comment.
During the RHONJ finale special, Fuda expressed remorse for not exposing Giudice’s controversial husband, Louie Ruelas “for who he really is.”
“Unfortunately for me, I have morals,” she explained. “That’s what really holds me back. And that’s the difference between this room and that room is that we really do hold ourselves to a higher standard.”
Fuda also told Us Weekly in an interview that she stopped short of talking more about Ruelas because she has “morals.” “I’ve said that a million times but that is my biggest downfall, as a Housewife, is that I hold myself to a higher standard than some of the women that are on our show,” she said again. “I don’t feel like I need to ruin people’s reputations and livelihoods in order to make myself successful. I wasn’t raised that way.”
Still, she hinted that Ruelas contributed to the “downfall” of the RHONJ friend group and that Giudice’s focus is on damage control.
“I think that [Louie] kind of poured gasoline on the fire,” Fuda said of the toxicity on the show. “He just kind of mic dropped it, you know what I mean? He just put the bookend on it. Unfortunately, I feel like Teresa does have to clean up a lot of the things that he says. I mean, I feel like her podcast solely exists to clean up Louie’s mess.”
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