Real Housewives of New Jersey alum Kathy Wakile claims that estranged cousin-in-law Melissa Gorga lied about the timeline of their lunch addressing a family rift.
Kathy made the claim while appearing on the Wednesday, April 23, episode of the “Page Six Radio” podcast. She addressed an interview that Melissa, 46, had done on Jeff Lewis’ SiriusX show in June 2024, wherein Melissa revealed that Kathy and her husband, Rich Wakile, were building a home in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey — right across the street from Melissa and her husband, Joe Gorga. (Joe, 50 and Kathy are estranged cousins.)
Lewis, 55, had suggested to Melissa that she be the one to repair the rift, and Melissa agreed, saying that she would “do it.”
But in her sitdown with “Page Six Radio,” Kathy sought to set the timeline straight, claiming, “We had run into each other prior to her being on ‘Jeff Lewis’ and doing that interview.”
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Kathy told the outlet that she and Rich had attended a charity event that also counted the Gorgas as guests.
“I didn’t see them, but they saw me and didn’t say hello,” Kathy alleged, adding, “The next day, Melissa texts me, which was very nice. She reached out and said how sad it was that we were at the same event and we walked by each other and didn’t say hello.”
At the time, Kathy was angry at her cousin, thinking, “Shame on [Joe] if he saw me and didn’t come up to me.”
She recalled Melissa asking to speak with her in a text, allegedly writing, “I think that there’s things we should talk about. Would you be open?”
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Kathy said they met for lunch and then Melissa later appeared on Lewis’ show “and acted like, ‘Oh, that’s a good idea, Jeff,’ when we had already had our lunch.”
Kathy claimed that Melissa was “making it seem like it was Jeff’s idea” to meet. However, she added, they’d “already met” and “cleared the air.”
Kathy said their lunch reunion went “fine,” with nothing “harsh said,” but she did remind Melissa “of the things that went down.”
According to Kathy, she didn’t think the lunch “went as [Melissa] would’ve liked it to go.” She suggested that her cousin-in-law might have wanted to bury the hatchet as part of a “potential story line” for The Real Housewives of New Jersey. “I’m not a story line,” Kathy explained. “I am my own life.”
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As for their home near the Gorgas, Kathy alleged that she and Rich had lived in the area for 10 years. “So if anything, they moved into our neighborhood,” she said.
Us Weekly has reached out to Melissa for comment.
The reality star’s rep told Page Six on Wednesday that “Kathy asked Melissa to please not tell anyone about the lunch and asked her not to mention it on her podcast or [in the] press. Melissa honored Kathy’s wishes and never said it happened.”
Kathy appeared on RHONJ for six seasons from 2010 to 2016. Throughout her tenure on the Bravo show, Kathy butted heads with Teresa Giudice, which led to her departure from the series. At the time, Joe and Melissa stood by Teresa’s side.
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“I do think that he regrets, you know, he did what he had to do at the time to back his sister up and do what he had to do, but I really think he enjoyed Kathy,” Melissa said during her SiriusXM appearance in June 2024. “Kathy was a good cousin to him. She took care of him. He had a great relationship with [Kathy’s sister] Rosie. … Growing up, those two were extremely close — Joe and Rosie — so I do think it’s unfortunate. That’s family and they’re not together.”
