Getty Images Joe Gorga almost quit RHONJ mid-season.
Joe Gorga didn’t have the smoothest go during season 12 of “The Real Housewives of New Jersey,” and things got so bad for him that he actually almost quit.
Melissa Gorga’s husband’s role on RHONJ has been fairly prominent from the beginning of the franchise. His family drama with his sister, Teresa Giudice, has often been a focus, and it seems as though he has always been in the middle things with the women.
Season 12 brought about something different for Joe, however, and it affected him differently than his past experiences. It all went down at a pool party that aired on the February 8, 2022, episode. Joe was confronted by his niece, Gia Giudice, when he heard her talking to her mom about him.
“It’s the whole thing though, people get hurt and people get offended by things that other people say, but this is why you people just shouldn’t open their mouth in the first place, just like Dad didn’t deserve it either,” Gia said to Teresa.
“What…Gia, what? I hear you talking,” Joe says.
“Are you gonna come at me disrespectfully, ’cause then I won’t talk to you,” Gia replies.
“If you wanna say something, go ahead. Because I’m your uncle and I’m your Godfather. I’m older than you, but go ahead, talk,” Joe responds. From there, the two went back and forth a bit before Joe stormed off, getting frustrated with his niece.
What some fans many not realize is that argument cut Joe deeply.
Here’s what you need to know:
Joe Said He Didn’t Film for Several Weeks & Almost Quit RHONJ After the Fight With Gia
Joe sat down for an interview with Melissa Pfeister on the March 23, 2022, episode of the “Side Piece” podcast. During their chat, Joe opened up about the argument that he had with his niece.
“I was shocked. Think about that. Alright, I’ll deal with my sister. I’ll deal with my brother-in-law. I’ll deal with all that nonsense, right? But not my niece. You know what that did to me?” Joe said.
“You know, I wasn’t filming after that. I didn’t film for, I don’t think I filmed for a month. Three weeks. I was quitting. Yeah. Production kind of slowed down, they weren’t even filming as much. I wasn’t there. They were just doing outside stuff… I was going to quit. I was done,” Joe continued, adding, “I was like, ‘I’m not doing this. I’m not going to sit on the show and argue with my nieces now…”
Joe said that production told him they wouldn’t push the issue further, and he agreed to resume filming.
Joe Said Things Are ‘Okay’ Between Him & Gia Now
It’s clear that there were a lot of hurt feelings in that argument between Joe and Gia, but, at the end of the day, they are family. Joe admitted that things are “okay,” but he seemed a bit hesitant.
“We’re okay. I mean, listen. Is it okay? I mean, deep down inside you look at ’em like, ‘do you really feel that way?'” Joe said.
He went on to say that he feels like he needs to protect his sister because he is her brother and their parents are both gone. “I’m her only brother,” he said.
“What happened at that scene… when I slammed my hands on the table, was because two days before…Teresa was telling me all the nasty things that [Joe Giudice] was saying to her,” Joe said, suggesting that he was already upset about the situation before Gia decided to say things.
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