Jennifer Fessler's James Gandolfini story on The Real Housewives of New Jersey has fans shocked

By
published

Viewers can't believe the RHONJ star's saucy story about The Sopranos icon, James Gandolfini

Jennifer Fessler's story about James Gandolfini on this week's The Real Housewives of New Jersey is shocking fans
Jennifer Fessler and James Gandolfini (Image credit: John Lamparski/Getty; Anthony Neste/Getty)

The ladies of The Real Housewives of New Jersey season 13 jetted off to Ireland on the April 11 episode to celebrate the upcoming nuptials of Teresa Giudice. While in the land of luck, Jennifer Fessler revealed that she once got lucky... with the late, great James Gandolfini.

Before being RHONJ's fan-favorite "Friend" of the season, the reality star was a talent agent in her previous career and it was during that job that Fessler encountered James Gandolfini before his The Sopranos fame. (The Italian-American actor would go on to win three Emmy Awards, five Screen Actors Guild Awards and one Golden Globe Award for the legendary role.) 

"Wait, you went to acting school?" Dolores Catania brings up to Fessler during the drive to their Irish accommodations, a 400-year-old castle. "After college, for like two minutes," Fessler clarifies. 

However, when Teresa asks, "Did you meet any actors?" the conversation goes bawdy. "I became a talent agent," Fessler tells them. "And how many actors did you sleep with?" Margaret jokingly asks her. "Well, James Gandolfini. That's a fact!"

Needless to say, the housewives are shocked by the reveal. "You had sex with James Gandolfini?! What?!," Melissa Gorga exclaims, adding in a confessional: "Who gets to **** Tony Soprano?!"

Fessler expanded on her encounter with the actor during a talking head, saying: "I met James Gandolfini before The Sopranos. I was obsessed... he actually took me to an S&M bar, it was crazy. We hung out and we drank and he took me back to his apartment and we ****ed."

Detailing how sad she was to hear about his shocking passing (Gandolfini died from a heart attack at the age of 51 in Rome in June 2013), Fessler said her now-husband Jeff had to remind her: "You realize you weren't in a relationship with him?"

"He was so the one who got away," Fessler said of the actor. "But he was also the one who was never really there."

In a different universe, could James Gandolfini have been one of The Real Housewives of New Jersey husbands? We'll never know!

Fans react to Jen Fessler's James Gandolfini story

Unsurprisingly, RHONJ fans had some thoughts about the revelation that Fessler had a brief encounter with Gandolfini, with some wondering if she is being totally honest.

New episodes of The Real Housewives of New Jersey air on Bravo Tuesday nights, then are available to stream on Peacock.

CATEGORIES
Christina Izzo
Christina Izzo

Christina Izzo is the Deputy Editor of My Imperfect Life. More generally, she is a writer-editor covering food and drink, travel, lifestyle and culture in New York City. She was previously the Features Editor at Rachael Ray In Season and Reveal, as well as the Food & Drink Editor and chief restaurant critic at Time Out New York. 

When she’s not doing all that, she can probably be found eating cheese somewhere.