REALITY TVJoe Giudice Reveals He Never Wanted to Be on 'Stupid' 'RHONJ': 'I Gave In'
Joe Giudice claimed he only went on 'RHONJ' for his then-wife, Teresa.
Fresh on the cusp of Teresa Giudice revealing her ex-husband, Joe, was “not her guy,” the TV personality has made his own shocking confession — he never wanted to be on The Real Housewives of New Jersey.
Joe Giudice called 'RHONJ' stupid.
“I just did it because Teresa kept bothering me about it, so I finally gave in,” Joe shared on the “AllAboutTRH” podcast.
Joe went on to share he was unaware why he was so well-liked on the hit series.
"I mean it was not like I was on it that much, you know what I mean?” he quipped. “They'd have to force me to be on it. I didn't voluntarily walk and say, 'Okay, film me today.' It is what it is. But I mean, at the end of the day, I mean, you know, it's a Housewives show, so I mean it's supposed to be for the Housewives, not the husbands."
Joe Giudice said he did the show because of his then-wife, Teresa Giudice.
The famous reality husband gave another interview on the “Reality Court” podcast, explaining he never “needed” the show either.
"I was in business for over 25 years before that show,” Joe explained. “I didn't even want to be on the show to begin with... I didn't need the show. The first year, I think they paid us $25,000. I think Teresa threw a party that cost me $125,000. It cost me money to be on that stupid show.” When Joe joined the show with Teresa in Season 1, fans watched as they paid in cash for over $120,000 of furniture.
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Joe Giudice shared 'RHONJ' should be about the women, not the husbands.
On her “Turning The Tables” podcast in June 2024, Teresa addressed this scene — and actually cited it as one of the reasons she and Joe may have gotten into legal trouble.
Former RHONJ star Jacqueline Laurita was a guest star on the episode and insisted the scene was set up by production. She recalled producers thought it would be “cool” if Teresa paid in cash, but Teresa only had $200 on her, while Jaqueline had $300. Jacqueline said producers then gave Teresa a lot more money to make it look like she had a lot more than she did.
Joe Giudice was deported in 2019.
“They were like, ‘Just act like you’re paying [in cash],’” Jacqueline shared. “There was like 100s mixed in with other smaller bills.”
“They showed how much my furniture was, like 140 thou — whatever it was, and then I’m hearing them giving out $100 bills and then they showed the calculator,” Teresa acknowledged. “It looked like I had all that money cash on me.”
Teresa also cited the infamous scene as the reason “the government came after us.”
After getting out of jail, Joe was deported in 2019.
