Lara Sophia

The highly anticipated Real Housewives of New Jersey season 13 finale episode is FINALLY here!

The Real Housewives of New Jersey episode begins with flashbacks of the drama from Paulie Connell and Dolores Catania‘s house for an Irish-prohibition-themed flapper party, and it’s ugly.

The Secret Revealed

Melissa Gorga claims she’s been keeping this secret for the last six months in order to keep the peace within her family, while Teresa Giudice says she never wanted to say anything about the secret because she knew it would ruin her wedding to Louie Ruelas.

The 44-year-old mom of three tells Dolores that there’s no way she can go and celebrate Teresa and Louie’s wedding when she tried to ruin her marriage to Joe Gorga.

She then calls Teresa and Louie “toxic” and says that she’s “done” with them for good.

So, what’s the secret? The secret is the allegation that Melissa cheated on Joe with their good friend,  Nick Barrotta.

The Build-Up to the Drama

We then go rewind 12 hours to the start of Paulie and Dolores’ party. The entire Real Housewives of New Jersey cast, including the husbands, are attending the party, which is a recipe for disaster as well all know.

Everyone starts to arrive, and they all look amazing in their flapper/1920s outfits. Dolores and Paul know how to throw a party – everything looks amazing, from the Irish dancers to the flowers to the food and more.

The drinks and the food are flowing, with everyone having a good time.

Danielle and Rachel Fuda Squash their Drama

Rachel Fuda and Danielle Cabral talk out their issues, especially their heated convos in Ireland, and seem to have officially squashed their beef. Rachel points out that it seemed like Danielle had something on her mind in Ireland that had her all riled up. Danielle tries to play it off, but Melissa seems to poke, asking if they were things that happened in Ireland that some of the group didn’t know about. The mom of two plays coy, saying she just had “things that weighed on my mind.”

The Gorgas aren’t Popping Teresa and Louie’s Love Bubbe

Teresa and Louie arrive at the party. Joe Gorga and Frank Catania agree that Louie is short with them. While Joe can’t stop bad-mouthing Louie, the groom-to-be can’t get past Joe being so selfish ahead of his and Teresa’s wedding. Teresa said she doesn’t care about her brother and isn’t going to let anyone pop their love bubble. You can feel and see the tension between Joe and Louie. Both are one comment away from snapping.

Danielle Tells Jennifer Aydin She Has to Reveal All to Melissa

Things at Paulie and Dolores’ flapper party are going swell when Danielle tells Jennifer that she has to tell Melissa about the cheating rumor going around about her. Jennifer begs Danielle not to tell Melissa, explaining that she doesn’t want to see Melissa’s family, especially her children, get hurt over the accusation.

Jennifer explains:

“No, Danielle, you can’t do that. Nobody protected me [last season]. Nobody protected my children. I don’t want to be that girl to another family. The point of me telling you was really just to justify the fact that all of this stuff, at the end of the day, comes from Margaret.”

However, Danielle disagrees, saying that if she were in Melissa’s position, she’d want to know.

The newcomer said:

“If somebody was saying this about me, I’d want to know. I don’t want to hurt Melissa. I don’t want to believe the rumor’s true. I just want to tell [her], ‘This is what your friend has told this woman.'”

Danielle Drops the Bomb on Melissa

The party is in full swing, and everyone is having fun when Danielle pulls Melissa aside to have a chit-chat. Naturally, Margaret Josephs notices and wonders aloud, ‘What’s going on over there?’

Danielle admits in her confessional that she has no plan on how or what she’s going to say to Melissa. She’s hopeful that Melissa will laugh off the gossip and not be upset. Yeah, right.

The Real Housewives of New Jersey newbie explains to Melissa that in Ireland, she learned some information about her. Danielle explains that Margaret’s friend, Laura Lee Jensen, said that Margaret told her that she caught Melissa making out with a guy in the back of a car during a night out in NYC.

Melissa seems amused by the news but not shocked at all. Instead, she goes right to blaming Teresa for the gossip. Melissa says she already heard this story from her husband, who learned about the allegation from Teresa. She claims that Teresa called Joe over to her house to secretly tell him the allegation. In her confessional, Melissa claims that Teresa believed the rumor, which is why she went to Joe.

Melissa quips:

“Pretty f–ked up sister-in-law.”

However, she doesn’t stop there. Melissa encourages Danielle to call Teresa over so they can all discuss the allegation. Danielle says she knows they have issues but doubts Teresa would wish this to be true; however, Melissa doesn’t agree and says all Teresa wants is to see her and Joe break up. Melissa adds that this rumor is why Joe can’t stand to look at Teresa right now.

Danielle wonders why Margaret is getting any of the heat when she’s the messenger, who is going around telling people about this rumor. Melissa doesn’t believe Margaret would ever tell anyone about this rumor because she knows it isn’t true. Margaret overhears her name being mentioned in Danielle and Melissa’s conversation, so she heads over to see what’s going on.

Margaret vs. Danielle

Margaret goes over to Danielle and Melissa, ready for a fight. Melissa explains that Danielle was telling her about a rumor Laura was telling people about, which sets Margaret off. Margaret freaks out on Danielle, questioning why she’s talking about someone she’s never met.

Danielle tells Margaret not to shoot the messenger. Things get heated when Danielle stands up and puts her finger in Margaret’s face. The two get into each other faces and need to be pulled apart by the rest of the ladies.

Chaos Ensues as Melissa and Teresa go Head to Head

As the rest of the ladies are trying to figure out what’s going on, Melissa points the blame at Teresa and Jennifer Aydin, as they were the ones who met Laura for lunch. Melissa calls Teresa a “loser,” which sets off the Real Housewives of New Jersey OG.

Teresa calls Melissa “disgusting” and walks away from the drama, but Melissa follows Teresa into the kitchen.

As chaos ensues, Teresa explains that Louie is the one who called Joe to tell him about the rumor. Louie confirms this by saying he wanted Joe to know what Margaret was saying about his wife.

Louie seems to give zero f–ks at this point as looks directly into the camera, saying that he and Teresa are “winning.” Teresa, on the other hand, says that she doesn’t care about this BS and isn’t giving Melissa any more attention because that’s what she wants.

Joe and Melissa claim that they’ve been protecting Teresa and that they need to stop. Margaret then fuels the flames by alleging that Teresa set this whole thing up and that Danielle and Jennifer wouldn’t do anything without Teresa’s approval. She also claims that Teresa looks nervous before going over to confront Teresa for trying to bring her down.

Danielle is lost as to why Margaret continues to deflect any blame in this whole situation when she’s the one who spread the gossip about Melissa in the first place. Jennifer questions why Laura would lie about Melissa cheating – especially with such detail, including names, dates, times, etc.

The drama between Margaret and Jennifer as they fight over Laura’s claims. Jennifer’s anger with Margaret for outing Bill’s affair last year comes out and she almost goes after Margaret for the pain she caused her kids. Naturally, Margaret could care less.

Joe and Louie’s Showdown

Melissa can’t help but continue to antagonize Louie for telling Joe about the cheating rumor. Louie tells the group that he told Joe a lot as Melissa continues to poke Louie, which only enrages Joe.

Joe tells Louie not to talk to Melissa like that and gets in Louie’s face. The men are holding both Joe and Louie back at this point before Joe breaks free and charges Louie.

The Aftermath

Joe and Melissa decide to skip Teresa and Louie’s wedding. They accuse Teresa of trying to destroy their marriage, while Teresa believes that the Gorgas “hate” her and Louie.

Teresa adds that she’s done with this drama and is starting a new chapter of her life. She notes that Melissa “got her wish” of “wanting to get my brother away from me.”

The Gorgas and Teresa will come face to face for the first time in nearly a year at the upcoming Real Housewives of New Jersey season 14 reunion.

The Real Housewives of New Jersey airs on Tuesdays at 8 pm.

Thoughts on this all? Sound off below!