Teresa Giudice won’t be defined by her past and will always look forward to a positive future.
However, in a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the RHONJ star opened up about one of the darkest periods of her life, when she served prison time in 2015. She maintains that fame is the reason she was incarcerated, claiming, “being a celebrity made me go to jail.”
Teresa Giudice Opens Up About a Difficult Time in Her Past
Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, Teresa Giudice claimed her celebrity status played a major role in landing her behind bars. The RHONJ star served 11 months in prison between January and December 2015.
Giudice admitted, “They made an example. I know I didn’t do anything, and I know I wasn’t a criminal. I went to a closing. That’s all I did. I went to a refinance for a home for a closing. That’s what I did.”
She continued, “I went to a closing. I put my John Hancock on that dotted line, and I went to jail because of that. That’s the reason why. My story will never change.”
“Listen, New Jersey’s a small town, meaning everybody knows everybody,” Giudice added. “Everyone knew I had nothing to do with my husband’s business, nothing at all. I stayed home, watched the kids; I cooked. I did laundry; I was a real housewife.”
“It had nothing to do with my husband’s finances. And that’s why I thought it was a joke. I was like, ‘Because I’m on TV, I have to go through this.’ But I was like, ‘I’m not going to go to jail. I didn’t do anything,’” she concluded.
The Drama Played Out During Season 6 of RHONJ
Throughout Season 6 of RHONJ, Teresa Giudice shared the timeline of her journey. She and ex-husband Joe Giudice were indicted in July 2013 for bankruptcy, mail, wire, and bank fraud, states The Hollywood Reporter.
“At first I was like, ‘Let’s do this,’ because I really didn’t understand what my ex-husband had done. I wanted to go to trial and fight it and go through whatever we had to do,” the reality star added. “I was like, ‘I guess because I’m on TV, let’s just go through the process.’”
She concluded, “I really never in a million years thought I would go to jail. If you said to me, ‘I’ll give you $40 million right now, are you going to go to jail?’ I’d be like, ‘No, absolutely not.’ I thought I just had to go through the process and then everything would be fine.”
Teresa Giudice Will Revisit These Moments and Others, on ‘The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip: Roaring 20th’
Teresa Giudice revisits this difficult time period during the new Bravo series “The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip: Roaring 20th.” The cast consists of Guidice, Kyle Richards, Vicki Gunvalson, Luann de Lesseps, Porsha Williams, Gizelle Bryant, and Lisa Barlow.
The reality television star, who has since remarried Louie Ruelas, will additionally discuss her long estrangement from her brother, Joe Gorga. Their difficulties led to a difficult relationship with sister-in-law Melissa Gorga as well.
However, after several years where there was bad blood within their family, they have since reunited.
“I would never want to be on a TV show with my family, but it happened. We fought on the show for a while,” Giudice explained. “A lot of people could relate to what they were seeing me go through. But now I’m so happy to say that we have made up. I’m happy about that.”
“The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip: Roaring 20th” launches Sunday, August 9, at 9 p.m. EST on Bravo. It streams the next day on Peacock.
How cute. She thinks shes a celebrity