Teresa Giudice may have reconciled with her brother Joe Gorga and sister-in-law Melissa Gorga, but that does not mean she is looking to repair every relationship from her Real Housewives of New Jersey past.
In a new interview with Us Weekly, Teresa opened up about reaching out to her estranged cousin Kathy Wakile, revealing that while Kathy responded warmly to her message, she never acknowledged Teresa’s invitation to meet for lunch.
Teresa also revisited one of RHONJ’s most infamous arguments with Melissa, claiming the original sprinkle cookie drama was not quite what viewers believed.
The conversation began when Teresa was asked whether reconnecting with Kathy was part of the same effort that led her to reconcile with Joe and Melissa.
According to Teresa, it was actually former RHONJ costar Jacqueline Laurita who prompted her to reach out.
“Well, Jacqueline speaks to Kathy and told me that Kathy’s daughter was having a baby,” Teresa explained.
Teresa said the news made her happy because she had always been close to Kathy’s children.
“I adored Kathy’s kids. I used to hang out with Kathy all the time. So when Jacqueline told me she was pregnant and having a baby, oh my God, I was so happy for her.”
Teresa decided to send Kathy a congratulatory text about her daughter Victoria Wakile’s pregnancy.
“I’m like, ‘I heard that Victoria’s pregnant. Congratulations! I’m so happy for her,’” Teresa recalled.
She then extended an invitation to reconnect.
“And then I said to her, ‘If you ever want to have lunch, let me know.’”
While Kathy responded positively to Teresa’s congratulations, she apparently did not express interest in meeting.
“She sent me a beautiful text: ‘Thank you so much for reaching out,’ but never responded to the lunch part,” Teresa revealed.
Rather than being disappointed, Teresa said she now believes things worked out for the best.
“You know what? That was a blessing in disguise,” Teresa admitted.
Her reason? Kathy’s husband, Richie Wakile.
“Because me and her husband are like oil and water,” Teresa said as Melissa laughed.
“So that worked out the way it was supposed to work out.”
The comments are significant considering Teresa and Kathy’s complicated history on RHONJ.
Kathy joined the Bravo series in Season 3 alongside Melissa and Joe Gorga, bringing Teresa’s extended family into the spotlight.
While the cousins had grown up close, their relationship deteriorated as family disagreements became central storylines.
Teresa frequently clashed with Kathy and Richie, and their relationship became increasingly strained over the years.
One particularly painful moment involved Kathy describing Teresa’s father, Giacinto Gorga, in an unflattering way, which Teresa has previously cited as a reason she was unwilling to repair the relationship.
Although Teresa and Kathy have occasionally exchanged messages over the years, they have not publicly established a close relationship again.
Teresa revealed that Kathy reached out once more after learning she had reconciled with Joe and Melissa.
“Then when we got together, Kathy reached out to me again and said, ‘I’m so happy that you guys made up,’” Teresa shared.
For Teresa, that was enough.
“And that’s perfect for me. Because when a lot of time goes by it’s fine.”
While Teresa may be content keeping her distance from Kathy, her relationship with Melissa has taken a much different turn.
The sisters-in-law admitted that they are finally able to enjoy each other’s company again without taking every comment personally.
“Teresa and I actually have fun together,” Melissa shared. “We’re goofy, and I like that we can make fun of each other a bit. I don’t get offended anymore.”
Teresa agreed that their dynamic now reminds her of the early days of their relationship.
“It’s like how we were in the beginning,” Teresa said.
However, Teresa also suggested that Melissa did not always understand her personality.
“She was young and she didn’t really understand me.”
Melissa acknowledged that she used to take certain comments personally.
“I would get insulted,” she admitted.
Teresa insisted that her intentions were never malicious.
“But it was not coming from a bad place,” she explained.
And that is when the conversation took an unexpected turn back to one of RHONJ’s most memorable controversies: the sprinkle cookies.
Longtime viewers will remember Teresa criticizing Melissa for bringing sprinkle cookies to a family Christmas gathering instead of traditional Italian cookies.
The incident became part of the family’s longstanding feud and eventually inspired Melissa to launch her own sprinkle cookie business.
But Teresa now claims she was not actually the person who threw the cookies away.
“Like the whole sprinkle cookie thing. It wasn’t me that threw out the cookies. It was my ex-mother-in-law,” Teresa revealed.
According to Teresa, her former mother-in-law was making fun of Melissa’s choice of dessert.
“She was making fun of Melissa,” Teresa explained.
Teresa insisted that she had simply been trying to offer Melissa advice about what to bring to an Italian family gathering.
“So me, as her nice sister-in-law, I tell her quietly, ‘Next time you go to an Italian person’s house, don’t buy cookies from Corrado’s in a plastic container. Go to the bakery and buy pignoli cookies.’”
Melissa immediately pointed out something Teresa apparently forgot.
“Her dad taught me to shop at Corrado’s!” Melissa responded.
Teresa, however, stood by her advice.
“It was good advice. I have the best heart ever. I loved her. I wanted a sister.”
But Teresa then made another surprising claim about how the cookie controversy ultimately helped bring Melissa onto RHONJ.
“And then she took it as an insult and put it on Facebook, and that’s how she got herself on the show,” Teresa claimed.
Melissa immediately laughed and denied Teresa’s version of events.
“No!” she responded.
Teresa continued, suggesting that producers saw the family drama as an opportunity.
“Because the producers saw it, and they’re like, ‘Cha-ching, cha-ching! Let’s f**king ruin this family!’”
“And that’s exactly what happened!” Teresa added.
Melissa acknowledged that this type of disagreement would have created tension between them in the past.
But now, she said, things are different.
“Can I just say, things like this, we’d normally feel tense,” Melissa explained.
“We don’t give a s**t anymore.”
The lighthearted exchange was a significant change from the years when even small disagreements between Teresa and Melissa could turn into explosive fights.
The two have spent much of their RHONJ history arguing about loyalty, family relationships and how Melissa and Joe joined the show.
Now, the sisters-in-law insist that they have learned how to disagree without allowing it to destroy their relationship.
The conversation also turned to the upcoming season of RHONJ and which former cast members they expected to return.
Teresa said she always assumed Dolores Catania would be back.
Melissa agreed but admitted she thought Margaret Josephs might also return.
“I thought Dolores, and I thought they would probably bring back Margaret,” Melissa said.
Teresa described Dolores as the perfect person to remain in the group because of her ability to maintain relationships with different women.
“She’s Switzerland,” Teresa said with a laugh.
Both women also praised the new cast.
“There’s a lot of new girls,” Melissa explained.
Teresa said she was impressed by the newcomers because she believes they can stand on their own.
“They’re awesome. They all stand on their own. They don’t have to try to hurt someone else to look good.”
However, Teresa made it clear that the new season will still deliver drama.
“Oh no, there’s drama,” she confirmed.