Why Teresa Giudice wouldn’t do “Real Housewives” over again: ‘I’ve been through a lot’

Emlyn TravisFri, August 7, 2026 at 6:24 PM UTC

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Teresa Giudice on ‘Today’Credit: NBC NewsKey Points -

Teresa Giudice is sharing why she wouldn’t do Real Housewives over again if given the chance.

The reality star said she wouldn’t have been “charged for a crime” if she hadn’t starred on the Bravo series.

Giudice and her ex-husband Joe both pled guilty to fraud charges in 2014 and served time in prison.

If she could go back in time, Teresa Giudice says she wouldn’t do theReal Housewives over again.

While visiting Today With Jenna and Sheinelle on Thursday, the 54-year-old reality star revealed that she believes she wouldn’t have been sentenced to 15 months in prison on fraud charges in 2014 had she not been a star on the popular Bravo series.

The topic came up during a game of “Hands Up” with her fellow Housewives stars Vicki Gunvalson, Kyle Richards, Luann de Lesseps, Gizelle Bryant, Lisa Barlow, and host Andy Cohen in honor of their new show, The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip: Roaring 20th.

Andy Cohen and the ‘Real Housewives’ castsCredit: NBC News

“Yeah, I mean, I’ve been through a lot,” Giudice said. “I mean, I got made an example of, so you can’t really go by me, because I really didn’t commit a crime and then I got charged for a crime because I was in the public eye.”

Giudice and her ex-husband, Joe Giudice, were charged in July 2013 in a 39-count federal indictment that included conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, bank fraud, and making false statements on loan applications and bankruptcy fraud, per PEOPLE. The couple, who divorced in 2020, initially pleaded not guilty, but later changed their plea to guilty in March 2014.

The TV star served 11 months of her sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury, Conn., before being released on Dec. 23, 2015. Joe, 54, served a 41-month-long sentence in prison before being deported to Italy in 2019. He has since relocated to the Bahamas.

The couple’s legal battle was depicted on the sixth season of The Real Housewives of New Jersey, with the series ultimately choosing to wait until Giudice had completed her time in prison before filming season 7. She has remained a cast member on the show to this day.

When host Jenna Bush Hager asked Giudice if she thought the charges may not have happened if she weren’t on the show, Giudice replied, “I think it would not have happened. I know for sure. I mean, I did nothing.”

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As Giudice spoke, Barlow, who was seated behind her, could be seen quietly comforting her costar by rubbing a hand on her shoulder.

“So that’s why, would I put my family through that again? I would not want to do that,” she continued. “Because it didn’t… I’m strong. And my ex-husband we’re both, you know, we’re adults. It hurt my kids. That’s who it hurt. So I wouldn’t want to put them through that again.”

Giudice and her husband are parents to four daughters: Gia, Gabriella, Milania, and Audriana. Last year, their daughter Gia publicly asked Donald Trump to pardon her father, calling the absence of her father “something that never stops hurting” no matter how much time passes.

After Giudice shared her reasoning on Today, Cohen quipped, “What an up note to celebrate 20 years of the Housewives!” To which a laughing Giudice added, “Sorry!”

Cohen went on to praise Giudice, calling her “phenomenal” and sharing that she loved filming the recently-wrapped season 15 of Real Housewives of New Jersey. “And, by the way, this show is a celebration and it is so fun and these women are so funny and you’ve gotta go along for the ride,” he said of The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip. “You don’t even have to be a Housewives fan already to love this show.”

The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip premieres Aug. 9 at 9 p.m. ET on ⁠Bravo. Watch Giudice talk about being convicted of fraud in the clip above.

on Entertainment Weekly

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