Jackie Goldschneider came into season 14 of The Real Housewives of New Jersey with a self-directed mission: leave the past in the past. "I just came into the season being really open to be friends with everyone," the longtime RHONJ star tells ET over video chat. "I mistakenly thought that we could all come back together and be a cohesive group.
" However, for the rest of the ensemble -- or at least a lot of it -- lines were drawn; Teresa Giudice and Melissa Gorga made it clear they wanted nothing to do with the other after the events of season 13, which ended with Melissa under the belief that Teresa and Jennifer Aydin set up newcomer Danielle Cabral to spread a cheating rumor about her on the show in an attempt to take down her and her husband, Teresa's brother, Joe Gorga. Things got worse at the reunion, where Melissa, Margaret Josephs and Rachel Fuda confronted Teresa's husband, Louie Ruelas , over his since-walked-back claim that a private investigator dug up dirt on all of them for Louie. Stepping into season 14 , Margaret declared she was avoiding Louie and Teresa at all costs; it was assumed that Jackie would take her lead, but Jackie says she had an "aha moment" of sorts about their friendship just as cameras went up.
"Before the season started is when our breakdown began," she shares. "There were issues before the season even started, and so I think that things just escalated on camera, and I think that Margaret expects and demands a lot of loyalty and that translated.
