A season of chaos ended in celebration on Sunday night.
A week after The Real Housewives of New Jersey aired a violent finale (to close out a controversial run of episodes), Rachel Fuda dropped an unexpected bombshell on the August 12 reunion special.
At one point, after When Melissa Gorga started by saying there was “a lot of life to be had,” Fuda added on air: “Considering I’m pregnant!”
The Bravo personality subsequently spoke to People Magazine about her upcoming arrival, gushing about how “excited” she and husband John are to be a “party of six.”
(Rachel and John are parents to daughters Gianella Jolie, 4, and Giuliana Rose, 2; as well as Jaiden, John’s 17-year-old son from a previous relationship whom Rachel adopted.)
“John and I always felt like our family wasn’t complete,” Fuda explained to People after the reunion aired.
“We actually have a table in my kitchen and when we sit down for dinner, there’s one empty chair. And we always kind of looked at each other like, ‘Oh, it’d be nice to fill that seat.’
“So we always had the room for one more in our home and in our hearts, and we’re both just so happy to be welcoming another baby into the family. It felt like it was time.”
Fuda made her Real Housewives of New Jersey debut in 2023 and quickly delved into the IVF process that produced Gianella and Giuliana.
“The clock is ticking,” she said at the time, reminding her spouse that they had five embryos still viable for transfer. “I just feel like, four kids, that’s a good number. The time is now. This is like, a year process. I want to do this and be done.”
Even for someone who has been through IVF before, there can be many challenges.
“There’s so many things that have to go right when you’re going through IVF, and this time around, there were a lot of roadblocks for us,” Rachel also told People, saying that she struggled to get her cycle and lining “on point” at first.
“It took a couple months of us working with my doctor to figure out when this could actually happen for us. And it was really frustrating because it just kept getting delayed.”
On Sunday night, meanwhile, Jaiden, Gianella and Giuliana helped their parents pay tribute to their future sibling with a family photo shoot, which Fuda shared on Instagram.
“When I was a little girl, I dreamt of my life as a mother, filling my future home with family and love,” the star — who may be fired from the Real Housewives this off-season captioned post, adding:
“I’m forever grateful to God for allowing me to live my dream every day.
“With full hearts, we are counting our many blessings as we excitedly anticipate becoming a family of 6.”
