Real Housewives of New Jersey star Teresa Giudice has said she believes her ex-husband, Joe Giudice, lied to her when he was caught on camera referring to her in a derogatory manner.
The former couple began living apart in March 2016, when Joe Giudice began a 41-month prison sentence after being convicted of mail, wire, and bankruptcy fraud. Teresa Giudice served a little over 11 months behind bars for the same crimes. She was released from prison in December 2015.
Joe Giudice was subsequently deported from the U.S. to his native Italy following a March 2019 release from prison. He later relocated to The Bahamas.
While Teresa Giudice has since remarried, the reality star—who shares four daughters with her ex—spoke with Kelly Ripa on the latest episode of her Let's Talk Off Camera podcast about one key moment with her former husband.
"He always treated me well. He just snapped on TV," Teresa Giudice said of her ex-husband. "I remember that thing when we were in Napa. He was on the phone and he said, 'My c*** wife.' But I didn't hear him say that until I watched it on the show."
"We were married. We didn't get divorced until he got deported," Teresa Giudice said of their relationship status at the time.
"That's not a name he calls me," she continued. "I'm like, 'Absolutely not.' I made such a big deal. Andy Cohen [host and executive producer] calls me. He's like, 'Teresa, he really did say that.' And I'm like, 'Andy, I'm telling you, he did not. He doesn't say that word to me.'"
Looking back, Teresa Giudice said that she believes the team behind her Real Housewives show was "trying to warn" her before the broadcast.
Teresa Giudice added that when she finally did see the footage, she was "devastated. I was, like, so upset. Joe couldn't believe [it]. He was so upset that he made me upset. Like, he slept on the couch I think two weeks. I was so mad at him because I'm like you never speak to me like that... Who were you talking to?'
"He was like, 'I was talking to my worker... I had too much to drink, and I don't know why I said that.' Like, that's what he said to me. And he's really never used that word before."
Clarifying how he used the term to describe her, she noted: "He didn't say it to me. He said, 'My c*** wife is coming.' So I thought he was talking to a girl, because, like, why would he say that? He said he was talking to his worker."
TV personality Ripa then asked her guest: "In hindsight, do you believe him?"
"No. Now I don't," she responded. "Now I definitely think he was talking to a girl."
"But I mean, what's wrong with her if she's having an affair with a guy that refers to his wife like that?" Ripa asked.
"And trust me, if I would've saw that he was cheating on me, if I would've had proof, I would've totally left him," Teresa Giudice said. "Like, I don't like cheating, you know? That's not really my thing."
Newsweek has contacted a representative of Joe Giudice via email for comment.
The Giudices were childhood sweethearts who tied the knot in 1999. They remained married for 20 years before news of their separation broke in December 2019.
Teresa Giudice went on to marry entrepreneur Luis "Louie" Ruelas in August 2022, in East Brunswick, New Jersey.
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