RHONJ Recap: The Italian Invasion Revisited

This week’s RHONJ Recap episode begins with Danielle Cabral’s pop-up at Melissa Gorga‘s boutique Envy. Besides Melissa and Danielle, Jennifer Aydin is the only other Housewife to pop up.

During the shopping event, Jennifer asks Melissa if she is okay with her and Dolores Catania being bridesmaids in Teresa Giudice‘s wedding. She then asks if Melissa regrets not agreeing to be a bridesmaid when Teresa asked earlier in the season.

Melissa insists she would never have said yes to being a bridesmaid. She adds that Teresa always blames their family drama on her when that’s not the case. Jennifer doesn’t understand why Melissa doesn’t accept Teresa’s olive branch and just be in the wedding if she really wants “peace” with her sister-in-law. Melissa says things will be “fine” between her and Teresa. In her confessional, she claims to be pushing down the feelings of hurt she has over her and her kids being excluded from Teresa’s wedding.

The conversation pivots to Danielle being upset with Rachel Fuda for throwing her under the bus to Margaret Josephs. Danielle calls Rachel a “rat” and says she revealed her true self at that moment.

The ladies then begin packing for Ireland. Teresa is shocked she can’t pack any bikinis for the trip. She’s seriously hilarious. At Paulie’s house, he and Dolores are hosting Paul’s brother and sister-in-law, who are visiting from Ireland. Dolores just loves Paulie’s family.

According to Dolores, the ladies are all staying at a castle in Ireland, and they will be doing a ton of Irish activities. I don’t know how these ladies are going to do in Ireland, tbh.

Anywho, the couples of RHONJ then talk about Dolores and Jennifer’s coffee reading party. Margaret still believes the whole thing was staged, seems Melissa feels the same way. Joe asks Melissa what the psychic told Teresa, which is when Melissa explains she wasn’t there because she had COVID-19. Melissa adds that they all haven’t talked since their blowout at Rachel’s BBQ. Louie Ruelas, on the other hand, tells Teresa that he is over Joe being so theatrical and dramatic. It seems that Louie is over the Gorgas and their drama.

Teresa is vowing to stay calm in Ireland and not let anyone, especially Melissa, take away her self-control. Jennifer A tells Bill that Teresa is “treading very lightly” with Joe and Melissa since her wedding is only weeks away. While Teresa is ready to bring her Namaste to Ireland, the same can’t be said for Jennifer, who can’t let go of her anger towards Margaret. She also wants Bill to participate more with their kids and continue going to therapy. Jennifer says she fighting Bill for his time because actually enjoys having him around. Bill seems open to continuing with therapy. Honestly, it’s better than a straight-up no.

Finally, the ladies depart for Ireland! The ladies are excited about the trip, but Rachel isn’t exactly thrilled to be going to another country with Danielle amid their bad blood. Why, oh why, is Jackie Goldschneider on this trip?! Good riddance already.

In a blink of an eye, the ladies land in Ireland. On the ride to the castle, the ladies wonder if it’s haunted. Dolores then makes it known that she is getting the best room at the castle for all the times she has given up a good room on past trips. Since it’s Teresa’s bachelorette party, she will get the second-best room. Then the rest of the ladies will pick rooms out of a hat.

The conversation then takes a raunchy turn when Jen Fessler explains that she used to be a casting agent and slept with James Gandolfini, aka Tony Soprano. Jen F explains that she was obsessed with James but hooked up with him before his Soprano’s fame.

The Housewives arrive at their castle, which is gorgeous. Not sure if the Jersey Housewives are ready for this kind of luxury, as they usually get the low end of the Bravo totem poll when it comes to cast trips. Melissa continues to think the house is haunted. Ugh, have some class, girl.

Jennifer made out like a bandit in the room department. Her room has the best bathroom with a soaking tub and floor-to-ceiling windows. Rachel and Danielle got really nice rooms as well – a tad smaller but nice nonetheless. Teresa and Dolores’ rooms are picture-perfect. Naturally, Melissa has to be a snob about her room, saying, “It will do,” before noting that she won’t be sleeping in it as she’ll sleep with Marge or Jackie. Okay… Tbh, all the rooms are charming and nice. I don’t think anyone would mind staying in any of them.

The ladies settle in for lunch, Dolores reminds them they aren’t in Jersey anymore and that they need to be calm and have some class while in Ireland. Dolores tells Jackie she doesn’t want any rude behavior, as she witnessed at the coffee reading party. Jackie says she just didn’t want the psychic to say anything about her. This is when Margaret butts in and says that Jennifer is to blame for any drama or rudeness at the party. Marge, Jen F, and Jackie insist that the psychic knew every detail about everyone at the party; however, Jennifer denies that any of that information came from her lips. The mom of 5 adds that Teresa has had readings by that same psychic and only had positive experiences. Teresa chimes in, saying that the psychic told her that Jennifer never told her anything about the ladies. Yet, Jennifer kind of puts her foot in her mouth when she admits to calling the psychic the night before the party and mentioning her beef with Marge. Yikes. It’s not looking good, Jen.

Jennifer A insists that she never told the psychic anything about Margaret’s ex-BFF, Laura Lee Jensen, yet Margaret isn’t buying it. She notes that Laura told her things that she will NEVER repeat, but Margaret says she already has done just that. Jennifer disagrees, saying she only told Melissa as a warning. It seems that they are talking about the cheating rumor involving Melissa. The story is that Laura alleges that Marge told her that she caught Melissa making out with one of her and Joe Gorga’s good friends in the back of a car during a night out in NYC. Marge denies she ever told Laura that. Jennifer, on the other hand, says she gave Melissa a heads up about the rumor in case it ever got out and to warn her about Margaret’s loose lips. Margaret says that nothing Laura said about her is true.

Rachel and Jackie take Marge’s side and say that Laura is just spreading lies, while Danielle doesn’t even know what the hell Laura said about anyone. Melissa stays dead silent with her head down through this all. Jennifer doubles down on the fact that she would NEVER repeat some of the things Laura told her about Melissa.

The lunch doesn’t end on the best note. Jen F tells Jennifer not to bring up Laura’s name the rest of the night. The group then gets ready for their first night in Ireland. Danielle’s curious mind just needs to know what everyone else in the group already seems to know about what Laura told Jennifer A and Teresa. She goes to Jen A’s room and peppers her for answers. After Jennifer continues to skirt around answering questions, Danielle figures out that the secret must be about Melissa. Jennifer then explains that Laura told her that Melissa was caught in the back of a car with a guy, making out. Laura claims that Margaret told her this news after someone who works with both of them caught Melissa cheating.

Danielle is shocked and admits she doesn’t want to believe it. Jennifer A thinks it may have just been a one-and-done thing after one too many drinks or something. The guy who witnessed Melissa’s alleged makeout then told Margaret, who then told Laura. Danielle finally gets that Margaret is the one spreading gossip about Melissa; she notes that the claims about Margaret’s arsenal are true. Jennifer adds that Laura didn’t want to tell them about the allegations against Melissa, but Teresa insisted. She adds that Teresa was pissed at Melissa over it and believes that the claim is true.

Jennifer tells Danielle just to forget she knows about it, and Danielle agrees, saying she wishes she didn’t know. The ladies are finally all dolled up and ready to go. They head to a bar/restaurant after having a shot of tequila at the castle. Melissa seems oddly quiet and out of sorts. Hmm…

As the drinks start to flow, Danielle asks the ladies if any of them send their hubby naughty pictures or videos. Everyone but Teresa seems offended by the question – Jen F turns her nose up at the idea while Rachel says she’s been married for six years, so there’s no need for that. When did these ladies turn into such prudes? Melissa says she and Joe usually don’t text much when she’s away, which is when Danielle says she thinks Joe would love a sexy photo of Melissa. She then wonders if Joe would know the difference if she sent him a photo of her instead of Melissa. So, she grabs her phone and snaps a cleavage photo to see if Joe knows the difference between his wife’s cleavage and someone else’s. Joe knows right away it’s not Melissa’s cleavage.

The shots are flowing, and Dolores notes that Teresa doesn’t seem stressed about her wedding. Teresa says, let’s wait and see until the week before. Jennifer and Dolores tell the ladies they ordered their bridesmaid’s dresses, and Melissa just seems so out of it. It’s like she’s in a daze. So weird. She’s quiet and looks emotional and miserable. Jen F asks Teresa why she decided to make Dolores and Jennifer bridesmaids, the RHONJ OG explains that both have been huge supporters of her and Louie, which means a lot to her. Melissa seems upset over the comment. Teresa adds that she was nervous about asking them because she didn’t want more issues with her brother. However, Melissa notes that Teresa has other friends in her wedding party, so why would Joe be made about Jen and Dolores being asked? Teresa says she wasn’t sure how Joe would react, considering how upset he was over Melissa’s mom not being invited. She insists that if she would have known that it would hurt them so much, she would have invited her.

Yet, Melissa points out that’s not what Teresa told everyone. She points out that Teresa said there was history. Teresa says she was referencing their drama back in the day, noting that the drama was between Melissa’s sisters and her and didn’t involve Melissa’s mom. Melissa doesn’t think that makes sense, saying that she and Teresa had issues back in the day, so that reasoning doesn’t make sense. Jennifer A interjects, saying that Teresa is obligated to invite Melisa to the wedding as the wife of her brother. This comment ticks Margaret off, who tells Jen to back that comment up. Things heat up, and Melissa tells Jennifer to stop talking on Teresa’s behalf. Teresa tries to calm everyone down. She admits that she’s not perfect and says she thought if she invited Melissa’s mom to the wedding, she would’ve had to invite her sisters and other members of Melissa’s family. Teresa adds that she wishes Joe told her he was hurt over it, and she would have fixed it; however, Melissa says Joe would have never told Teresa who to invite or not invite to her own wedding. Rachel says her sister-in-law’s mother is invited to EVERYTHING. Well, good for you, Fuda.

Rachel and Margaret think that Teresa should have just automatically invited Melissa’s mom to the wedding – no one should have had to tell her that. Dolores, on the other hand, has Teresa’s back and says Joe and Melissa could have avoided all this drama and picked up the phone. If after they addressed their hurt with Teresa and she didn’t try to rectify the issue by inviting Melissa’s mom to the wedding, then they could have talked shit about her.

Melissa claims there’s zero accountability with Teresa. However, the group tries to turn the night around by having some of the ladies recite limericks, which quickly shifts the mood and has all the ladies laughing again.

Thoughts on this week’s episode of RHONJ? Sound off below!