Teresa Giudice and Jacqueline Laurita have reunited! During an appearance on Tuesday’s Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen, Teresa explained why she reconnected with her on-again, off-again friend and former Real Housewives of New Jersey castmate.
“I’ve been thinking about her a lot, because we both have Nicholas’ — my stepson is Nicholas and they both have autism, so she’s been on my mind a lot. And I was going to Vegas to see Bruno Mars, and so I’m like, ‘Let me reach out to her,'” Teresa shared, when asked about their recent reunion over a five-hour lunch.
Jacqueline seemingly taking Teresa’s side in her ongoing feud with sister-in-law Melissa Gorga didn’t hurt matters either.
“That didn’t have to do with it,” Teresa claimed, “but I was like — also that.”
“But I really have been thinking about her a lot,” she maintained. “Because it’s crazy, ‘cause we do both have Nicholas’ now.”
While their falling out was one for the Bravo books, Teresa said “time heals all wounds,” before revealing that she had been texting with Jacqueline as recently as Tuesday.
The pair shared photos from their lunch date on Instagram, with Jacqueline stating that she and Teresa are back in action and back to being friends now that “pressures from being on a show together are gone.”
“5 hour lunch! Lots to talk about. Lots of laughs too! Reunited and it feels so good! NO, I don’t want back on RHONJ! I live in Las Vegas and moving to Orange County in CA this summer! Although the Ultimate Girls trip sounds fun, I don’t have a sitter for that long to care for Nicholas to be able to do it right now,” Jacqueline, who appeared on RHONJ for seven seasons, explained.
Jacqueline also stated that she and Teresa’s rekindled friendship has nothing to do with their “mutual “disdain for Melissa,” and is a product of time, healing and forgiveness.
“Teresa and I had a great friendship BEFORE the show and now that all the stress, toxicity, outside influences, and pressures from being on a show together are gone, and life is good for both of us, it is easier to forgive and maintain a friendship,” she continued. “It’s that simple. #NewBeginnings for REAL this time! Lucy and Ethel are BACK and living our BEST lives. Life is good! 👯♀️.”
Teresa shared some of the same photos, but kept her caption short and sweet, writing, “5 hour lunch! Lots to talk about. Lots of laughs too! Reunited and it feels so good!”
Jacqueline spoke to ET back in 2017 when she made her exit from the long-running series, and cited her fallout with both Teresa and Melissa were partially to blame for her departure.
“Unfortunately, I will not be returning,” she told ET at the time. “I think the feeling [from the network] is that I no longer have an authentic connection with two of the season’s cast members.”
“I think they feel I no longer fit in with the group,” Jacqueline added.
When she said she was offered a part-time position on the show, with an option of it becoming full-time “depending on how my story unfolded and if I meshed with the group,” Jacqueline turned them down. “I just felt that after being on the show for seven years and putting my time and everything into that, to not have a confirmed full-time decision, with that feeling that I had to kind of try out again, it just didn’t feel right,” she said.
The Real Housewives of New Jersey, which is currently in its 13th season, airs Tuesday night’s at 9:00 p.m. on Bravo.