Antonia Gorga is opening up about what it has been like watching the Gorga and Giudice family finally come back together after years of very public drama.
During an emotional conversation with her cousin Gia Giudice on the Casual Chaos podcast, Antonia spoke about the family reconciliation and how much it has meant to her father, Joe Gorga.
For years, Real Housewives of New Jersey fans watched Joe and Melissa Gorga’s relationship with Teresa Giudice completely fall apart. The family feud became one of the darkest and most exhausting storylines on RHONJ, with the cousins, siblings and spouses all caught in the middle.
But now, things appear to be in a much better place.
Gia asked Antonia what it has been like watching the family come back together.
“Things are in such a better place now,” Gia said. “What has it been like watching the family come back together?”
Antonia said the reconciliation has been amazing for everyone, but especially for her dad.
“It’s been amazing,” Antonia said. “I mean, everyone is so happy, but I’ll say one thing. My dad got so happy after we reconciled, like his entire attitude and everything towards seeing all like social media and stuff changed.”
Antonia explained that Joe had wanted his sister and nieces back in his life for a long time.
“He became so happy,” she shared. “Like he just wanted his nieces and his sister back so bad.”
According to Antonia, the change in Joe was obvious almost immediately.
“And now that he has it, like you can tell,” Antonia said. “Like immediately me and my mom would talk about it, be like, he is so happy.”
Antonia added that this was something Joe had wanted for years.
“Like he wanted this so bad for so long and now he’s finally got it,” she said. “And he’s so freaking happy. Like really.”
Antonia also reflected on how time helped heal some of the pain from what was said during the family’s years-long fallout.
“I feel like the time has like made us almost forget everything that was said,” Antonia explained.
She added that despite everything that was said publicly, she does not believe her family truly meant the hurtful things.
“Plus what they say, they never mean ever,” Antonia said.
She continued, “But all that time, I feel like everyone just forgets. Everyone’s like, what are we doing? Like, what are we doing? Why are we still doing this?”
For Antonia, the reconciliation seems to come down to the fact that family was always bigger than the fight.
She said that was especially true for Joe, who deeply missed having Teresa and her daughters in his life.
“And especially my dad, like that was his only family,” Antonia said. “Like, he was just like, what is going on? Like, I need my sister, I need my nieces.”
The conversation between Gia and Antonia is especially meaningful because the cousins were children when the Gorga-Giudice feud first became a major part of RHONJ.
Over the years, viewers watched the adults fight, stop speaking and exchange painful accusations while the kids grew up in the middle of it all.
Now, hearing Antonia speak so warmly about her father’s happiness and Gia openly discussing the family being in a better place shows a softer side of the reconciliation.