Jennifer Aydin claims she never processed husband Bill Aydin‘s affair — and for good reason.
Amid the ongoing drama surrounding Bill’s infidelity on The Real Housewives of New Jersey, Jennifer admitted that she has steered clear of certain conversations with Bill because she fears they could be detrimental to the future of their marriage.
“I didn’t [process the affair],” Jennifer declared on the March 9 episode of the RHONJ: After Show.
According to Jen, she was surprised at how emotional she got during season 12 and noted that she often told herself, “Get it together.’” However, at the time of the actual affair, Jennifer blocked things out completely.
“We both tried so hard to do whatever we can to make this relationship work for the children and for the life. And when I say the life I don’t mean the house, I mean the home, the home that Bill and I have created for my children,” Jennifer explained. “And it’s scary to me to think that the more we talk about things, the more… what if we realize we don’t want to be together? Is that a risk we’re willing to take?”
In addition to Jen’s concerns about the fallout that could potentially erupt between her and Bill if they were to have an in-depth conversation about his cheating, her husband is sure he wants to continue in their marriage.
“He’s like, ‘I want to be married to you for the rest of my life. I want you and I to be a family with our children for the rest… I don’t care if Cinderella comes rolling in on a red carpet with her titles out. I don’t want to be with anybody but you. You are the mother of my children,’” she shared. “And I look at him and I’m like, ‘I have to fight for him just as much.’”
Continuing on, Jennifer said that she’s unconcerned with how people feel about her decision to move on quickly from Bill’s betrayal.
“This is my way of processing. You can take it however you want, sign of weakness, this, that… At the end of the day, I am unbothered by what you think,” she insisted.
Although Jennifer claims this is what works for her, she has a couple of doubters, including Dolores Catania, who confronted her during Tuesday’s episode and encouraged her to address her unresolved issues with Bill.
“I’m a little bit in shock by how she took it,” Dolores admitted. “You just can’t cut it off, say, ‘Okay, buy me a new ring, let me have another baby, let me have two more kids, let’s buy a big house, buy my mother a house. Do this.’ All of that is well and good but down the road, it’s going to come back and bite you.”
And Margaret Josephs agreed, suggesting that Jennifer puts too much weight on material things.
“Jennifer’s value is based on, in my opinion, of what other people think of her… her value is perceived in that. So that’s why I feel bad, and that’s an unfortunate thing,” Margaret stated. “And that’s why I said she’s not truly happy. And it’s not because of what Bill did. It’s because her perception is always, ‘What does everyone think of me? What do I have?’”
Amid her criticism of Jennifer, Margaret has been accused of being jealous of her co-star. But, according to her, Jennifer has “nothing to be jealous of.”
“I’m not defined by my material possessions or what anyone thinks of me. And I think her definition [is] ‘I’m a doctor’s wife and I have a big house,'” she shared.
Margaret also said she felt badly that she didn’t realize how many unresolved issues remained in Jennifer’s marriage.
“I had no idea she never healed from this. If anything like that goes on, it’s like, I go to therapy. We deal with it in the moment, we heal, we work through it. We don’t bury it and pretend it never happened. So knowing that now, of course I feel horrible that she had to go through that,” Margaret admitted.
The Real Housewives of New Jersey season 12 airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on Bravo.