‘RHONJ’ alum Kathy Wakile claims Melissa Gorga manipulated the timeline of their lunch reunion

“Real Housewives of New Jersey” alum Kathy Wakile claims her estranged cousin-in-law, Melissa Gorga, manipulated the timeline of their lunch reunion.

During a July 2024 appearance on “Jeff Lewis Live,” Gorga revealed that Wakile and her husband, Richard “Rich” Wakile, had bought a lot and were building a house across the street from her and her husband, Joe Gorga, in Franklin Lakes.

Melissa, 46, told host Lewis she fantasized about Joe, 50, running into his cousin and reconciling.

That’s when Lewis suggested Melissa be the one to “build that bridge,” to which she responded, “I’m gonna do it.”

Kathy now tells “Page Six Radio” co-hosts Evan Real, Danny Murphy and Ian Mohr that Melissa’s response to Lewis was rather “strange.”

“We had run into each other prior to her being on ‘Jeff Lewis’ and doing that interview,” she claimed on Wednesday’s episode of our new SiriusXM show.

Kathy, 59, explained that she and Rich, 61, sit on the board of a local charity, which hosted an event that the Gorgas attended.

“I didn’t see them, but they saw me and didn’t say hello,” she claimed.

“The next day, Melissa texts me, which was very nice. She reached out and said how sad it was that we were at the same event and we walked by each other and didn’t say hello.”

Kathy thought to herself, “Shame on [Joe] if he saw me and didn’t come up to me.”

Melissa allegedly added in her text, “I think that there’s things we should talk about. Would you be open?” Kathy told us she agreed to talk.

“So we met for lunch and [then] she went on ‘Jeff Lewis’ and acted like, ‘Oh, that’s a good idea, Jeff,’ when we had already had our lunch,” she claimed.

According to Kathy, Melissa was “making it seem like it was Jeff’s idea” to meet up, but they “had already met” and “cleared the air.”

Though Kathy described it as a “fine” encounter, she doesn’t “think it went as [Melissa] would’ve liked it to go.”

She did note, however, that there wasn’t “anything harsh said”; she just “reminded [Melissa] of the things that went down.”

Asked whether she thought that part of Melissa’s motivation for mending things was for storyline purposes, Kathy replied, “I think that could’ve been a really good part of it. Could’ve been, like, potential storyline, but I’m not a storyline. I am my own life.”

Regarding the lot purchase and house building, Kathy pointed out that she and Rich had already been living in the neighborhood for a decade.

“So if anything,” she argued, “they moved to our neighborhood.”

Reached for comment, a rep for Melissa claimed to Page Six, “Kathy asked Melissa to please not tell anyone about the lunch and asked her not to mention it on her podcast or [in the] press. Melissa honored Kathy’s wishes and never said it happened.”