'RHONJ' Newbie Rachel Fuda Dishes On 'Surreal' Filming Experience & Being 'Caught Off Guard' By Intense Confrontations

Rachel Fuda is the new housewife on the block!

The Real Housewives of New Jersey rookie had zero fears about diving right into her debut season of the hit Bravo series despite being amongst heavy hitters like Teresa Giudice, Melissa Gorga and Dolores Catania.

The mother-of-three and devoted wife spoke exclusively with OK! about the surreal experience of joining the iconic cast, navigating an already established group of dynamic women and witnessing the devastating breakdown between the Gorgas and Giudices.

"It was such an out of body experience," Fuda explains. "I remember sitting in [costar] Jen Fessler's backyard and I thought to myself 'I'm sitting at a table with the cast of The Real Housewives in New Jersey. How did this happen?' How did I get here?'"

"It's a very abstract feeling because it's not really a tangible thing until now," the busy mom continues. "It feels more real now than it ever has, but still surreal at the same time."

Upon joining the East Coast franchise in it's 13th Season, Rachel managed to carve out a space for herself amongst a pretty cemented friend group. However, the learning curve of having a camera in front of you capturing high stakes drama was not lost on her. "I was kind of caught off guard with like the level of aggression that some of these like women had," the brunette beauty dishes.

"I didn't know how to respond," she continues of the infamous Jersey fights. "That was a huge adjustment because when I'm in a group of people, I'm not like taking shots and making digs. I'm just having a conversation. But then I realized, 'oh no, they're for real right now.'"

The reality star was also made to bear witness to the headline making fight between Teresa, Melissa and Joe, which resulted in the married couple not attending the Skinny Italian author's wedding to Luis Ruelas.

"It was really sad to watch unravel in front you," Rachel reveals. "I'm super close with my family so to see that breaks my heart because I can't even imagine what that would feel like for me to go through."

The feud between the sister-in-laws also made it harder for Rachel to get to know the OG housewife. "Coming on the show as Melissa's friend, I feel like I'm immediately polarized from Teresa," she explains. "We didn't get a fair shot to really get to know each other. There's really only so much you can do to help a situation that really doesn't have anything to do with you. I didn't want to add any fuel to this fire."