Podcast Summary: Jeff Lewis Has Issues

Episode: Gia Giudice & Jennifer Fessler: Christmas Reunion & Missing Mascara
Release Date: January 7, 2026
Host: Jeff Lewis
Guests: Gia Giudice, Jennifer Fessler

Episode Overview

This episode is a lively, humor-laced conversation featuring “Real Housewives” personalities Gia Giudice and Jennifer Fessler. The main theme revolves around family reunions—specifically, the long-anticipated Christmas reconciliation between the Giudice and Gorga families—holiday food critiques, personal anecdotes about gifting and holiday travel misadventures, and a taste test tour through Midwest Danishes (Kringle). As always, Jeff delivers with disarming candor and irreverent wit, sparring playfully with his guests and co-hosts as they dish on Bravo gossip, generational family drama, and their own personal “issues.”

Highlights & Key Discussion Points

1. Holiday Fashion and Fur: Social Judgments vs. Personal Style

• [01:36] Jennifer Fessler debates wearing a holiday sweater, ultimately choosing black to avoid getting “dragged” by Jeff.
• [02:07] Gia talks about wearing faux fur, revealing candidly, "I'm not, but it is a very judgmental area, I feel."
• [02:14–03:33] Jeff admits to buying his daughter Monroe a dyed pink vintage fox fur coat, sparking backlash:
  • Jeff: "What do you want to do with all those furs that are 50 or 40 or 60 years old? ... I didn't commission the fur coat. I didn't kill any animals."
  • The group discusses the complexity of wearing vintage fur and social accountability.

2. Holiday Travel Drama: Parenting on the Go

• [07:30–08:51] Jeff confesses to a chaotic travel day with Monroe—forgetting passports and UNO games, doubling back home repeatedly, and parenting sans assistants or nannies.
  • Jeff: "It's parenting. It's exhausting."
  • Gia: "Left, Right, Center is so fun."
• [08:27] Gambling with kids and family games comes up:
  • "We'll get up to a thousand dollar games... but Monroe isn't a high roller because I told her you can't gamble what you don't have."

3. Giudice–Gorga Christmas Reunion: A Reconciliation Miracle

• [05:56–14:04] The central segment is Gia’s recount of the Christmas Eve spent with the Gorga family after years of estrangement:
  • Jeff: “I was shocked to see on Instagram that your family and the Gorgas got together for Christmas Eve.”
  • Gia: “Yeah, they invited us around Thanksgiving... we were gonna spend Christmas together.”
  • It was the first time in years the two families gathered, with cameras conspicuously absent.
  • Discussions included critiques of the catered food ("It was okay...we want the seven fishes!") and a shared desire for future co-cooked family meals.
  • The emotional tenor was high, with Gia describing breaking the ice with cousins and heartfelt one-on-ones with Antonia and Joe Gorga:
    • Gia: "It was more so just like communicating, me voicing to him why I was so angry at that time…realizing we’re both entitled to our feelings.”

Memorable Quotes

• Jennifer Fessler [17:08]: “This child is twenty? She’s very evolved. But you were forced to grow up at a very young age.”
• Gia [17:08]: “Now it’s time to move on.”
• Jeff [21:10]: "If you really want to bury this, you gotta find something to be responsible, accountable, and apologize for ... even if we're 100% right."
• Gia [21:53]: "Felt, though, as the oldest, that it was a little, you know, it was kind of on me ... I was her person."

Gifts and Traditions

• No “Envy” clothing this Christmas, but thoughtful gifts like BAES luggage; sprinkle cookies and cake (with a mini sidebar debate on whether the cake or cookies are better).
• Gia admits, "I'm not really a cookie person," causing mock horror from Jeff and crew.

4. Celebrity Life, Therapy, and Public Pressure

• [23:44–25:10] Gia opens up about trying, but not enjoying therapy:
  • Gia: “You have to just, like, in the first couple therapy sessions, explain your story...I just never really connected with anyone.”
  • The group commiserates about “catching up” therapists and how public figures get pressured to reconcile.
• [25:15–26:53] On family feuds being “team Teresa vs. team Melissa” and how public opinion can exacerbate drama:
  • Gia: “There should be no teams, because at the end of the day, you’re hoping for a family to stay broken.”

5. Real Housewives Musings and BravoBantr

• [27:05–27:41] Jeff expresses nostalgia for when Teresa and Melissa were united, dreaming of new alliances for the show.
  • Jeff: “I'd like to see Teresa and Melissa together go after someone. Yeah, like Danielle. You know what I mean? I want to see, like, a union, a camaraderie.”
• [27:45] Playfully offers up Jen Fessler as “the sacrificial lamb” in a hypothetical show takedown.

6. The Mascara Crisis: Parenting a Young Diva

• [31:49–35:47] Jeff recounts Monroe’s mini-meltdown after losing mascara and travel perfume mid-flight:
  • Jeff: “She tells me, ‘A woman never leaves the house without her lipstick or lip gloss.’”
  • A running joke about “missing mascara” and the perils of raising a stylish, OCD-prone child:
    • Jeff: “She’s nine. I am not kidding when I say I work for her.”
  • The story ends with Monroe negotiating a trip to Sephora and bartering for a spending limit.

7. Midwest Danishes & the Kringle Saga

• [40:00–47:58] Jennifer Fessler excitedly reveals her new brand partnership with “Kringle” pastry (a Danish specialty from Racine, Wisconsin):
  • Jen: "It's absolutely delicious…the almond (flavor), delicious."
  • On promotion: “What am I doing for them? I’m talking about them on Jeff Lewis.”
  • Amused skepticism from Jeff at the “Kringle hype,” leading to playful ribbing about the merits of free pastries as payment.
  • Multiple callers (Sandy from Memphis, Casey from a truck in West Virginia) weigh in, sharing Kringle history and favorite flavors, confirming its cult status in Wisconsin and beyond.

Notable Kringle Quotes

• Jeff [42:02]: “You know why? ‘Cause she’s not selling it. That's the problem. We don’t know what the fuck it is.”
• Jen [44:29]: “The whole vibe of Kringle is that it’s cozy. There’s a word for it that I don’t know.”
• Sandy (caller) [45:39]: “The reason it’s called a kringle is because…the origin of that word is oval or round. So the Danish is round, almost like a pretzel with the hole in the middle.”

8. Quick Fire: Lounge Drama, Kidney Stones & Random Anecdotes

• [37:43–39:36] Jeff tells of "Doug" missing the trip due to a kidney stone, a detailed aside about ER visits and hiring a “lesbian doctor” for best care.
• [40:01–42:55] Jen’s Kringle partnership, listeners’ obsession, and group brainstorming over Danish pastry flavors and “cozy” branding.

Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Jeff [05:56]: "I was shocked to see on Instagram that your family and the Gorgas got together for Christmas Eve."
• Gia [06:04]: "Yeah, they invited us around Thanksgiving, so we've known for quite some time now that we were gonna spend Christmas together."
• Gia [07:01]: "We're Italian. We want the seven fishes. We want all the seafood."
• Jeff [13:39]: "That's good. That's actually a good thing [that there's no alcohol at the reunion]."
• Gia [17:08]: "It was more so just like communicating me, voicing ...why I was so angry at that time, like, what angered me ... but now it's time to move on."
• Jeff [21:10]: "If you really want to bury this, you gotta find something to be responsible, accountable, and apologize for."
• Gia [21:53]: "I felt, though, as the oldest, that ... it was kind of on me ... I was her person."
• Jeff [31:49]: "Now you girls in your makeup, my God, like, we had a full blown emergency on this flight... She's like, I need my mascara."
• Gia [35:51]: "[Monroe] is raising a little diva."

Timestamps for Major Segments

• [01:36] – Holiday outfits and judgment
• [05:56] – Real Housewives Christmas Eve reunion
• [13:39] – Private reconciliation logistics
• [17:08] – Emotional resolution with Joe Gorga
• [21:10] – On letting go & apologizing
• [23:44] – Gia and therapy/trauma
• [27:05] – Bravo family “team” culture
• [31:49] – The “missing mascara” saga
• [35:47] – Barbie houses & holiday gifts
• [40:01] – Kringle brand, tasting, and listener calls

Tone & Style

The episode is candid, irreverent, and thoroughly unfiltered—Jeff Lewis delivers his signature sarcasm while fostering honest, sometimes poignant conversations (especially on family and forgiveness). Gia Giudice stands out as composed and articulate, while Jennifer Fessler occupies the comic-relief role, lampooning her own influencer endeavors and Midwest pastry knowledge.

For New Listeners

This episode offers a revealing and often hilarious inside look at family healing, the realities of celebrity life, the quirks of holiday traditions and gifting, and the outsized drama that comes with parenting, reality TV, and even Danish pastries. Both fans of the Real Housewives universe and casual listeners are treated to unfiltered storytelling—underscored by vulnerability and razor wit.

End of Summary