The ‘Real Housewives of New Jersey’ star holds nothing back in her new book, sharing new information about her marriage and new truths about her time in prison.
If you thought Teresa Giudice revealed all in her post-prison memoir, Turning the Tables, think again.
The Real Housewives of New Jersey star gets really real in her follow-up, Standing Strong, even confessing that some of what she wrote in the first book wasn’t exactly true. Here are seven things we learned from Standing Strong, available everywhere now.
1. Teresa finally blames her husband, Joe, for their situation.
In her first book, Teresa never explicitly blamed her husband, Joe, for getting them into trouble with the law. Now, nearly a year out of prison, she’s changed her tune. In fact, a lot of the book involves Teresa working through her anger and resentment toward Joe, who is currently serving his own three-year sentence behind bars.
“Joe was a pretty good husband,” she says at one point. “Until he royally f**ked up.”
Teresa goes on to call Joe “stupid” and admits she finds it hard to believe he didn’t know he was doing anything wrong. Joe did eventually tell Teresa he was “sorry,” but she claims it took months into his prison sentence for it to happen.
She also shares an untold story, which she says -- looking back -- should have been a sign of what was to come. Teresa confesses that she and Joe attempted in vitro fertilization before she started RHONJ, in hopes of conceiving a boy. When the process didn’t work, Teresa says “stubborn” Joe refused to pay the clinic its $10,000 fee, because why should he pay for something that failed? The clinic eventually put a lien on the couple’s home, and Teresa says she wasn’t able to pay it off until she was out of prison.
2. She’s open to the idea of divorce.
Teresa’s time away from Joe has her thinking a lot about the future of their relationship. While she’s adamant that she will not divorce her husband while he’s incarcerated, she says she’s not sure she’ll want to stay in the marriage once he’s out. She refers to their relationship as “estranged” and talks about Joe starting his “own life” once he’s out.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen,” she writes. “I mean, do I see Joe and me together in 10 years? Do I see us growing old together? I don’t know … If things with Joe aren’t good or the same between us when he gets home, I’d absolutely end our relationship.”
Teresa notes she would be the first person in her family to ever get divorced, but she’s OK with that.
“Everybody has this impression of me that I think you have to stay with your man no matter what,” she notes. “Maybe I felt that way at one time, but I don’t anymore. You stay with your man only if you’re happy.”
Teresa stays true to what she’s always said, that if Joe cheats on her -- she’s done with him.
3. Teresa dreams of leaving New Jersey behind.
Multiple times in the book, Teresa admits she would love to leave her home state and start fresh somewhere else with her daughters. In the opening passage of the book, she fantasizes about moving to Kentucky.
“What if I was no longer Teresa Giudice, reality television star from New Jersey,” she asks, “and I became Teresa Smith, real estate agent from Louisville or Lexington?”
“I would love to all move to California together one day,” she writes later. “I really would. I’m not kidding. That’s my dream. What? I hear surfing gives you great abs!”
Still, a move is unlikely to happen anytime soon. Teresa isn’t shy to repeatedly point out that she is the family’s sole breadwinner -- and that she needs The Real Housewives of New Jersey to go on for at least a few more seasons to fully get the family back on its feet.
4. Teresa’s first book wasn’t totally truthful.
Along with calling out Joe for messing up their life, Teresa confesses to a few other pieces of information she kept hidden in her first memoir. The most notable is her once-strained relationship with sister-in-law, and RHONJ co-star, Melissa Gorga.
Melissa was never added to Teresa’s visitor list at prison. At the time, Teresa said that the prison was to blame and that they never approved Melissa. Now, she reveals the truth.
“I was still too angry with her for everything that had happened between us,” Teresa admits, citing how Melissa questioned what went down with Teresa and Joe’s legal issues.”
“I kept saying she didn’t get approved,” she adds. “But the truth was that at that time, I really had no desire to be in her presence, especially considering where I was.”
5. Former bestie Jacqueline Laurita is dead to her.
Teresa completely writes off her longtime co-star in the book, noting their failed attempt to reconnect on season seven of the Bravo show sealed Jacqueline’s fate, in Teresa’s eyes.
“There are things and certain people I will never forgive, and Jacqueline is one of them,” she writes. “She intended to hurt me, and as a result, she hurt my family. She manipulated and schemed behind the scenes, stirring the pot the whole time. She is a master at that. I gave her a lot of freaking chances, and in the end, the things she did were unforgivable.”
Teresa claims Jacqueline “plotted to destroy [her] life” on the show, spreading rumors about her. She says Jacqueline tried to turn Teresa’s friends against her.
Jacqueline isn’t the only former co-star slammed in the book. Teresa says she was “disgusted” by her cousin, Kathy Wakile, who appeared on seasons two through seven, for how she acted after Teresa’s mother died (she didn’t make it to the funeral because she was on vacation). There’s also some good co-star talk. Teresa admits she’s “thrilled” Danielle Staub is back in the mix for the new season of the series and that she really likes season eight newbie Margaret Josephs.
6. She talks Trump… a lot.
There’s a whole chapter devoted to the now-president in Standing Strong. Teresa was one of the first celebrities to come out in support of Donald Trump for president, and now she’s explaining why. It all goes back to her time with him on the set of Celebrity Apprentice. Teresa says she developed “great respect” for the entire family, especially Ivanka.
“One of the very first calls I received [after I left prison] was from Ivanka Trump,” she recalls. “She also sent me a beautiful note. I was so flattered. She really is a class act.”
Teresa says she liked the idea of a woman president, “just not one named Hillary Clinton.”
“I think Bill Clinton messed things up for her, kind of like Joe did for me,” she admits. “Also, I don’t understand why she didn’t get in trouble for all those emails she sent. Why did I get in trouble and she didn’t?”
Teresa says she “rooted” for Trump because she knew him in real life -- but, get this: she didn’t vote for him! Because of her probation, Teresa was actually ineligible to cast a vote. She also views Trump as an inspiration, writing, “I’d love to have an empire and an office like his one day.”
7. Teresa wants to build an empire.
Tre is dreaming big! Being the sole financial provider for herself, four kids and her ailing father means Teresa is constantly looking for new revenue streams -- and she has a lot of ideas.
“I want to be the next Martha Stewart,” she confesses.
Teresa shares that she is developing a new show, separate from Housewives, that she plans to executive produce, and toying with the idea of returning to her fashion roots. She was a longtime department store buyer before reality TV.
“I’m starting to make inroads in creating lines of shoes, clothing, exercise gear and accessories,” she rattles off. “Also bathing suits and cover-ups. I love, love, love swimwear so that would be perfect for me. Everyone keeps telling me I should do a children’s line, too. I’m really into that … I’d also love to branch out into things for the home, such as decor and whatnot.”
Pick up your own copy of Standing Strong for more confessions, and tune into the season premiere of The Real Housewives of New Jersey on Wednesday, Oct. 4, at 9 p.m. ET on Bravo.