‘RHONJ’: Kathy Wakile Reveals Behind the Scenes Info on the Infamous Christening Fight
Kathy Wakile is reflecting on her time as a cast member of The Real Housewives of New Jersey. Viewers remember Wakile as the mediator of the group, always trying to encourage peace amongst her feuding family members. But things became so tense between her family during her first day of filming that she ripped her microphone off.
Kathy Wakile’s first day of filming ‘RHONJ’ was the christening scene
Wakile joined the show in season 3 as the cousin of Teresa Giudice and Joe Gorga. At the time, Wakile and the Gorgas had a close relationship, while her relationship with Giudice was distant. Despite such, she tried her best to mediate between the siblings.
The depths of the feud between the Gorgas and the Giudice’s was evident in the premiere episode of season 3. Giudice came late to her nephew’s christening. She and her family attended the celebratory party afterward but sat separately from the Gorgas.
Related: RHONJ Where Are They Now? An Update On Former Cast Members
The Gorgas accused Giudice of isolating them when she became a reality star. During one scene, she danced with her infant nephew, which the Gorgas felt she did so for show.
Things came to a head when Giudice told her brother and sister-in-law congratulations on the christening. Believing she was putting on for the cameras, her brother exploded, calling her “garbage.” A fight between Giudice’s husband and her brother broke out, causing a full-on war and ending the party early.
“I signed my contract the night before we filmed,” Wakile revealed during Life After Bravo. “The real first day we filmed as a family was that christening.”
The former ‘RHONJ’ says she ripped her mic off due to the chaos
The blowout fight between her family proved too much for Wakile to bear. Viewers remember a shocked Wakile escorting Giudice’s young children away from the fight – as well as trying to do so for her own children, who were teenagers.
Wakile became so frustrated that she tore her microphone off in the midst of everything, fed up by the ongoing feud between the Giudice’s and the Gorgas.
“I ripped my mic off that day and left and I said, ‘This is what happens – I told you that things would get ugly if they were pushed and this is what happened. I’m out of here,’” she explained. “We were just done – I don’t want to do this.”
While Wakile taking her microphone off was not an indication that she was quitting, she needed some time to regroup after experiencing such a traumatic family fight.
“I didn’t want this, I didn’t want to be a part of any of this – this was crazy,” she said. Furthermore, the incident was frightening to her, considering how far things escalated.
Related: What Are The Kids From ‘The Real Housewives’ Doing Now?
“I wanted to get my kids safe – my mother had just came home from the hospital and I wanted to get her out of that environment,” she said. “It was just really scary.”
Luckily, she had the support of her husband Richie to continue on with the show and try and mend fences between her family. “He was confident that we could do it,” she said. “He’s very secure and very strong-willed and so he believes in me a lot more than I believe in myself sometimes.”
Ultimately, reconciling her family trumped her opting to running away from the show. Wakile was a full-time cast member for two seasons. She was in the friend role on the show for an additional two seasons.
