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Melissa Gorga has made some changes in her household since filming Wife Swap: Real Housewives Edition. The Real Housewives of New Jersey star ditched her spotless, monochromatic home in Franklin Lakes for a vibrant-colored residence in Georgia, where cleaning and organization take a backseat. “I had a little anxiety and I understood as soon as I got there why they picked this family to swap with me,” Melissa told Decider when asked for her initial thoughts upon entering the Clark home. The Clarks’ view on chores wasn’t the only thing Melissa had to get used to when they traded lives. In her house, on top of running multiple businesses, she does all of the cooking and cleaning, while her husband, Joe Gorga, goes to work all day. On the contrary, Michelle Clark and Sean Clark—who were on The Amazing Race Season 36—do everything as a family, including running their double-dutch aerobics company. Melissa said she was “in shock” over how much Sean does to help out around the house, revealing that she’s begun putting more demands on her own husband since returning home from Wife Swap. “I went home, and I was like, ‘Joe, what do you do? You go to work. I’m gonna need you to do more,'” Melissa cheekily told us. “He’s been washing the dishes. That’s an update. So yeah, he washes dishes now.” While it’s clear that Melissa has incorporated some of the Clarks’ lifestyle into her own, one thing she’ll never do is go to work at a construction site with her husband, much like Michelle did during her stay in New Jersey. “I could never. Honestly, I always say Joe goes into work mode from six in the morning until six at night. Even if you call him, he’s like a different person,” she said. “I cannot when he’s in work mode. He’s a totally different person when he’s home than when he’s at work, so it’s not good for us to work together.” When Melissa stopped by our studio last week, she also revealed how Phaedra Parks‘ cameo in Wife Swap came to be, what she wishes she saw from Angie Katsanevas‘ episode, and how she would feel about reconciling with her sister-in-law, Teresa Giudice. Check out the full interview below. DECIDER: Your Wife Swap episode was so much fun. What made you decide to do this show? MELISSA GORGA: It was not an easy decision. I said no before I said yes. Then I got a couple of phone calls saying to me, like, “You guys would be so great on this.” I thought about it and I was like, “Wife Swap is iconic.” I used to watch that when I was young. I remember it back in the day. I was like, “When am I ever going to get a chance to live in somebody else’s house again and do something like this?” So, I just decided to go for it. It was pretty wild. Crazy. You keep a very clean, orderly home – and the house you went to in Georgia was the complete opposite. What were your first thoughts when you entered the Clark household? That I needed to organize it immediately. I had a little anxiety and I understood as soon as I got there why they picked this family to swap with me. I was like, “Okay, I get it. I see what’s happening here.” But, ultimately, they were so amazing. I learned so much from them. I fell in love with their children. The little one, Maverick, [is] so cute. Who knew that I would go and sleep in a different master bedroom? Sean, who was the swap dad, went and slept on the couch in his pineapple pajamas. It was nice. It was a wild experience. You and Michelle left each other a list of your everyday tasks, and on yours, it said to get glam everyday. Do you actually do that everyday? And how long does it take? I don’t do it every day, but I do it often. If I’m going to do anything, obviously, for camera, for TV, or if I’m shooting content … a lot of the time, if I’m shooting content, then I have glam that day. It’s not every single day. I actually can do my own glam pretty well, by the way. But I think for her it probably felt like every day because [of how often I do it]. But I’m in the entertainment business, so it kind of goes with the flow of what’s happening. It was probably fun for her to get a taste of the Real Housewives life. Yeah, I think she enjoyed it. I think she loved being at Envy. She loved shopping at Envy. She left with cute dresses and bags and shoes, so she was very happy. I was surprised to hear that Joe has never changed one of the kids’ diapers. How much of a culture shock was it when you had Sean there to help with everything? Have you started putting more demands on Joe since this experience? Yes. I was in shock over how much Sean does. I was like, “Wait, what?” They don’t leave each other’s side for 24 hours a day. He is Mr. Mom. But also, they work together. I was in shock. There was a point that I was like, “You actually need a minute to have your own thoughts and to evolve. You need to think for a minute. You can’t have kids on top of you 24 hours a day. Divide and conquer once in a while. Give each other a break once in a while.” They didn’t see that at first. They thought, “No, we do every single thing together.” And I was like, “It’s going to be really hard to grow professionally if you don’t have a minute to put your thinking cap on.” That was kind of like what I had to share with them. It’s crazy. I went home and I was like, “Joe, what do you do? You go to work. I’m gonna need you to do more.” He’s been washing the dishes. That’s an update. So yeah, he washes dishes now. I think he changed Gino’s diaper once. He put it on backwards. The tape was going the wrong direction, and, of course, Gino had a bad stomach that day. Things were coming out. I was like, “Just go away. I got this.” He puts the dog’s diaper on backwards if that’s even possible. He could barely put the dog’s diaper on. So there’s that. Speaking of Joe, at one point, when everyone was double dutching in the backyard and the house was a mess and he was wearing whatever he wanted, he said he loved Michelle. He had his hat tilted to the side. The first thing I saw when I saw that scene, I was like, “What are you wearing? What is happening?” He was like, “That’s right. I got my pant leg up, my hat’s to the side.” I was like, “Is this your double dutch outfit? What is this?” He just likes to be free because I’m obviously going to be like, “Pull your pant down, straighten your hat.” Was he getting a little too excited? I think he enjoyed it, I do. I mean, he missed me and we missed each other, but I think that he enjoyed that minute he got to just … it was like a little free for all. I was like, “Now the time is up. Thank you.” On the other hand, your kids were really starting to miss you. What did you miss most about them? More than missing them, I was so curious. I was like, “What are they doing right now? Are they eating her food? Are they in conversation with her right now? Are they engaging?” I was really happy to see that my daughter really got in there. She became a little bit of a mini me. She was very into it. She told me about all these beautiful conversations that she and Michelle had, which I love. So it was nice. Sometimes you need a different point of view than your mother. You can’t always just listen to what your mom says. It was nice. She was coaching her through things she was going through as a young woman, and it was very nice. Michelle was getting practice for when her kids are older. It’s funny because she had one daughter and two sons, the same way we do. It was like I was reliving a decade ago when they were jumping all over me and in my bed in the morning. I enjoyed every second of it. I was really excited to see Phaedra Parks make an appearance in the episode. How did her cameo come to be? She was local, she was nearby and I needed to find a store. It was like dial in a Housewife. I was like, “Phaedra, where do I go? And come meet me and see my new family.” The way she giggled when she first saw me walking in with these three little kids, she was like, “Oh, my God.” It was funny. But I’ve known Phaedra for over a decade. Obviously, we’ve been on Housewives forever together, so I love her. She makes me laugh. And I love how Phoenix, the little girl, was like, “She looks like Elsa.” On your last night in the swap home, you got really emotional with the Clark kids. Can you talk to me a bit about that? At that moment, I was just looking at this beautiful little boy being so sweet, and I couldn’t believe how much I connected with this family and this child. At that moment, I was just thinking, “I just want the best for them. I want them to have everything.” That’s what was going through my head. I was just happy to connect with this cute little boy. I really was. We saw Michelle get in the mud with Joe on a construction site. What would it take for you to go to work with your husband for the day? How much is he paying me? Like what? Oh, my God! I could never. Honestly, I always say Joe goes into work mode from six in the morning until six at night. Even if you call him, he’s like a different person. He’s work Joe. [I] hang up on him. Like, “Go to work. I’ll see you at 6:30.” I cannot when he’s in work mode. He’s a totally different person when he’s home than when he’s at work, so it’s not good for us to work together. Maybe there’s a better chance of getting him over to Envy. We’re both too bossy, to be honest. He’s a Leo. I’m an Aries. We’re both too bossy. I need to do my thing. He needs to do his. And we’ll connect when it’s family time. How has your family been doing with spending more time together? What kind of activities have you done? Our kids are obviously a little bit older, so food is big for us right now. My kids love to eat, so we eat dinner together. Antonia literally just came home from college for a couple days because she misses us and wanted to watch TV with us at night and eat with us. We spent a lot of time together. I think we probably spend more [time together] than the average family. We spend a lot of time together, my kids and I. I have to say, I loved the Sprinkle by MG product placement throughout the whole episode. How are things going with the business? And what are the chances of a vegan sprinkle cookie line in the future? I’m looking into gluten free, possibly vegan. Yes. We’re looking into all of this. But we just expanded. We now have a Cup of Joe. We now have coffee. There’s ground coffee. There’s coffee beans. We’re coming out with an ornament for Christmas for everybody’s Christmas tree. I’m so excited about that. That’s super fun. I’ve loved watching the business grow – and your products are so good! It’s been less than a year. It hasn’t even been a year yet. What it has done in a year and just how this company has evolved in ten months is pretty insane. So far, we’ve only seen yours and Angie K’s episodes of Wife Swap. How do you think you would’ve done living off-the-grid with no running water like she did? Did it make you more grateful that your swap home was just a little disorganized? Yes! I was like, “Oh, my gosh, I will never complain.” I just wanted to see her take a shower. They showed where they showered and I’m like, “Outside? Do people watch you? Do your kids see you shower?” I needed to see Angie naked in the shower. I was mad that we didn’t get to see her shower, because that would have been interesting. You can blur it and all, but let me see her do this. She did tell me she used it, but it wasn’t included in the final cut. Maybe we’ll get a Peacock extended version or something! Yes! First of all, all of these, I could tell you right now, could have been two episodes each. So much couldn’t make it because there’s just so much time. But, like, this could have been two episodes all day long. I, of course, can’t let you go without asking about some news that’s been in the headlines as of late. Your sister-in-law, Teresa, said she reached out to your husband to talk. I’m not sure whether this conversation has happened yet or not, but what are you hoping comes out of it? And how do you hope it looks? Should it just be between them? Should you and Luis get involved? What do you think? Obviously, it would never work unless it’s everyone. It just doesn’t work without the full family. I think that’s just a given. We’ll see what happens. I’m Team Family. I’ll always be Team Family. It’s just one of those things where we have to see how it works out and what goes on, but I have never wanted it this way. This is not how my family functions. I don’t believe in any of this. For me, whatever would make Joe happy, and if Joe feels relief from this in any way, then I am on board for my husband and for my kids, most importantly. And for myself. I don’t believe in holding hate and resentment and anger. That doesn’t equal a good life. I’ve always thought that. And yes, there’s a lot that everyone has been through on all sides. It’s a big conversation and we’ll see what happens. Whatever happens, I hope everyone reaches a place of peace and happiness, and that everyone is back on The Real Housewives of New Jersey. Thank you. We’ll see. We’re still waiting for some answers from Bravo. We all want to know. Trust me. We’ve seen you on The Real Housewives of New Jersey, Ultimate Girls Trip, and Wife Swap. What’s the next show you’d like to cross off your bucket list? I was just on The Weakest Link and I did really good with that. Family Feud was on my bucket list. I just filmed that with Sydney Sweeney. I’m very excited to have her as an opponent. That airs in December, so I’m excited. I would have said Family Feud to you all day long because that’s all I’ve ever wanted to do. We just filmed that and I’m very excited about it. We did a Housewives All-Stars, and that was so much fun. I love The Traitors. I do. I just don’t know if I’m ready to put my phone down for three weeks without any email, communication, TV, phone. I still have a 15-year-old at home. I’m not at the point where I could really [disconnect]. And I run businesses, so I think I would have an anxiety attack. I can handle that show all day long. I would love to do the show, and I love the concept and I feel like I’d be good at it. I just don’t know if I could put the phone down and have no contact with the outside world for three weeks. That gives me anxiety, so I would have to think about that. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Wife Swap: Real Housewives Edition airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Bravo. New episodes are available to stream the next day on Peacock.
