Getty GettyGia Giudice; Melissa Gorga
While the Giudice-Gorga family feud has been going on for years, some fans thought Gorga took things too far by referring to her niece as a “backup.” Fans reacted to a clip from the episode posted on the @allabouttrh fan account.
“Imagine calling your niece “the backup” ?,” one commenter wrote on Instagram.
“Calling your niece backup for being there to support her mom? Yikes that’s gross,” another agreed.
Others felt that Gorga has “always been triggered by Gia,” who is the goddaughter of her husband Joe Gorga.
“Melissa is so rude to Joe’s Goddaughter! When Danielle brought up Gia being there, Melissa should have kept her mouth shut!” a viewer wrote, adding that Giudice never talks poorly about Gorga’s kids Antonio, Gino, and Joey.
“She is so envious of Gia… It’s so obvious,” another commenter wrote.
“Crazy they seem a little jealous,” another wrote. “That’s her daughter that grew up to be beautiful, no backup there. This is just sad.”
Other fans defended Gorga and agreed that Gia shouldn’t have been at the meeting.
“With all due respect– Gia hasn’t really ever been very publicly nice about her. ??♀️,” one commenter wrote. “And I really don’t think Melissa’s comment was about Gia. Specifically, it was about having someone there as backup. It just happened to be Gia. Which, is kind of odd? She’s not a part of the cast, she’s not a part of the friend group.”
Gorga has been vocal about her thoughts on Gia getting involved in the RHONJ cast’s business. In the season 14 episode titled “Behind Frenemy Lines,” she described her grown niece as a “child” who shouldn’t be involved in “adult conversations.” Gorga added that it was “weird” that Gia was involved in drama with the RHONJ cast members.
Gia has admitted that she sometimes “hops in” scenes with her mom. “I mean, in filming aspects, I’m always, like, my mom’s right-hand man,” she told Us Weekly in a 2023 interview.
