Melissa Gorga Looks Back at 12 Seasons of RHONJ and Reveals How She's Changed the Most (Exclusive)

On May 16, 2011, Melissa Gorga made her official debut as a hostess on The Real Housewives of New Jersey. Now, 12 seasons later, the reality star looks back on how far she’s come.

In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE, Melissa says she’s made one major change in her personality since making her mark on the Bravo show 13 years ago.

“My confidence for sure,” she explains, noting that she has adopted a carefree attitude. “I’m really just saying and doing what I really feel in the first few seasons, I was also a very young girl.”

(L-R) Jacqueline Laurita, Teresa Giudice, Caroline Manzo, Kathy Wakile and Melissa Gorga on ‘The Real Housewives of New Jersey.’

Tommy Garcia/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty

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The television personality recalls how she had to juggle raising her then-newborn son Joey, as well as her other young children. At that time, her daughter Antonia was four, and her second son Gino was two years old.

In addition to being a “young mom,” Melissa says she was balancing the show with taking care of the household with her “Italian husband.” [Joe Gorga] and her in-laws while her immediate family lived “an hour and a half away”.

“I think about that time now,” she continues. “Now that I’m a 40-year-old woman, I look back and think, wow. How did you do all that? Navigating through all these rocky [waters] which were presented to me on reality TV. I mean, it was a lot of time to raise three babies.”

“I didn’t have any help when I started The Real Housewives of New Jersey, I didn’t have people who lived with me and helped me. I did it myself,” she adds.

(LR) Margaret Josephs, Melissa Gorga and Jackie Goldschneider on ‘The Real Housewives of New Jersey.’ Eugene Gologursky/Bravo

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In fact, Melissa would sometimes even ask the camera crew, “Can you wait just one second?” before running to the bus stop to pick up her kids after school.

“The camera crew would sit and wait for me to run to the bus stop and I would giggle because I made it,” she smiles. – I succeeded at that time.

Fans RHONJ they watched the ebb and flow of Melissa’s personal life for more than a decade. Bravo diehards know how she and her sister-in-law and co-star Teresa Giudice have traded insults between awkward periods of peace for the benefit of the family over the years.

(L) Melissa Gorga and Teresa Giudice on ‘The Real Housewives of New Jersey.'” Greg Endries/Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank Melissa Gorga had ‘fun’ returning to RHONJ After Teresa Giudice predicted that she would be fired: ‘Sorry!’ (Exclusive)

Years of misunderstandings, plus business dealings between Teresa’s now-husband Luis “Louie” Ruelas and Joe put a strain on their relationship, but things only got worse during season 13 when they tried to patch things up.

The season ultimately ended with Joe and Melissa deciding not to attend Teresa’s wedding after it was revealed that she and Louie had met with Joe behind Melissa’s back to tell Joe about the cheating rumors they had heard about Melissa (Melissa fiercely denied the “baseless” accusations).

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Although the two haven’t quite reconciled yet, Melissa tells PEOPLE that she’s focused on her peace and has no plans to continue their drama.

“There’s just no need,” she said of her relationship with Teresa. “It’s just, that ship has sailed and I’m okay with that. My family is okay with that.”

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Source: HIS Education