On Monday’s Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen, actress Jamie-Lynn Sigler reacted to the shocking admission earlier this year that a Real Housewives of New Jersey guest star once slept with the late James Gandolfini.
Sigler, a former star on The Sopranos and a die-hard fan of Bravo shows, was on to promote her new podcast while appearing alongside Below Deck: Mediterranean star, Natalya Scudder.
During a Q&A with virtual viewers via video calls, a pair of fans brought up something that was said back in April during a season 13 episode of The Real Housewives of New Jersey. Jennifer Fessler, who is considered a “friend” on the show and not part of the full-time cast, appeared in a segment where she discussed a short-lived relationship with Gandolfini that occurred at an unspecified time, but before he rose to fame on The Sopranos.
During her confessional interview on the episode, Fessler told a somewhat graphic story of a date she had with Gandolfini and claimed that they slept together. She referred to him as “the one that got away, but it was also the one that was never really there.”
Sigler, who played Meadow Soprano — daughter to Gandolfini’s Tony Soprano — for all six seasons of The Sopranos, was asked by two fellow RHONJ fans what her reaction was to Fessler’s revelation about sleeping with Gandolfini.
“Yeah, I felt a bit protective, um…”
“Of his wife,” host Andy Cohen inserted.
“Yeah,” Sigler continued, “Of him. And he’s no longer here, it just felt like information that wasn’t needed to be shared.”
Cohen then followed up with, “I wondered,” to which Sigler said, “Yeah, I mean, I get that it’s like a claim to fame and like a cool thing to say, but maybe not on TV.”
Her appearance on Monday also included the admission that her search for new mom friends always starts with whether or not they like Bravo shows. And she gave an update on her multiple sclerosis, which she was diagnosed with at age 20, and went public with in 2016.
“I’m doing really well,” she said, “And more importantly, emotionally I’m doing really well.”
Sigler also said that she does in fact keep in touch with other actresses who have MS, including Selma Blair and Christina Applegate, the latter of which Sigler said is “a really good friend.”
Sigler, who most recently appeared on two seasons of the David E. Kelly drama Big Sky, has teamed up with Robert Iler, who played her little brother on The Sopranos, for a podcast called Not Today, Pal, leaning on their strong and long-lasting friendship despite having opposite personalities.
Sopranos alum reacts to ‘Real Housewives of New Jersey’ star’s shocking claim about James Gandolfini. Sopranos alum reacts to ‘Real Housewives of New Jersey’ star’s shocking claim about James Gandolfini