What, or should we say who, transformed Teresa Giudice from a sassy table-tossing diva to
a lovey-dovey softy?
Enter Luis “Louie” Ruelas, who literally jogged into Teresa’s life and then swept
her off her feet.
Fans know that Teresa Giudice is in love and engaged to Luis "Louie" Ruelas, but she kept
things out of the spotlight early on in her relationship.
With the security of hindsight, not to mention the comfort of a solid foundation to a relationship
kept from public scrutiny, Teresa told Extra in February 2021 how she and Luis met.
In a perfect New Jersey story, Teresa and Luis crossed paths on the Jersey Shore in
2020.
Teresa told the outlet, "I was walking and that's how I met him, exercising.
That week, he rented a house at the Jersey Shore.
He ran past me that week a few times."
Teresa even admitted to doing the old glance over her shoulder when Luis ran past shirtless.
He eventually approached her with his business card, but he later drove back and said,
"Teresa, my son wanted to know why I didn't ask for your number."
In September 2020, Teresa Giudice and ex-husband Joe Giudice finalized their divorce after
being married for 21 years.
They tied the knot on October 23, 1999, and they had an eventful marriage.
After Teresa and Joe served prison time for fraud, Joe was deported to his homeland of
Italy.
The looming possibility of a long-distance relationship was more than Teresa could bear
and they decided to call it quits.
The couple's four daughters influenced Teresa's decision to divorce Joe.
Joe has since relocated to the Bahamas, and he and Teresa seem to have a successful arrangement
made of amicably co-parenting.
Clearly, both are committed to putting their daughters first.
When you're used to as much exposure as reality TV stars are, privacy becomes that much more
precious, especially for Teresa Giudice, who has been in the public eye since 2009.
So it makes perfect sense that she kept her new relationship with Luis quiet for the first
few months.
While Teresa and Luis began dating in July 2020, she didn't open up about their relationship
on "Watch What Happens Live" until that November, and she didn't make it Instagram official
until the final month of the year.
Fans were all over the announcement with praise and celebration.
“I don't know what the future holds, but this is the best I’ve felt in a really long
time.”
Much has been made of Teresa and Luis’s relationship already, but Luis is a new face
to the world.
So what's his deal?
Like Teresa, Luis is a New Jersey resident.
As Page Six reports, he's from Allendale, New Jersey, where he works as a businessman.
Specifically, Luis co-founded the company Digital Media Solutions in 2012.
According to his company's site, Luis has been in the entrepreneurial game since he
was 19 and built his empire from a $5,000 loan.
Aside from his business, Luis has two sons, according to North Jersey and has a special
interest in charitable organizations that help children with autism.
Teresa shared on "Watch What Happens Live," "Like, I know exactly what he's feeling.
He expresses his feelings.
Because he's so open, it makes me express my feelings to him."
It wouldn't be a "Real Housewives" story without at least a hint of scandal.
In November 2020, The Sun revealed an ex of Luis's alleged he was, quote, "controlling
and abusive" but eventually dismissed the lawsuit.
The next April, Page Six broke a story that claimed Teresa’s beau had a, quote, "playboy
past," and that his ex-fiancée Vanessa Reiser filed a lawsuit against Luis because of his
alleged high sex drive.
According to Page Six, the case was settled out of court.
As the show filmed its 12th season in 2021, a source told The Sun that Teresa's costars
have gone as far as to label Luis, quote,"'an opportunist" with an agenda.
According to The Sun's informant, costar Margaret Josephs has supposedly been the most vocal
on camera about Luis and the allegations.
When Andy Cohen brought up the accusations at the Season 11 reunion, Teresa disregarded
all of them, saying, "I feel bad for him because [the allegations
coming out are] because of me.
His exes that are doing this, I mean, these girls are so thirsty."
In November 2020, a source told In Touch that Teresa Giudice and Luis Ruelas very recently
met each other's kids.
Teresa shares her four children with ex, Joe Giudice.
Luis has two sons from a previous relationship.
While Teresa is happy in love and seems wild about Luis, In Touch's tipster made it quite
clear that her focus remains on her daughters, saying
"Out of respect for her girls and Joe, she waited until her divorce was final to say
anything."
It sounds like everyone hit it off.
When Andy Cohen asked about Luis's boys at "The Real Housewives of New Jersey" Season
11 reunion, Teresa said, "I love them."
And in January 2021, the Daily Mail caught snaps of the couple at LAX in with his two
sons in tow as well as two of Teresa's daughters, Gia and Milania.
Clearly, they're one big, happy group but how do her daughters really feel about the
relationship?
While Teresa Giudice's daughters have met Luis Ruelas, what's their take on their mom's
new relationship?
Well, by all accounts, everyone's cool with it.
A source went to In Touch with what the Giudice girls apparently think of their mother's beau:
"Teresa says she's taking it slow, but she's madly in love with Louie.
And while her daughters miss their dad, they all think it's great that their mom is happy."
Once Luis was a fixture of Teresa's life, he began really bonding with her daughters,
and in February 2021, Teresa revealed to ET what they think of him, saying,
"They like him, they do like him.
They're happy for me.
They're really happy for me."
A source told HollywoodLife, "The girls are very happy for Teresa and Louie.
They have always gotten along with him and he treats them like his own while respecting
their love for Joe Giudice."
Any devoted fan of the "Real Housewives" franchise knows that the homes are a big part of the
show.
So what happened with Teresa Giudice's abode after her split from Joe Giudice?
Teresa told Page Six in March 2021, "In our divorce settlement, I get the house
and Joe walked away with nothing because I paid off all his debt."
TMZ reported that Teresa and Luis got a home in the same city for $3.35 million before
her other home sold.
But before we jump to any conclusions about them moving in together, the outlet claims
the property was purchased as an investment with Luis footing the bill.
TMZ speculates Teresa will take on the role of property manager.
The home they purchased, which sits on six acres, is massive, features a pool with multiple
waterfalls, and boasts a library.
Taking a big step, Louie wanted to meet Teresa's ex, Joe Giudice.
Evidently, Joe is fine with his ex-wife moving on.
When word got out that Teresa had found love again, Joe told E! News,
"What's she going to do, stay alone forever?"
He went on to say it would be, quote, "not fair" of him to have that expectation, adding,
"Look, if I would have got out and I would have been able to go home, who knows what
would happen?
Maybe we'd still be in the same situation, maybe not.
I don't know."
“I mean we do have four really good kids, so that’s something to be proud of.”
In April 2021, Us Weekly reported that Luis and his sons traveled to the Bahamas with
Teresa and her daughters to see Joe.
On "Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen", Teresa explained the two men talked over the
phone and added the trip was Luis's idea, as he wanted to stress to Joe that he wasn't
going to, quote, "take his place."
"The Real Housewives of New Jersey" viewers have seen a lot of what Teresa has gone through—including
the hard parts of her life.
Then Louie entered the picture and everything changed.
Teresa's blissed out, but what have the other Housewives said about the pairing?
While a source did claim to The Sun that some of her costars have allegedly spoken out against
him behind the scenes, a few have publicly given the relationship their blessing in interviews
and on the show.
Teresa's sister-in-law Melissa Gorga told Us Weekly in February 2021,
"I wish them happiness, and I hope everything's great.
But it's new.
It's the beginning, so you never know.”
What's more, Teresa's brother, Joe Gorga, said on the show,
"This is the man he like, blows me away."
He also told Us Weekly that he cried happy tears when he heard the engagement news.
Fellow Housewife Dolores Catania has also said kind things.
She said in Us Weekly, "I see a marriage there.
I see potential for so much and a life together, and I see a lot of love between them."
In July 2021, Teresa and Luis celebrated one year together.
The pair took to Instagram to gush over each other.
Teresa posted a shot of the two of them dressed in pink and wrote,
"A year, wow I would have never imagined how in one year I would feel so loved.
You are so kind, supportive & loving.
You take great care and consideration in everything you do."
Luis took a more athletic approach and posted a pic of the pair in workout gear, showcasing
his abs, writing, "In this exact spot is where I found my soulmate,
this is the day I became the [...] luckiest man alive.
I found my one true love, I found my one and only and my forever always.
I fall more deeply In love with you every single day."
It'll come as no surprise, based on their captions, that an engagement was destined
to follow soon after.
Luis pulled out all the stops when he proposed to Teresa.
The pair traveled to Greece in October 2021 and stayed at the Amanzoe Resort in Porto
Heli, according to People.
He prepared a series of romantic gestures, including bringing a violinist into the mix
and scheduling some fireworks.
Luis even had a brightly lit sign that read Marry Me.
While we all saw it coming based on their anniversary posts on Instagram, Teresa said
that she was completely surprised by Luis's proposal.
When she popped by an Amazon Live cooking show in late October, she explained what really
happened that night.
"I was like, 'Oh my god!'
I started crying and it was really nice."
However, the aforementioned fireworks went off too soon.
Teresa added, "As he's [proposing], the sparklers are going
off and then the fireworks are going off, so I'm like a little kid, just looking all
around."
After a proposal in Porto Heli, Greece, Luis and Teresa made another getaway to Santorini,
a Greek island famous for romance.
In classic double dating style, the couple traveled with fellow "Real Housewives of New
Jersey" star Dina Manzo and husband, Dave Cantin, according to People.
Teresa treated fans to several pictures of the stunning island on Instagram.
In one candid shot of her fiancé, Teresa wrote,
"Love being by your side."
Teresa and Luis sure do love to share their relationship with the world, and they don't
shy away from personal questions.
On a May 2021 episode of "Watch What Happens Live," Andy Cohen asked Luis what was his
favorite part of Teresa's body.
"Her heart.
It's my favorite part."
It's clear that following the very public dissolution of her very complicated marriage
to Joe Giudice, Teresa has moved on and started a brand new love story.
On the heels of her October 2021 engagement to Luis Ruelas, a source said in People,
"He's given her the ability to laugh and love again, after everything she has been through."
The tipster told the publication that while "The Real Housewives of New Jersey" star was,
quote, “always optimistic she would find love again after her divorce," she evidently
did not expect to find what she has with Louie.
Teresa captured the joy of falling in love again in her Instagram post celebrating Luis's
proposal, writing, "I am so lucky to have found you.
Thank you for coming into my life."
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