The first of Melissa Gorga’s children is about to depart the nest. The 43-year-old host of the podcast On Display discussed how she and her husband Joe Gorga are feeling as their daughter Antonia, 17, prepares to go for college in the fall in an interview with PEOPLE ahead of the launch of the most recent season of The Real Housewives of New Jersey.
“Joe is panicking. I’m like, good for her. Go, girl, go,” Melissa tells PEOPLE. “Joe’s like, ‘All she’s going to do is party and drink and eat and [hang out with] boys.” “I’m like, ‘Joe, there’s actually education in college,'” she says with a laugh, though her husband leveled there’s “very little.”
“He’s this typical, he doesn’t want his daughter to go. He’s like, ‘She could just drive,’ and I’m like, no,” the mom of three explains. “She needs to know what it’s like to wash her own clothes and buy her own detergent. I just think she needs that,” she continues, noting she feels her daughter is “very sheltered.”
“I do everything for her. It’s good for her to be independent and learn who she is, so I’m excited for her. It’s going to be a huge change not to have her bossing us around this house as she does, but I think it’s going to be great for her,” Melissa shares.
It’s a “huge adjustment,” the reality star continues, not just for the family but also for the fans who have followed Antonia and her kids Joey, 12, and Gino, 14, as they matured. It’s strange, she continues, that “you people met her as a 4-year-old little kid talking about how old Jesus is,” and that she will soon be attending college.
The Bravo star posted a touching photo of her two oldest children on Instagram in September, just before they went for their first day of freshman and senior high school, respectively.
In addition, the pleased mother provided a sweet old photo from a prior first day of school, in which little Antonia and Gino appear to be in elementary school.
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“I can’t believe it! My senior is driving my freshman to high school today😭❤️ so many emotions to feel,” she began the heartfelt caption. “Where did the time go? When people used to say that time flies I never believed them. I feel like they looked like the second picture just yesterday.”
“Thank you God for blessing me with such amazing kids❤️🙏🏼 have the best day my loves,” she added.