Credit: Paul Emmans/startraksphoto, BauerGriffin/INSTARimages
Real Housewives of New Jersey alum Joe Giudice recently sat down for an extra in-depth interview and gave his frank opinion on the feud between his ex-wife, Teresa Giudice, and his former sister-in-law, Melissa Gorga. Plus, he divulges more details about why he believes Melissa and her husband, Joe Gorga, were behind his and Teresa’s arrest for tax and bankruptcy fraud, and he gives his take on Teresa’s marriage to Luis “Louie” Ruelas.
“Listen, they [Melissa and Joe Gorga] were involved. They were both there. I mean, they were both friends with these people,” Joe told David Yontef while appearing on the Behind the Velvet Rope podcast, alleging that Melissa and Joe Gorga frequently associated with lawyers and attorneys who were connected to his and Teresa’s arrests.
“There are pictures with them out in clubs, partying, having drinks, and dancing,” Giudice continued, alleging one of the lawyers popped up at one of Melissa and Gorga’s parties that he was attending, recalling a scene from his time on RHONJ.
“At their party and all of a sudden, they just showed up? You know what I mean? But I mean at the end of the day, you know, she all of a sudden, you know, this lawyer shows up at your party. I forgot what party it was, but if you look in one of those scenes over there, you’ll see her getting thrown out. And I believe it’s the scene before I left my garage, and I believe I had a long jacket on, and I, and I threw a kick and hit the bag,” he said. “But whatever. It is what it is.”
Giudice and Teresa were one of the OG couples during RHONJ’s inception, and the pair have since divorced. Giudice says that he likes Teresa’s new husband, Louie, and he is happy that a man “is in the house” for his four daughters, Gia, Milania, Gabriella, and Audriana.
“I mean, look, what I gather of Luis, he seems like a nice guy,” Giudice remarked, noting that he’s “glad they’re together.”
“He’s been a man…And you know, he’s looking after my kids as well, which is good,” he said. “You know what I mean? At least there’s a man in the house…because obviously I can’t be there.”
Teresa, Louie, and Giudice seem to be on great terms and have blended their families successfully. Giudice revealed that Louie frequently extends invitations to join him, Teresa, and the children on vacations, though he admitted that following the most recent invitation to join them in Cuba, he declined, saying he felt the situation was “awkward.”
“You know what? I would have gone on vacation. [But] I’m like, you know what. I mean, I was gonna bring somebody with me as well. You know what I mean? A date whatever, but I don’t know I kind of felt a little awkward,” he said. “I was like, the money that I gotta spend to go all over the world and all that, I’d rather just give it to my kids.”
Though Giudice could not attend Teresa and Louie’s 2022 wedding, Teresa’s now-iconic hairstyle did make its way to him. He noted that Teresa and his daughters, who served as bridesmaids, all looked “beautiful,” but he admitted he completely “forgot” about the wedding in general.
“The girls look beautiful. You know, [Teresa] looked beautiful. And, you know, it was, they were nice pictures, you know, I mean, they all look beautiful. So, I didn’t really see any shots with her, you only, I saw some shots with her and Luis together, you know, and they look, it looked like a very nice night and a nice wedding, you know? I don’t know where it was. I even forgot where they had [it], I even forgot what they had at the wedding. I don’t even know when they had the wedding. I couldn’t even tell you because I really don’t remember,” he claimed.
Despite being happy for Teresa and Louie, Giudice said that he did find the bizarre viral video of the businessman half-naked on the beach during a “retreat” that made headlines a bit odd.
“I mean, it was a little weird,” he said. “I thought it was kind of strange, [but] I didn’t really pay [it] attention.”
“Was he maybe a little weird in that video? Yes, I mean, who knows?” Giudice mused. “He seems to be like a very nice guy.” He then added jokingly, “Is he a ‘Juicy Joe?’ Probably not.”
RHONJ fans will remember that Giudice’s marriage to Teresa was marred with contention and deemed toxic by many. During an infamous “hot mic” moment, Giudice was caught referring to Teresa as his “b**ch wife.” However, he maintains that Teresa was a “good wife” and he will always have love for her.
“Look, I’ll always love Teresa,” he admitted. “She’s the mother of my kids, I’ve known her since she was a kid…and it’s unfortunate what happened with us. But look, what are you going to do?”
“She’s a good mom. She was a good wife too, you know.”
Despite having moved on from their marriage, Giudice and Teresa have learned to successfully co-parent despite being an ocean apart, as Giudice currently resides in the Bahamas following his deportation to Italy after being released from prison.
“Well, you have to make it work,” he said. “Whatever the circumstances are, however, it happened, however, whatever way, you know, it doesn’t matter. Cheating this and that. Whatever it might be, at the end of the day, you got to think about the kids and just say, you know what? It happened. Let’s put it behind us. Let’s move forward. Worry about the kids now, and that’s it.”
Season 13 of RHONJ saw Teresa finally reach the breaking point in her tumultuous and long-running feud with Melissa and her brother, Joe. Both Tre and Melissa have reportedly gone on record saying that they will not film with the other, however, neither wants to leave the show either.
Giudice says that Teresa’s the OG, and without her, who would watch?
“If they get rid of her, who’s gonna watch that show, right? I mean, she was the original OG,” he said, suggesting that they “maybe if they bring back some of the originals from the past.”
Surprisingly, Giudice revealed that former RHONJ star Danielle Staub, who famously paved the way for Teresa’s remark of, “Prostitution whore,” was a “good” addition. He also said that Jacqueline Laurita and Caroline Manzo were great casting choices.
However, Giudice says that the cast began to go south after Melissa and Joe Gorga joined the show’s roster.
“We did have a lot of fun in the beginning. And then it started getting a little, you know, shaky,” he said. “I guess the brother-in-law came in, the brother [Joe Gorga] came in, and Melissa started getting a little funky.”
Teresa and Melissa have famously disagreed on how Melissa was able to get on the show.
While discussing his own time spent in federal prison, Giudice shared his thoughts on fellow reality stars Real Housewives of Salt Lake City’s Jen Shah and Chrisley Knows Best’s Todd and Julie Chrisley, who are also serving time for financial crimes.
“It’s a good thing she copped a plea,” he said in reference to Jen. “Otherwise, she would have got a lot, a lot of time.”
“Now, the Chrisleys were the other one. The Chrisleys pretty much had the same charge as I had… I don’t know why they got so much time. They must have pissed off the prosecutors,” he hypothesized before empathetically adding, “They must have did something in order to get that much time because that’s a lot of time, and especially for the poor lady as well. I mean, the poor lady, even him. I mean, I mean, that’s, you know, I don’t care if they’re in a camp or wherever it is. It’s a lot of time. It’s just a lot of time. That’s way, way too much time for, you know, to break up a family like that. I mean, come on.”
As Joe happily resides in the Bahamas, one thing he definitely doesn’t have to worry about anymore is his taxes.
“Listen, one thing about the Bahamas, there’s no taxes here. There’s no, whatever. I mean. I don’t have to worry about that. There is no income tax here. I love it. This country was actually made for me. I got no complaints here. The only complaint that I have is that I’m not with my kids and my family there,” he said.
Rounding out the interview, Giudice says he might take a page from Teresa’s playbook and perhaps write a book about his life experiences one day. But for now, he’s content.
“I mean, maybe one day, I will. One day, I guess, you know. But as of right now, I got a lot of good things going on here right now,” he concluded. “I got some fun things coming up and it may even involve the Housewives.”
