Real Housewives of New Jersey” star Melissa Gorga opened up about her relationship with Joe Gorga and how they have maintained their marriage of 21 years.
Melissa and Joe celebrated their 21st wedding anniversary on August 20 and shared the festivities with their fans on Instagram.“21 years with this man. All I want to be is a beautiful example of what marriage is to these kids we made together❤️ So far I think we are doing a great job Happy Anniversary @joeygorga I’ll always be by your side,” Melissa wrote in the caption of her Instagram post.
“Happy Anniversary to my amazing beautiful wife! I love spending time with you. 21 years went by so quick ❤️❤️” Joe wrote in the caption of his own Instagram post dedicated to their anniversary.
The couple recently went to St. Barths together, where an unexpected Bravo crossover occurred.
Joe posted an Instagram photo of himself posing on the beach alongside “Million Dollar Listing New York” agent Steve Gold.
“My Man!” Joe captioned the photo.
Steve, who was vacationing with his wife, Luiza Gawlowska, shared a photo of the Gorgas and their crew sitting on a dinghy.
“Old school Bravo fam,” the realtor wrote in an Instagram story, which Melissa and Joe shared on their respective accounts.
“Always by my side,” Melissa wrote in the caption of her post.
“I met him as a 24-year-old girl, and to think, you know, this many years later we’re still together,” Melissa said in an interview with Bravo’s The Daily Dish. “I wake up every morning, [and] I’m like, ‘You’re still here. Here you are.’ No, honestly, we’re friends.”
Melissa acknowledged that her marriage to Joe was far from perfect, but the pair have always managed to overcome their conflicts as a team.
“I do enjoy going to dinner with Joe,” she said. “We’re both fun people, so it works. And our lives are similar and, you know, we balance each other out in such a way where he lets me be the boss where I need to be, and I let him be the boss where he needs to be.”
Melissa also said that her and Joe have maintained a healthy banter in their relationship.
“I wanna kill him sometimes, but we’re attracted to each other and we’re both fun people,” she explained. “It’s like if you can’t have fun with us, you can’t have fun with anybody because we’re lifers. We love life. We enjoy life. We don’t like the negative. We really don’t. It’s hard for us to do negative. It’s always been my struggle on the show (
“It’s never easy, a marriage,” Melissa continued. “We definitely have our ups and downs…We struggle, we fight, we battle. We’re both very strong-minded people.”
“When Joe and I have an argument, we have an argument, but I’d be the first one to move on with my level head, and he’ll hold that grudge for, like, five more days,” she said. “You got five [days]. I start counting down the days until he’s gonna let it go.
Dalton drags Rocco into the PCU auditorium, demanding that the boy be arrested for breaking into his lab. Laura orders Dalton to take his hands off the boy, who is a minor, while Ezra is all too happy to go find the police.
Dalton explains that Rocco broke into his secure lab, but Laura suggests that perhaps the door was open and he didn’t know where he was. Dalton says there are signs posted that read “Authorized Personnel Only.”
Ezra brings the cops, and Laura tries to defuse the situation, as nothing was broken or damaged, so she’s willing to look the other way, given that Dalton manhandled her grandson. Ezra suggests that if the key fob is on Rocco, then the boy knew what he was doing.
Of course, Rocco hands over the key fob, and the police are forced to arrest him. Laura tells him it will be OK and not to say another word, and she leaves the debate to accompany him to the station.
At the PCPD, Nathan sits at his old desk, not aware he’s in Chase’s seat until he sees the photos. Chase arrives, and Nathan and Chase introduce themselves.
Chase brings him up on their current high-profile case, Judge Herron’s murder. They are both compromised as Willow is involved, as the murdered judge ruled over her custody case.
Molly drops by her mom’s office and tells her that she won’t be going up against her in court in Willow’s case, as Turner wants all the glory. Alexis knows this would have been a high-profile case for her, but Molly is glad, as they’ve had enough upheaval in their family over the past year.
At Bobbie’s, Danny and Charlotte inform Jason and Britt that Rocco was caught in Professor Dalton’s lab, which they had broken into. Charlotte needs to tell her mom, so Britt drives her to the hospital
Danny then explains what happened to his dad, and Jason asks whose idea this was. Did he get Rocco into this?
Jason and Danny head to Alexis’ office and tell her about what went down. Danny wonders if turning himself in will make this better for Rocco, but Alexis says it will only make things worse, and Drew will have what he needs to put Danny in prison.
At the hospital, Dante arrives and is updated about what happened with Ned by Lulu. Emma pipes in about Gio’s heroics, and Dante tells him how proud he is of him.
Emma and Gio walk off to get a drink, when Gio remembers tonight was their heist. Emma says they’ll figure something out, as Ned is way more important.
Lulu asks Dante how his new job is, and he says he’s handling it well and got to rehire Nathan. Suddenly, Charlotte arrives and fills Dante and Lulu in on Rocco’s situation.
Meanwhile, Britt slinks off and calls someone, telling them they need to get to GH. She then digs through her purse, finds her key fob missing, and realizes Rocco and Charlotte stole it when she asked them to go find her purse.
Later, Sidwell arrives to meet Britt in an empty room, and she tells him that Dalton is trying to arrest “her son.” She wants Sidwell to have Dalton drop the charges. She reminds him that, unlike Dalton, she’s been loyal to him.
Elsewhere, Gio and Emma have heard the news and panic, and Emma realizes that involving the others was wrong. Gio has an idea, takes her hand, and they leave.
Dante, Charlotte and Lulu head to the PCPD just as Rocco and Laura arrive. Rocco is taken into the interrogation room, and Lulu goes with him as he’s a minor. The professor made a statement and returned to the lab, and Dante thankw Laura for staying with Rocco.
Dante and Laura talk in private about what happened, as Nathan uncuffs Rocco and leaves him alone in the interrogation room to speak with Lulu.
Lulu already knows that Charlotte and Danny were involved and got away, and Rocco tells his mom what happened with Dalton and the lab. Lulu tells her son this is bad, as what he did reflects on his father and grandmother.
Back in the station, Britt appears, and Nathan says she needs to leave. Meanwhile, Dante and Laura continue to discuss the break-in and its potential impact on Laura’s campaign. Her only concern is Rocco.
Ric drops by Sonny’s to offer his services as his lawyer in the Measure C business. Sonny already has Diane, but Ric explains Diane is compromised right now, given she’s connected to Alexis, and Sidwell’s son works for them.
Ric says there is an important reason they should work together, as he doesn’t want their bad blood to strain Molly and Kristina’s relationship. Ric is prepared to prove he can be valuable, as he believes he can make a case against eminent domain and keep Sonny’s piers. Sonny wants to believe him, and Ric says he wants to be done with the hate. Ric asks him to think about putting the past behind them, and heads out.
Later, Gio and Emma arrive, and Gio explains that Rocco is in trouble and it’s because of them. They tell Sonny the whole story, including Emma’s history with Dalton.
Across town, Ric meets up with Molly at Bobbie’s, where she is invested in working on her novel. He sits down with her, and she explains that Cody’s rescue of her father inspired her to take the book in a new direction.
At the station, Dante tells Chase that his son will be charged with a misdemeanor, so he doesn’t need to be held overnight. Meanwhile, Britt tells Nathan she just wants to make sure Rocco is okay.
Rocco is brought out, and Dante tells his son he’s being released into their custody and must be at the courthouse first thing. Dante walks off, and Lulu explains to her son that Dad has to be the commissioner right now. Rocco realizes how badly he messed up.
Rocco sees his grandma and Charlotte there, and Charlotte tells him that he didn’t have to sacrifice himself. Rocco insists he did. Rocco apologizes to his grandma, but her only concern is her grandson. She says they’ll all get through this.
At Sonny’s, Gio asks if going to the cops will help, but Sonny says giving the police information is not a smart move. Also, unlike Rocco, they are adults so the consequences would be worse for them. Sonny says Roccos’ fate is in the hands of the lawyers right now.
At Bobbie’s, Ric gets a call from Sonny, who tells him he has a way for him to prove himself.
In Alexis’ office, Jason tells his son that Rocco chose to protect him and Charlotte, so respect that choice. However, he wants to know where the key fob came from.
Back at the station, Lulu is walking out with Rocco and the others and is shocked to see Britt there. Britt says she just wanted to make sure Rocco was all right, and insists that everything will be okay.
Finally, at the hospital, Sidwell scolds Dalton for his negligence, and tells him to drop the charges as they don’t need police attention on the lab. Dalton refuses and is going to make sure Rocco pays for Laura humiliating him.
On the next General Hospital, Rocco has his day in court, and Trina tells Jordan she’ll make sure her dad never gets back with her.