More than any other Real Housewives franchise, Real Housewives of New Jersey is the cast of estranged family. Most notably, Teresa Giudice and her brother Joe Gorga have been at odds for over a decade. They maintained contact, but that could have been motivated by filming for the show. Teresa made it clear that she would not have any contact with Joe or her sister-in-law, Melissa Gorga.
Jackie Goldschneider, RHONJ alum and current “friend” to the cast, was silently battling her estranged sister off camera. Newbie Danielle Cabral dished on a fight with her brother, Thomas DiPetro, that left her unable to communicate with him. Though her castmates questioned her version of the story, it was the heartbroken reaction from Danielle’s parents that garnered the most sympathy. And it inspired Jackie to give an update on her own issues with sister, Felicia Damato.
“I’m good,” Jackie said of continued conflict with her sister
“My sister and I, it’s not like we were close when we were younger, and then we broke apart. Never. So like, I felt very bad when I saw Danielle’s father crying,” Jackie said on a recent episode of RHONJ: After Show.
“He looks like my father. It’s so crazy … and when I saw him crying, it’s like the same thing, my dad’s turning 80. He said all he wanted for his 80th birthday was to have all his kids and grandkids in one room cuz that never happens,” The Weight of Beautiful author admitted.
The most recent interaction Jackie had with Felicia occurred three years ago when the mother of four tried to appease her sister by offering apologies.
Jackie explained, “She had a million gripes against me. Even though we’ve never had a relationship, everything I’ve ever done in my life she wanted me to apologize for, and there were a few things she wanted my husband to apologize for, too.”
Jackie, and her husband Evan Goldschneider, decided to apologize for the better good of the family. However, their offers were met with scrutiny, and Felicia upped the stakes.
“One day, I said, ‘Listen, just so we can move forward with this family, will you apologize to my sister? Even though there’s nothing … Give a big blanket I’m sorry.’ And he was like, ‘I don’t f-cking care. Yes. Whatever you want me to do,’” Jackie revealed. “Evan is the best, so I texted her and I said, ‘Listen, Evan will apologize for whatever you want him to apologize for.’ And she said, ’No, he has to show up to my door and do it in person.’ And I said, ‘You know what? I’m good.’ And that’s when I said, ’Never again.’”
The added expectation of an in-person apology turned the Goldschneider’s off from further contact with Felicia. Perhaps appeasement doesn’t always yield the desired results. In the meantime, the other family issues continue on RHONJ. It will be interesting to see if and when Teresa and the Gorgas make up.
The Real Housewives of New Jersey Season 13 reunion concludes on June 13 at 8/7c on Bravo.
TELL US – WHAT DO YOU THINK OF JACKIE’S FEUD WITH HER SISTER? WAS SHE RIGHT TO OFFER AN APOLOGY? WHAT DO YOU THINK OF HER SISTER’S DEMAND THAT IT BE IN PERSON? WAS JACKIE RIGHT TO CUT TIES AFTER THAT?
