Melissa Gorga Talks Kathy & Rich Wakile Being Her Neighbors

Melissa Gorga confirms that RHONJ alumni Kathy and Rich Wakile are building a house across the street from hers in Franklin Lakes.

“Her and Richie just bought the lot on my street, across the street from me, and they are building a house diagonal from me across the street on my street. Literally,” Melissa Gorga said on Monday’s episode of SiriusXM’s “Jeff Lewis Live.”

The 45-year-old RHONJ star says she discovered the news after her husband, Joe Gorga, noticed the property was for sale while driving through their Franklin Lakes neighborhood.

“[Joe] goes, ‘This went up yesterday. I am going to bid full price,’ and I was like, ‘Really Joe?’ He’s like, ‘Yes, it’s on the lake. This never happens. One came up,’ so Joe offered full price for the property, which was pretty high,” she explained.

However, according to Melissa, Kathy already “had an in” with the previous owner since she’s “loved the house forever.” Despite Joe offering the full price of the home, Kathy and Rich had already snatched up the property.

The Gorgas and the Wakiles have been estranged since Teresa Giudice cut Kathy out of her life for good during season 7 of RHONJ. Kathy left the franchise afterward and has not returned since.

“I secretly hope like Joe and Kathy are walking down the street one day and bump into each other,” Melissa told Jeff, noting that Kathy is a “good” person.

“I do think that [Joe] 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.”

She added that Joe had a “great relationship” with Kathy’s sister, Rosie Pierri.

“Growing up, those two were extremely close, Joe and Rosie, so I do think it’s unfortunate that that’s family and they’re not together … That’s sad to me that whole thing,” she said, adding that their fallout with the Wakiles “has nothing to do with the show,” which is why she hopes that they can eventually rebuild a relationship with them one day.

“It is what I want for him, and I think deep down inside, he wants it too. Joe’s an emotional guy. He wears his heart on his sleeve,” she explained. “He, you know, it’s hard. He comes from a place where he feels like he has to please. He felt like he had to please people his whole life, and you know, you never know what people, how people grew up or what went on in life.”

AllAboutTRH was the FIRST to reveal that Kathy and Rich Wakile would be neighbors with Melissa Gorga and her husband, Joe Gorga, in March 2023.

On Saturday, March 25, 2023, Kathy and Rich Wakile revealed they bought a property in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey, to build their next house.

This news came months after the RHONJ alums sold their previous Franklin Lakes home. The two sold their longtime Franklin Lakes mansion in November 2022 for $3.65M after building the 7,529 sq ft home in 2016.

At the time, AllAboutTRH was interested in learning more about Kathy and Rich’s new home, so we did a little digging and found some very interesting tea.

Kathy and Rich’s new home is just doors from Melissa and Joe Gorga‘s new home.

In February, the Wakiles purchased 267 Indian Trail Dr in Franklin Lakes for $2.6M, while the Gorgas purchased their property, located at 300 Indian Trail Dr in April of 2021 for $950k. The Gorgas knocked down the house on the property and built their dream home from the ground up. After nearly two years of building, the couple moved into their new home in late 2022.