Fans of “The Real Housewives of New Jersey” had to do a double take after Teresa Giudice posted photos from Louie Ruelas’ birthday celebration.
The husband of Giudice turned 50 years old in April 2024 and the RHONJ OG pulled out all the stops to celebrate.
But when photos from the celebration surfaced online, some fans were confused because it looked like Giudice‘s estranged sister-in-law was with the group.
Here’s what you need to know:
Fans Felt ‘Played’ By the Birthday Photo
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In photos posted to Instagram, several RHONJ stars posed, most of them wearing black attire, while at the upscale New Jersey restaurant Blu on the Hudson for Ruelas’ birthday. One photo featured a gold and black decorated birthday cake from Palermo Bakery in Little Ferry, New Jersey.
Another photo featured the birthday boy and his wife alongside fellow RHONJ star Dolores Catania and her boyfriend Paul Connell and co-stars Jennifer and Bill Aydin. There was also another woman in the photo, and fans thought she was Melissa Gorga at first glance. The woman had long dark hair like Gorga and similar facial features.
Fans had a lot to say about the photo in the comment section.
“Is that Melissa?? Is Joe there?” one fan asked.
“Anyone else think the girl in the Jean jumper was Melissa?” another asked.
“Raise your hand if you got played and thought Melissa was in that picture?! 🙋🏻♀️” another wrote.
”Wait, that’s Not Melissa? 😮” another asked. “I had to look many times to realize it wasn’t Melissa,” another fan agreed. Another wrote, “I thought it was her too😮.”
“I thought same…..I think that was done on purpose,” another speculated.
“The way I thought that was Melissa Gorga!! I would’ve been happy if everyone could get along!!” wrote another fan.
Giudice has been completely estranged from her brother, Joe, and sister-in-law Melissa for a while now, so it would be a big deal if Gorga was part of Ruelas’ special day. The Giudice-Gorga family feud has gone on for more than two years and culminated when the Gorgas skipped Giudice’s wedding to Ruelas in August 2022.
A quick hover over the tags in the birthday photo revealed that the woman in question is celebrity stylist Lina Kidis. She has appeared in photos with RHONJ cast members in the past.
Melissa Gorga & Teresa Giudice Are Not Speaking & Did Not Interact at All During RHONJ Season 14 Filming
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Things are so bad between Giudice and Gorga that they reportedly filmed the entire 14th season of RHONJ without speaking to each other. When Gorga posted a teaser for the upcoming season, she captioned it with, “House Divided. #RHONJ MAY 5th. #becarefulwhatyouwishfor.”
Gorga also confirmed to Entertainment Tonight she didn’t speak to her estranged sister-in-law at all during filming. “The biggest misconception is that it’s gonna be more drama between me and my sister-in-law. We don’t even, like, look at each other,” she told the outlet in January 2024.
“It is the new normal,” the Envy boutique owner added. “I think it just is what it is. I always say it’s unfortunate. I’ll never be, like, happy about that. But we’re all living, and we’re happy, and sometimes things just need to take its course. Right now that’s definitely how it is.”
The estrangement could affect future seasons of RHONJ. Bravo producer Andy Cohen spoke out on his Sirius XM show “Andy Cohen Live” to make it clear that the estrangement between the two RHONJ stars will not be “sustainable” on the show going forward.
Victoria Miller is a contributor for Heavy specializing in TV and celebrity news. She can be reached at [email protected].
