Teresa Giudice and the cast are back for the 12th season of The Real Housewives of New Jersey, or, as Teresa calls it, The Teresa Show!
Ahead of Tuesday’s premiere episode, Teresa, who labeled herself “the GOAT” of the Bravo reality series, opened up about what viewers can expect from the new episodes, including the speculation around her fiancé, Luis Ruelas, her feud with Margaret Josephs, and Jennifer Aydin‘s marriage drama with husband Bill Aydin.
“To me, I think [the season 12 table shift] is more epic than the table flip, because it’s personal to me,” Teresa revealed during a January 31 interview with Entertainment Tonight. “If you come at me, or after someone I love, my children, then it’s just not going to be good.”
As RHONJ fans saw from the trailer, Margaret seemed to be leading the charge when it comes to raising questions about Luis’ past and intentions with Teresa.
“People are like, ‘Oh, he loves the spotlight…’ No, he does not. He’s so not into any of this,” Teresa shared. “[And] I’m grateful that he was supportive of what I do… That’s why I’m very overprotective of him.”
Although Teresa admitted Luis is a “natural” in front of the cameras, she said it was a “total turn on” rather than a red flag.
“If I don’t care about it, no one else should care,” Teresa explained.
Because so much happened between her and Margaret amid production on season 12, Teresa said she’s not sure they will ever reconcile their friendship.
“I’ve done nothing to Margaret, nothing at all. [I] didn’t go searching into her past… For someone to try to hurt you for no reason, it’s like, where does that leave you?” Teresa wondered, seemingly forgetting about her season 10 involvement in Danielle Staub‘s hair pull.
“I’m hurt and disgusted, I really am,” she continued. “It’s sad. In life, you should want to pick people up.”
Although Teresa acknowledged that Margaret was there for her after she lost her mom and dad, she suspected Margaret only wanted to be there for her amid the low point and refuted her claims of friendly concern.
“I’ve been through more than she has ever been. Nobody needs to show me anything,” Teresa stated.
During season 12, Teresa broke the fourth wall a number of times. And looking back, she said she did so in an effort to protect Luis.
“There’s a lot of times … I’m like, ‘You know what? I’m not doing this. This is bulls**t,'” she confirmed.
In addition to her own relationship being spotlighted, Jennifer’s marriage will also be a hot topic amid season 12, which Teresa feels “really, really bad” about.
“It bothers me so much because her children have to go through this now. It’s not something that they signed up for… It’s very sad. And I mean, you know where it all came from,” Teresa noted, seemingly giving a nod to Margaret’s potential involvement.
As for her daughters’ comments about their uncle, Joe Gorga, who basically blamed their dad, Joe Giudice, for the death of his and Teresa’s parents last season, Teresa encouraged them to “stand in [their] truth.”
“If that’s how they feel, speak your mind,” Teresa stated. “And hopefully the other party will see where you’re coming from.”
Later on in the interview, Teresa said that while she “definitely [doesn’t] want [her wedding] on [RHONJ],” she’s open to the idea of a spinoff or special. She then noted that she and Luis are still deciding on where they want to wed.
While the couple initially planned to get married in Capri, Italy, where Luis first wanted to propose, they don’t have a wedding planner there and have checked out a number of locations locally.
“I want a place that’s so spectacular, the scenery is so beautiful. So if I find that… between Jersey and New York, if I find that it’ll happen here. If not, it’s gonna happen in, like, destination,” she revealed.
RHONJ Live Viewing – This is also the live viewing thread for tonight’s premiere episode of The Real Housewives of New Jersey season 12. Share your thoughts below as the episode airs at 8/7c on Bravo.
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