Bravo Melissa Gorga of RHONJ.
Melissa Gorga revealed she employs a nanny for her teenage kids – and fans had quite a reaction.
“The Real Housewives of New Jersey” star, who shares kids Antonia, 17, Gino, 15, and Joey, 12, with husband Joe Gorga, opened up during a January 2023 appearance on “Jeff Lewis live” to share a parenting story about a Porsche and her nanny’s day off.
Here’s what you need to know:
Melissa Gorga Revealed She Refused to Take Her Son Snowboarding on the Nanny’s Day Off
While speaking on Lewis’ podcast, Gorga recounted a recent Sunday night when she and her husband were just “chilling” at their New Jersey home.
“Joe was ready to be on the couch and we’re ready to put on ‘Traitors,’ which we’ve been watching,” she said. “My little one, it’s like five o’clock which it’s dark already at five o’clock, he comes down he’s like, ‘I want to go snowboarding, all my friends are going snowboarding, take me down the street, I gotta go snowboarding!’”
“It’s probably like a 15-20 minute drive to drop them off snowboarding at this little mountain that they snowboard at,” Gorga added. “And I’m like ‘No Joey, no I’m not getting up.’ Joe’s like ‘I’m not getting up.’ I’m like, it’s not happening. You know, the nanny doesn’t work on Sundays.”
Gorga revealed that her husband demanded that their daughter Antonia get in her Porsche and drive her brother, but the high school senior refused to do so. After taking her keys, the businessman told his teen daughter that next time she’d better “get off you’re a** and you’re gonna drive your little brother.”
Fans reacted to the story on social media, with many questioning why the Gorgas couldn’t just get up and drive their son themselves.
“You can’t take your kids 10-15mins away to snowboard?” one Instagram commenter asked.
Others were more stunned by the fact that Gorga admitted to having a nanny at this stage.
“Aren’t her kids older, why does she need a nanny?” another wanted to know.
“I’m shocked she let this slip out. Aren’t all of her children old enough to be babysitters themselves?! Why do they need a nanny 6 days a week?” a third commenter wrote.
“Has a nanny 6 days a week for 3 older children yet was too lazy sitting on the couch on the nanny’s one day off to take her child to a social event. Nice. Surprised she even admitted something so embarrassing publicly,” another agreed.
“A nanny for teens? Talk about lazy parenting,” wrote another.
Some fans did defend Gorga and noted that it is not unusual for wealthy families to hire nannies to drive their kids around.
Melissa Gorga Previously Took Pride in Not Having a Nanny
When her kids were younger, Gorga was mostly a stay-at-home mom.
According to Reality Tea, in 2011 Gorga boasted that she took care of her house and her three kids with no help at all. “I have no cooks, no nannies, no housekeepers, none of that,” she said at the time. “I like doing it myself.”
It was around that same time that she hired an au pair, per OK magazine. When fans questioned Gorga about having help, she tweeted, “FYI, the young girl at xmas was an au pair from Argentina! she was here for 3mths going to school & baby sat when I needed her.”
In 2015, Gorga became a full-time businesswoman when she opened an upscale clothing boutique, Envy, in Montclair, New Jersey, according to Us Weekly.
But despite having a nanny of her own, Gorga did throw some shade at her co-star Jennifer Aydin. The RHONJ star has five kids and does not work outside the home.
According to Reality Blurb, in 2020 Gorga and co-star Margaret Josephs talked about Aydin, saying she is no “poster child for stay-at-home moms” because she has “hired help.”
“Three nannies and her mother,” Gorga said. “She’s just really unrelatable.”
READ NEXT: Mauricio Umansky Will Share Celebrity Stories in His Book