Fans of The Real Housewives of New Jersey have been with OG Teresa Giudice through her highs and lows. Giudice was a wealthy housewife who loved fashion and spending time with her daughters when viewers first met her. Giudice proudly displayed the NJ house she built with her husband Joe. It was fully furnished with cash. However, the Giudice’s personal lives began to unravel and they were soon accused and sentenced for bankruptcy and wire fraud.
Teresa and Joe were both sentenced to prison time, with Teresa getting 15 months and her husband serving just a few months afterward for 3 ½ years. Joe was also deported back to Italy. They tried to keep Joe in the country, but it was not possible. Teresa was sentenced first. A judge wanted one parent to stay at home with their four young daughters.
Teresa’s journey to prison and her return was heartbreaking, captured by Bravo cameras. Her emotional reunion with Joe and their daughters will go down in Housewives history. LeJames Leonard Jr., her lawyer, has shared something that viewers didn’t see during the Season 7 premiere.
“I want to tell you something about this scene. Obviously, I drove her home so I was there. I purposely stayed behind in the garage because I didn’t want to ruin that moment, that was for the family,” he wrote in an Instagram post. “A few months later one of the producers and I went to dinner and she showed me the cut…if you listen, when she and I are walking past the dog’s cage, her mic picked up her heart beating out of her chest … that is absolutely the most authentic scene in the history of reality television. 100 percent REAL emotion. Period. Makes me cry every time I see it because I know how real that was for all of them.”
Teresa echoed her lawyer’s sentiments, responding to his post: “Just seeing and reading this post remembering all of this,” she wrote. “And now I am crying.” Joe and Teresa divorced in the end and they have both moved on to other relationships.