Season 14 of The Real Housewives of New Jersey came to a dramatic end. During Sunday’s highly-anticipated episode, Jackie Goldschneider was seemingly revealed to be the one behind everything that Teresa Giudice tried to pin on Margaret Josephs throughout the season, information that led to a massive showdown at Rails Steakhouse.
Tensions were high before the dinner, with Teresa’s husband, Louie Ruelas, warning her to steer clear of Margaret, whom he dubbed a “piece of garbage.”
“I hope Margaret and her family suffer. You know, I hope her f**king son suffers the way I suffered,” Louie told Teresa. “The way other people in our family have suffered. Dealing with a woman like that, she’s a disgusting, vile human being.”
Louie also expressed a distaste for “bottom feeder” Rachel Fuda and Teresa’s estranged sister-in-law, Melissa Gorga.
Melissa and her husband, Joe Gorga, also complained about Teresa and Louie, with the latter insisting that he’d never reconcile with his sister after she and her spouse ruined a business deal, allegedly generated bad PR against his construction business and hired a private investigator.
“It’s OK to finally say, ‘It’s over,'” Melissa assured her husband.
As the ladies finally arrived to Rails, things got off to a poor start when Teresa refused to sit across from Margaret.
Jennifer Aydin and Danielle Cabral started things off by arguing about the latter woman’s charity event, which spun into a back-and-forth about money. Jennifer claimed that “clown” Danielle was jealous of her life and mansion, while Danielle insisted that Jennifer’s huge house was “empty” in terms of the things that matter.
Things got out of control when Jennifer made a dig at Nate Cabral’s chest after Danielle’s husband had gynecomastia surgery to remove breast tissue. Danielle responded by throwing something at Jennifer, and chaos descended.
The sisters-in-law entered the fray next, with Teresa calling Melissa a “whore” and Melissa saying that Teresa was “white trash.”
The women separated for a beat, before Jennifer Fessler decided she had enough and left the restaurant.
Teresa set her sights on Margaret, and the women argued about timelines as it pertained to Louie and his ex-girlfriend. They both insisted that the other had engaged in a smear campaign, before Teresa yelled, “You’re a disgusting human being with no soul.”
That’s when last season’s pre-reunion meeting at Margaret’s house came up. Jackie insisted that the get-together was “all of us showing up to decide how to destroy Louie,” despite what she had previously said.
Margaret was still Teresa’s target, as the latter woman yelled, “You’re full of s**t, that’s why you married the f**king plumber, you disgusting pig.”
Rachel came to Margaret’s defense, prompting Teresa to go in on Rachel’s husband, John Fuda. Rachel responded by asking Teresa to keep John’s name out of her “fat f**king hot dog-lipped mouth.”
Margaret silenced the room next as she claimed that it was Jackie, not her, who invited Louie’s ex into the fray. Teresa didn’t believe the claim and Jackie denied it, too. Margaret had receipts, though, as she claimed to have screenshots showing many phone calls between Louie’s ex and Jackie dating back to 2021, in a confessional.
“I met with her,” Jackie eventually admitted.
Margaret pounced with that, claiming that it was Jackie, not her, who was behind all the drama with Louie. Jackie responded by telling Margaret to “shut the f**k up.”
“No!” Margaret shouted. “You let it come on me!”
In a confessional, Jackie explained her behavior.
“Listen, it was February of 2021. That season opened with me and Teresa [at odds]. And the whole world was weighing in on whether or not my husband was cheating on me,” Jackie said of her husband, Evan Goldschneider. “Teresa and Jennifer were calling people, trying to get information on my husband, trying to get pictures of women, and here comes this woman saying, ‘Hey, I got something for you to put in your pocket.'”
“So, if Teresa was to say to me, ‘Well, your husband did this…’ I could say, ‘Well, your husband did this,'” she added. “That’s the game. That’s the game we were playing.”
Margaret proceeded to swear on her son’s life that she never planted stories about Louie in the press, insisting it was the “little f**king snake” Jackie all along.
Teresa was unmoved, though, and shocked the room by saying that she’s OK with Jackie’s actions.
“I’m not surprised that Jackie talked to this person,” Teresa said in confessional. “I get why she did it, because she thinks I was trying to hurt her with the Evan rumor, which I was — swear on my kids — I was not trying to hurt her.”
Despite Teresa’s apparent acceptance of Jackie’s actions, Jennifer predicted that the former woman would be upset eventually.
“I feel like Teresa is giving a pass to Jackie because she doesn’t want to give Margaret the satisfaction that it worked,” Jennifer told the cameras. “But Teresa’s also known to have delayed reaction, so when these things process and settle, I don’t know how OK with this Teresa’s going to be.”
Melissa expressed upset over how the meeting went, calling it a “complete failure” in a confessional.
Dolores Catania agreed in a confessional of her own, stating, “Everybody cuts so deep, like, it’s toxic. I look at this sit-down like a death.”
It’s no surprise that episode was a dramatic one. The blowout argument is the reason there won’t be a traditional reunion for season 14.
“This will all make sense once you see the finale. It is one of those classic Jersey finales that people will be talking about for a long time to come,” Andy Cohen said during an appearance on SiriusXM’s Reality Checked With Kiki Monique. “When all of us producers saw the last cut of the finale, we all came to the decision separately and then we talked.”
“It’s in the great tradition of absolute shocking, dramatic Jersey finales and they have this final epic group encounter, which is like, it feels like the Last Supper and is just so Jersey,” he added. “And it’s shocking and it’s dramatic and it’s amazing TV. I’m telling you, when you see it, I think that you’ll feel complete. I really do.”
Shortly thereafter, Variety reported that, in lieu of a reunion, the women were split into two groups and placed in two separate rooms at Rails where they watched the finale episode. Teresa’s room included Jennifer and Jackie, while Melissa’s room had Margaret, Danielle and Rachel. Dolores split time between both rooms, the outlet reported.
One final episode of this season of The Real Housewives of New Jersey airs next Sunday, Aug. 11, at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Bravo, featuring the women watching back the explosive finale and adding behind-the-scenes commentary, in lieu of a traditional reunion. Episodes stream the next day on Peacock.
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