Teresa Giudice Breaks Her Silence on 15-Month Prison Sentence
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Charles Sykes/Bravo(NEW YORK) — On a special edition of Bravo’s Watch What Happens Live, recorded one day after her sentencing, Real Housewives of New Jersey star Teresa Giudice reacts for the first time on TV since she was sentenced last Thursday to 15 months behind bars, after she pleaded guilty to several counts of loan and bankruptcy fraud earlier this year.
Holding the hand of host Andy Cohen throughout the interview, Teresa said of her day in court, “My nerves were pulling. At one point, I couldn’t even move my fingers. Like, they were stuck. I couldn’t open my hands. My nerves were shot.”
The mother of four added that she wasn’t expecting to do time. “I’ve had sleepless nights. I mean, I, of course, I was shocked. I mean, it was very unexpected,” she continued.
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Teresa Giudice sat next to her husband Joe at his sentencing: he received 41 months in prison, and faces deportation back to his native Italy. Teresa said her focus is now on her four daughters.
“My husband is a great father, a great husband, but I do everything with my daughters,” she explained. “I’m the one that’s hands-on. All I’ve said to my husband was ‘Please take care of our daughters, that’s all I ask. You’ve gotta do what I do.’”
Eldest daughter Gia Giudice, whom viewers watched grow up on RHONJ, is handling the sentencing well, Teresa said.
“She said it’s going to be okay,” Teresa said. “She was being strong for me, I could tell. She said ‘Mommy don’t worry about it. I’ll be there. I’ll help Daddy with the girls.’ She said ‘That’ll make me a better mom. That’ll prepare me for when I’m a mom.’ Oh my god, it broke my heart when she said that. She said the one person she was worried about was me.”
Teresa said she’s learned from the ordeal to be more careful. “I’m a trustworthy person and sometimes I take what other people say and I just believe them and I trust them. And I can’t do that anymore,” she said. “I gotta make sure I fully understand something, or fully read it or find a lawyer, like a contract lawyer…that could help me.”
The special edition of Watch What Happens Live airs Monday at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Bravo.
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