Gia Giudice on Where She Stands With Riley, If She’s Spoken to Charlie & Not Liking Her Portrayal on Next Gen NYC, Plus Shades Melissa and Defends Teresa

Gia Giudice is offering an update on where she stands with Riley Burruss and Charlie Zakkour after the conclusion of the debut season of Next Gen NYC.

As she also admitted to not liking how she came off, confirmed if she’s moved in with boyfriend Christian Carmichael, and reflected on Lexi Ioannou‘s episode of her podcast, the 24-year-old Real Housewives of New Jersey star shaded her aunt, Melissa Gorga, 46, and defended her mom, Teresa Giudice, 53.

“We’re in good standing. I was with her on Tuesday for the season finale at [Ariana Biermann]’s. We’re good,” Gia confirmed of her and Riley on the July 29 episode of WWHL.

As for how she came off on Next Gen NYC, Gia noted that her role on RHONJ was very different.

“I think on housewives, being under my mom’s shadow, it was always about protecting our family and honestly just protecting our peace and happiness. Even growing up with everything that my family went through legally, I was always in mom mode, and now, that’s kind of instilled into my personality. So on Next Gen, I think I need to transition better into a friend and not always being in that mom mode,” she explained. 

After noting that she came off as “harsh” and “aggressive,” appearing to get “annoyed at things,” Gia insisted that that was not who she is.

“So, I’m ready to grow and really take this experience day by day, and I think that’s part of Next Gen, being in our 20s and growing,” she added.

While Gia and Riley are in a good place, she hasn’t remained as close to Charlie, 29. In fact, on WWHL, she confirmed her co-star “left the group chat.” That said, she did recently speak to him.

“I actually did. Not on any crazy level, but I was trying to plan an A.C. weekend, the weekend of July 12, and there was word that he might have wanted to go,” she revealed. “I had reached out to him and said, ‘Is this something you’re still interested in?’ And he said he would let me know, and then he followed up by saying he wasn’t gonna come.”

Moving on to her personal life, Gia shared that she was still living at home with Teresa.

“I am, but the move is coming very soon,” she teased. “[Christian] is in Bergen County, so my work life now is in the city so much so I’m here a lot, and his work life’s in Jersey.”

Gia was then asked about how it was having Lexi on her podcast, considering the rift between Teresa and Dina Manzo, 53. However, she avoided talking about their alleged feud and instead focused on Lexi.

“We picked up where we left off. Lexi is a beautiful soul, and I’m so happy that she got to speak her truth,” she stated.

Regarding the shade she threw at her aunt, that happened when she was asked to rank RHONJ cast members from most to least iconic.

“Most? I wanna say [Dolores Catania] then [Jennifer Aydin] … She’s had some really funny moments, Dina, Melissa,” Gia replied.

She also defended Teresa’s decision to hang up on an interviewer who asked about her tax issues, saying, “It’s none of their business,” and her past diss toward Melissa’s sprinkle cookies. The one thing she didn’t want to defend was the moment in which Teresa told Danielle Staub, 63, to pull Margaret Josephs‘ hair.

As the live broadcast concluded, Gia shared her rose and thorn of season one.

“My thorn was that I wish I had taken a step back and really just let my castmates speak their opinions because their opinions were right. Riley was right about Georgia’s club not being the best idea, and I feel like I’m finding my way of me having this mom personality and being a great friend. I’ll be there when needed, but they can also handle it themselves, and I’ll step in,” she shared. “[And] my rose was honestly learning so many lessons from this group. They are all there for me all the time, and I’m really happy with the relationship I’ve formed and the friendships.”

Later, as she was featured on the WWHL: After Show, Gia looked back on Charlie and Georgia McCann‘s messy feud over her less-than-prompt return of his speaker.

“I didn’t know how intense Charlie went at Georgia during that argument. My castmates didn’t fill me in before we got to A.C. So, then, when we got to A.C., that’s why I told Riley and Georgia to shut the F up. Obviously, I take that back now knowing the things that Charlie had said,” she explained. 

“Also, hearing something relayed versus watching it play out is like two different things,” noted Brooks.

Then, after Gia noted that Georgia should’ve just given the speaker back and questioned why she had it for so long, Emira described the debate as “trivial” and wondered why it was such a big deal.

“For him to flip out over a speaker is crazy. She’s busy. She was planning a party. She was doing so many things,” she reasoned.

“But does it warrant speaking to a woman that way?” Brooks asked.

“Absolutely not,” Gia replied.

Next Gen NYC season one concluded last week after an eight-episode season.