Melissa Gorga on Why She & Joe Took Away Antonia’s Porsche

Melissa Gorga and her husband, Joe Gorga, gifted their daughter Antonia Gorga with a Porsche Macan for her 17th birthday in August 2022. But this week, after an argument involving their youngest son, Joey Gorga, 12, the Real Housewives of New Jersey couple took away her keys.

While appearing on Jeff Lewis‘ radio show earlier this week, where she discussed parenting with the Flipping Out alum, Melissa opened up about the family spat that resulted in Antonia being banned from driving her new car for a whole week.

“If I’m gonna be honest with you. My way is to yell constantly,” Melissa admitted of her parenting on the January 26 episode of SiriusXM’s Jeff Lewis Live. “[It’s] terrible. It’s like what I do, like I tell you the second you do it, and I’m mad the second you do it.”

As for her husband, Melissa said Joe just “shakes his head.”

“Joe just listens. He’s one of those buildup guys… And then he explodes,” she explained.

According to Melissa, her latest blowup with Antonia took place last Sunday after a long weekend of activities with the family. As she recalled, Joey asked to go snowboarding with friends just as they settled in. And, while the location where he does this is just 15 or 20 minutes away, the couple was in no mood to go back out — and didn’t have a nanny working at the time.

“We were exhausted. Antonia was there. [And] she has a beautiful car that we pay for,” Melissa explained. “[So] Joe tells Antonia, ‘Antonia, get in your car. Go take him. He wants to go snowboarding.’”

While Melissa described her teenage daughter as a “good kid,” Antonia refused to drop Joey off, telling her father, “Absolutely not.”

“It went back and forth for a good 20 minutes of her just refusing to drive her brother,” Melissa revealed. “She’s like, ‘He’s so annoying. Why do you have to go, Joe?’ [And] we were like, ‘We asked you for a favor. You have everything. We do everything for you. Get up and drive your brother.’”

And although Joe is typically the calm parent, he “lost his sh-t” and told Antonia, “Gimme your car keys,” and has stuck by the punishment in the days since.

“She hasn’t driven that car the whole, this whole week. The first time we’ve ever done this to her,” Melissa shared. “And he is like, ‘cuz you’re gonna learn respect. Like when your parents are taking care of you, and they’re paying your car payment, and we ask you for a favor, the next time we ask you, you’re gonna get off your a– and you’re gonna drive your little brother.’”

The RHONJ cast member went on to tell Jeff that Antonia has been “tormenting” her and “losing it” all week while Joe has continued to stick to his guns. In fact, even after Melissa pleaded with him to reconsider due to her issues with having to drive Antonia places herself, Joe would not give in.

“So I am curious to see if she says ‘no’ to us again. And this is why you need to take it away longer, more than a couple of days to the point they’re like, ‘Oh sh-t they’re serious,’” Melissa noted. “Sometimes I feel like my kids will cross me again, but they won’t cross Joe because he just held that out for a week straight.”

“Next time she’s gonna get up and drive her brother,” she added.

The Real Housewives of New Jersey season 13 premieres Tuesday, February 7, at 9/8c on Bravo.