Get ready for a table-flipping good time, Bravo fans!
Melissa Gorga told Page Six in an exclusive new interview that fans of “The Real Housewives of New Jersey” should anticipate “big explosions” of drama when the long-running reality series comes back for Season 12.
“It’s definitely crazy. There’s moments in there [where] I was like, ‘Wow, I thought we were way past that’ — especially when you think everyone’s happy now and in love bubbles,” she said, pointing to sister-in-law Teresa Giudice’s relationship with her new fiancé, Luis “Louie” Ruelas.
“Then you see things explode and you’re like, ‘Where did that come from?!’” Gorga continued. ‘[It’s] very comparable to the beginning seasons that we’re all remembering.”
When things got rocky among the women of “RHONJ,” the “On Display” podcast host revealed that Ruelas, 46, often stepped in to curtail Giudice’s passionate outbursts.
“I definitely think he tries to talk more sense into her. So, when she’s losing it — and you’ll actually see this on the upcoming season — when she’s starting to go there to the other side, he kind of brings her back and he’s like, ‘Whoa, these ladies are right. You need to listen to them.’” Gorga said.
“I’m like, ‘Where have you been all our lives?’”
Though the “Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip” cast member said that she and Ruelas “get along really, really well,” the businessman was “put through the wringer” throughout filming as part of his initiation into the Gorga-Giudice mélange. (Gorga is married to Giudice’s brother, Joe Gorga, with whom she shares three children: Antonia, 16, Gino, 14, and Joey, 11.)
“You’ll see: He has to go through [it]. And you’ll see, I’m like, ‘There’s no passes,’” she recounted. “Welcome to the family.”
Ruelas, who shares two sons with ex-wife Marissa DiMartino, proposed to Giudice, 49, during a romantic Greece vacation in October. The “RHONJ” veteran shares four daughters — Gia, 20, Gabriella, 17, Milania, 15, and Audriana, 12 — with ex-husband Joe Giudice.
Melissa went on to say that viewers will also get a closer look into her marriage with Joe, 42, which experienced its fair share of challenges in Season 11. The Envy by Melissa Gorga boutique owner memorably caught heat from her husband for career-related commitments that disrupted her household duties.
“It’s hard for him and I get it. I think it was a huge change but I’ve pretty much put … it like, ‘This is my life, this is my career. I love you, I love my kids, I love my family, but I’m not stopping,’” she explained, positing that their 17 years as spouses make them the “longest standing ‘Housewives’ couple.”
Melissa — who joined “New Jersey” in 2011’s Season 3 — admitted that “it’s not easy” maintaining a healthy marriage on reality TV.
“But at the end of the day, nothing is more important to us than happy kids and being home and having that family. We know that you can get lost out there very easily. And we don’t want to get lost,” she said.
“We got lost once or twice … We were like, ‘Whoa, it’s happening, OK? It’s happening. Let’s pull it back in and focus on what really matters.’ And that’s what we did.”
Bravo has yet to announce a premiere date for “The Real Housewives of New Jersey” Season 12. Melissa, Teresa, Dolores Catania, Margaret Josephs, Jennifer Aydin and Jackie Goldschneider are all expected to return.
In the meantime, catch Melissa on “The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip,” now available to stream on Peacock.