This controversial Real Housewives of New Jersey couple seemed rock solid, from bragging
about their love life to fiercely defending each other.
But it looks like the couple that goes to prison together doesn't always stay together.
Here's why Joe and Teresa Giudice had a marriage that was seriously beyond weird.
Teresa and Joe go way back, with the two growing up together thanks to their parents' close
friendship.
Teresa wrote in her 2016 book, Turning the Tables, From Housemate to Inmate and Back
Again,
"Joe and I grew up together in America.
His father was even at the hospital when I was born.
My future in-laws brought Joe to the hospital to meet me a day later, when he was just about
to turn two."
Teresa claims she had a long term crush on Joe.
And the feeling was apparently mutual, even though the two dated other people before tying
the knot in 1999.
But while Teresa apparently had eyes for Joe ever since they were kids, he was seemingly
less enthusiastic about a long term commitment.
At least, that's what he implied during a fiery phone call to Teresa on Housewives Season
10, when he complained:
"Alright, like I even wanted to get married?
No."
Yikes.
Even if you're having problems in your marriage, it's bizarre to declare you never wanted to
get hitched in the first place.
On Season 4 of Housewives, Joe was filmed calling his wife two derogatory names during
a phone conversation with a business associate.
"Hold on, here she comes, my b---- wife.
She's such a c---."
Teresa didn't find out about Joe's remarks until the episode aired about a year later,
and she was understandably hurt.
In a blog for Bravo, Teresa wrote that Joe claimed he quote "doesn't remember saying
it," but that he felt "terrible," and later "apologized to [her] and all of [their] friends."
She also claimed that it wasn't normal for Joe to speak to her, or about her, that way.
"Who ya talking to?"
"A worker, what the f--- do you want?"
"Then why'd you walk away?"
Teresa then presented an odd excuse for her husband's behavior, writing:
"[Men] are animals…Women aren't like this.
We have our own kind of ugly that men don't understand.
But we have to work it out and live together, don't we?"
It's not uncommon for resentment to build up between couples, but it's a whole other
thing when that kind of bitterness involves the death of a loved one.
And Teresa blamed Joe for losing out on quality time with her mom, who passed away in 2017.
As Teresa tells it, in the months leading up to her mother's death, Teresa was incarcerated.
And it was Joe whose illegal business activity led to Teresa's sentencing, after Joe pleaded
guilty to five counts of bankruptcy and mail fraud, while Teresa pleaded guilty to four
counts of the same charges in 2014.
"How's business?"
"It's alright."
Reflecting on the situation surrounding her mother's passing, Teresa shared on a Season
8 episode of Housewives,
"I did lose time with her and I feel like it's his fault.
It sucks.
Life sucks."
And because Teresa felt betrayed by Joe, she wanted an apology.
Recounting how she brought up the topic during a jail visit with her husband, she recalled:
"I was nervous.
I got emotional.
I said, 'I lost 11 and a half months with my mom.'
I said, 'Not only did you do it to me, you did it to our daughters.'"
Teresa claimed Joe then apologized, but we can't imagine the two ever moved past this
issue.
When Joe entered prison in March 2016, it was assumed that Teresa would visit him fairly
often.
But according to her lawyer, Teresa only occasionally visited quote "every other weekend, with whichever
of the girls [didn't] have activities."
The lawyer also detailed the prison's "point" system, which limited inmates' availability
for visits.
But it's all a bit strange considering Joe routinely brought the girls for 3-hour visits
when Teresa was incarcerated.
"Alright, Mommy's calling."
"This call is from Teresa Giudice, an inmate at a federal prison."
Joe told E! News,
"It's kinda hard to like, talk to her, so the last 15 minutes, I just kinda send [the
kids] on their way so we can talk for a little bit and just hang out, me and her."
Oddly enough, Teresa reportedly didn't amp up the visits when Joe entered U.S. Immigration
and Customs Enforcement custody in March 2019, because, according to a source who spoke with
E! News, her quote "filming schedule" was too "hectic."
The insider also noted the ICE facility's distance from the Giudice home, claiming,
"Teresa has tried to keep a very low profile when it comes to Joe on the request of his
immigration attorneys."
We don't want to cast too much judgment here, but isn't seeing your partner more important
than filming a TV show?
When Joe was deported back to Italy in October 2019, some theorized Teresa would soon visit
with their daughters.
But that didn't happen in the immediate weeks following his arrival, leading to rampant
speculation about the state of their marriage.
As it turns out, Teresa was reportedly delaying the reunion until sometime in November 2019
for a pretty odd reason.
An insider told Radar Online,
"Teresa is getting a huge paycheck to take the girls to Italy and film the reunion with
Joe.
Teresa is getting around six figures to film these extra scenes with Joe in Italy."
"I was so overwhelmed seeing how happy my daughters were, how happy Joe was, I was like
I was like over the moon."
You'd think Teresa and Joe's daughters wanting to see their dad as a free man would be enough
motivation alone to make the trip.
But if their marriage was in tatters, we're not too surprised money was a big factor.
During Joe's prison sentence, Teresa was spotted out with a group of mystery guys in Miami
in December 2018.
An insider told Us Weekly Teresa was quote "aggressively flirting with and pursuing a
man in his early 20s," adding,
"At points, the two had their hands intertwined, and then the man was rubbing her leg in a
romantic way."
"I'm in here, she's out there.
I don't know what's going on.
I mean, I wasn't happy about it of course."
We can't say for certain, but it looks like this guy was real estate agent Blake Schreck,
who is two decades younger than Teresa.
Even so, Teresa's lawyer told Us Weekly at the time,
"Teresa was out celebrating New Year's Eve with a large group of men and women while
she was in Miami…It's a night out with friends, nothing more than that."
"Teresa's like a ticking time bomb.
Teresa is cocktailing it up all night while her husband is sitting in an ICE facility,
that's shameful."
Even if they were just friends, it's bad optics to be photographed holding hands with another
man while your husband is in prison, right?
But, to be fair, Joe allegedly did the same thing…
"Do I feel like he was faithful?"
"Yeah?"
"No."
"You don't?"
"No."
Back in November 2013, Joe was photographed grabbing coffee with a mystery woman amid
the couple's legal battle.
A source told Radar Online,
"They were sitting over coffee and occasionally Joe would reach over and touch her hand while
talking."
Then just weeks before Teresa was to head into prison, Joe was accused of carrying out
an affair with another woman at a New Jersey hotel.
Joe denied the claim, however, telling Us Weekly:
"No, I did not flirt with her.
I did not make out with her, nothing happened between us."
Finally, Joe was accused of being unfaithful once again in 2015, while Teresa was in prison.
An eyewitness told Radar Online,
"The way he and his date were conversing, you wouldn't talk that way to a family member
or friend…They had chemistry."
For years and years, Teresa and Joe portrayed an extremely loving marriage for the cameras.
But we're starting to doubt the whole relationship, given Teresa's take on Joe's deportation.
As TMZ noted and Teresa herself confirmed, she won't move to Italy to be with her husband
of over a decade if he isn't able to reenter America.
The outlet claimed,
"[Teresa] has zero interest in uprooting their 4 daughters to a country where they have no
friends and have never lived…We're told Teresa says moving them outta the country
would be a culture shock and completely change their lives."
"If we stay together we stay together, if we don't we don't."
We can understand Teresa's reasoning from a parent's perspective.
But the reality star made a big fuss about loyalty prior to this ordeal.
Even Teresa's Housewives costar expressed doubt about her defying those traditional
boundaries, specifically regarding whether or not they would ever divorce.
Margaret Josephs said on Watch What Happens Live,
"No, I don't think they will.
I think Teresa's super traditional, and I just don't think she'll do it."
But oh, how things changed...
It makes sense for a long term couple to struggle with keeping the spark alive, but for Joe
and Teresa, their lack of attraction came to a head during their prison terms.
Teresa first opened up about the issue on Watch What Happens Live, revealing,
"Every time I went to go see him, I felt nothing.
I never wanted to kiss him or anything.
I just didn't like the whole environment.
I didn't want to kiss him with all those people watching."
"I missed him, but, you know but I don't really, like, enjoy going there.
Even when I was there, I was like, 'Don't come.'"
Oddly enough, Joe shared this sentiment.
He said,
"I didn't like her being in there, either.
I didn't look at her and find her attractive.
It's just that environment.
You just don't like to see the people that you love in there."
It's not uncommon for parents to develop a friendship with their kids, especially when
they get older.
This is evident in the case of Teresa and her eldest daughter, Gia, as she's often filmed
discussing her dilemmas with her college-aged kid.
But are Teresa and Joe leaning on their kids too heavily for marriage advice?
Gia admonished Teresa for trying to get her involved in a dispute with Joe.
It all went down following the explosive phone call in which Joe told Teresa he never wanted
to get married.
"See what I get?"
"That's your personal business with my father, so enough!"
Not to mention, Gia is the emotional rock for her siblings despite being away at college.
A source told People magazine,
"With the whole Joe situation, she stays strong for them, while still fighting for her dad.
Even now that she's away for college, the girls are all still very close.
She's set a great example for them.
She's the real star."
"I am trying to find a balance.
I don't want them to be, like, afraid of me.
I want them to be able to open up."
Although we're happy to hear Gia is thriving and is a good role model, it's unfortunate
she bears all of this weight on her shoulders.
"I love you.
You get me through it."
OK, we're just going to come out and say it: Teresa and Joe have been way too wishy-washy
about the real status of their relationship.
A perfect example?
Joe's cryptic post the same day a source spoke out about their supposed separation in December
2019.
He captioned a since-deleted side-by-side photo of him and Teresa on Instagram, writing
quote, "It's Time To Let Go."
And let's not forget Teresa's GMA interview from November 2019, during which she shrugged
off the infidelity rumors about Joe because she quote "never caught him," then claimed
they had no plans to divorce even though she's not sure they have a "feasible" relationship
because of their living situation.
"Do you see a future with him?"
"I don't know.
Imagine he lived in Italy and you lived here.
I mean, I don't know."
Teresa also said that if they do divorce, she's sure they'll both be fine with each
other moving on romantically.
"I want him to be happy.
And I know he wants me to be happy."
We also can't ignore that their separation announcement came from a supposed insider.
Granted, that could be just gossip, but considering all the fanfare surrounding the possible demise
of their 20-year marriage, you'd think these two would want to have the last word.
Check out one of our newest videos right here!
Plus, even more Nicki Swift videos about your favorite celebs are coming soon.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel and hit the bell so you don't miss a single one.