View gallery

The Real Housewives of New Jersey returns for Season 13 on February 7 with fresh drama and new faces. And one of the newest cast members includes Melissa Gorga‘s close friend Rachel Fuda. Having watched the earlier seasons of the show before signing on to become a star of RHONJ, the 31-year-old knows quite a bit about Teresa Giudice and her years-long drama with the Gorgas. So when Rachel appeared on the latest episode of HollywoodLife‘s Real Housewives podcast, Pay Attention Puh-Lease!, she told us why she finds the entire situation to be “heartbreaking”.

Rachel, who shares three children with her husband John Fuda, said she was first introduced to the show during COVID, when she was pregnant and had nothing else to do in quarantine. So she binged RHONJ and loves the earlier seasons. “There’s just something that’s so nostalgic” about them, she told us EXCLUSIVELY, before revealing Seasons 1-4 are her favorite. But even though she watched the show before joining, Rachel told us she didn’t want to start “picking sides” before the cameras even started rolling. Her hope was to give everyone a “fair shot” by getting to know them on her own terms before deciding whether she wants to have a relationship with them.

Unfortunately, because of her friendship with Melissa, Rachel said she was “naturally polarized” and it was “unfortunate”. She believes she could have “gotten along” with some of the ladies, who maybe would have given her a more “fair chance” had she not been branded as “Melissa’s friend”. Obviously, she was talking more about Teresa. But just because she and Teresa haven’t become good friends, doesn’t mean she’s loving the feud between the Giudices and the Gorgas.

“I feel so horrible for both of them. It’s really sad to be a bystander and watch it, and know that you can’t help that,” Rachel told us. “They need to be a place where they’re both ready to work together in order to come to some sort of harmonious agreement of living life. It’s just too short — life is too short.”

“You have one family — Teresa always says that — and you only live once. So I just hope they can reconcile at some point down the line, but it’s very very very sad to watch that. It’s heartbreaking,” she added.

As fans already know, Melissa and her husband, Joe Gorga, decided not to attend Teresa’s wedding to Luis “Louie” Ruelas in Aug. 2022 after Teresa betrayed them while filming season 13 of RHONJ. Fans will see that drama play out when Season 13 of The Real Housewives of New Jersey premieres Tuesday, Feb. 7 at 9 pm ET on Bravo.

To hear what else Rachel had to say about the new season, play the full podcast episode above!