Getty Joe Gorga
Joe Gorga caused major drama at “The Real Housewives of New Jersey” reunion—and there’s more to come.
While filming the season 12 update show, the younger brother of Teresa Giudice clapped back after his sister called him a “b**** boy.” “I’m sorry Joe, but you’re kind of like a Housewife. Sorry, you are,” Giudice added.
Gorga ultimately exploded on the set and threatened to quit the Bravo reality show for good.
“I quit! I’m done, I quit. I don’t give a s***!” Gorga shouted as he stormed off the set. “Thank you, Bravo. Twelve years… I’m done. F*** you people.”
“You can’t quit, your wife’s on it!” Giudice reminded her brother, in reference to her RHONJ co-star Melissa Gorga.
Melissa Gorga Confirmed That Her Husband is a Paid RHONJ Cast Member
YouTube/BravoMelissa and Joe Gorga
During an appearance on ‘The Wendy Williams Show,” Melissa Gorga set the record straight on her husband’s status following the reunion blowup.
“He’s still there,” Melissa said, via a clip shared by The_Bravo_Chicks fan account. “You will see [Bravo host] Andy [Cohen] kind of chase after him, tell him that he is paid to be there. He’s not there because he wants to all the time. ”
“I think people get that misconstrued, that he’s just there because, you know, he wants to hang with the girls,” the RHONJ veteran continued. “Like, Joe is an actual cast member on the show.”
RHONJ is the Only Franchise in Which the Husbands Get Paid
BravoRHONJ Husbands.
Several “Real Housewives” franchises feature the cast members’ husbands, most notably “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.” But in the tell-all book “The Housewives: The Real Story Behind the Real Housewives,” author Brian Moylan that the Jersey Househusbands are the only franchise husband covered financially, via a clause in the RHONJ ladies’ contracts.
According to Vulture, Moylan revealed, “RHONJ has a special carve-out in their contracts… They’re the only cast whose husbands also get paid for appearing on the show, which is why they still film together when the ladies are away on a trip.”
Moylan also teased that once Teresa Giudice marries her controversial fiance, Luis Ruelas, he will likely be well-paid for his cameos due to her status on the show.
“Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star Kyle Richards once confirmed that her husband, Mauricio Umansky, does not get paid for his frequent appearances on the Bravo reality show she has starred in since 2010.
“Just the wives [get paid],” Richards once told In Touch Weekly, per Reality Blurb.
And the wives are paid well. In 2021, ScreenRant reported that Melissa Gorga is paid $750,000 per season to share her life with viewers.
It is unclear exactly how much Joe Gorga is paid for his appearances on RHONJ, but it’s presumed that the more drama a cast member drums up, the higher their paycheck will be. Gorga had multiple blowups last season on RHONJ and was involved in many of the major storylines.
According to Celebrity Net Worth, even without his RHONJ salary, Gorga is a wealthy man. His net worth is estimated to be $3 million. Gorga has made the bulk of his money as a real estate developer in New Jersey.
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