Teresa Giudice

**Teresa Giudice** (nee Gorga; born May 18, 1972) is an American television personality and author. She is best known for starring in the Bravo reality series The Real Housewives of New Jersey.

## Early Life

Giudice was born in Paterson, New Jersey to parents Giacinto and Antonia Gorga, Italian immigrants from Sala Consilina. She has one younger brother, Giuseppe "Joe" Gorga and they were both raised in the Roman Catholic faith. Her mother died in 2017 and her father in 2020.

She attended Berkeley College in New Jersey and earned a degree in Fashion Marketing and Management.

## Career

Giudice worked for Macy's as an associate buyer.

Since starring on The Real Housewives of New Jersey, Giudice has co-authored three successful cookbooks that include recipes handed down from her mother: Skinny Italian, Fabulicious, and Fabulicious!: Fast & Fit. These are alongside a memoir, co-written with K.C. Baker, Turning the Tables: From Housewife to Inmate and Back Again, revolving around her time in prison. She also has a sixth book called Standing Strong and has had four of them be in the New York Times Best Sellers. Giudice also created Fabellini, a line of bellini cocktails, as well as a haircare line with Jerel Sabella named after her daughter Milania.

In 2012, Giudice joined the cast of The Celebrity Apprentice 5 (also known as The Apprentice 12), and ultimately raised $70,000 for her selected charity, The NephCure Foundation. She was fired in episode 12, after placing fifth.

She is a committee member for Project Ladybug, a charity founded by fellow RHONJ co-star Dina Manzo.

In May 2017, Giudice, Joe Gorga and Melissa Gorga opened a restaurant named Gorga's Homemade Pasta & Pizza in East Hanover, New Jersey. The restaurant closed in January 2018.

### The Real Housewives of New Jersey

In 2009, Teresa joined the cast of the Bravo reality television series for the first season. She has been the longest running housewife and has appeared in every season since.

#### **RHONJ Taglines**

* Season 1 and 2 - "People make fun of Jersey girls but I think they're just jealous."
* Season 3 - "I'm a Jersey girl. No one can knock me down."
* Season 4 - "When times get tough you learn who your real friends are."
* Season 5 - "Haters are gonna hate but I just love, love, love."
* Season 6 - "You never know how strong you are until it's the only choice you have."
* Season 7 - "I used to flip tables, now I'm turning them."
* Season 8 - "If your not about the namaste get the hell out of my way."
* Season 9 - "These days I don't throw punches, I roll with them."
* Season 10 - "If you rub me the wrong way, there'll be no more namaste."
* Season 11 - "They say it's never too late to start over. I say starting over never tasted so good."

## Personal Life

### Marriages and Children

Giudice has been married once. She married businessman Giuseppe "Joe" Giudice on October 23, 1999 and together they have four daughters: Gia (born January 8, 2001), Gabriella (born October 5, 2004), Milania (born February 2, 2006) and Audriana (born September 14, 2009). The couple separated in 2019 after twenty years of marriage and the divorce was finalised in 2020.

She is now in a relationship with Louie Ruelas.

### Legal Problems

In October 2009, the Giudices filed for bankruptcy. An auction of furniture from their Montville, New Jersey home was initially scheduled for August 22, 2010, but was postponed and then cancelled as the couple withdrew their petition for bankruptcy.

On July 29, 2013, Teresa and Joe Giudice were charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud and bank fraud, making false statements on loan applications and bankruptcy fraud in a 39-count indictment. The indictment also charged Joe Giudice with failure to file tax returns for tax years 2004 through 2008, during which time he allegedly earned nearly $1 million. Teresa's attorney told the Associated Press she would plead not guilty and "we look forward to vindicating her."

On August 14, 2013, the two pleaded not guilty in federal court to financial fraud charges.

Joe Giudice stood trial on November 19, 2013, on individual charges that he allegedly used marriage and birth certificates belonging to his brother to fraudulently obtain a driver's license in 2010. Giudice's own driver's license had been suspended following a DUI arrest on January 13, 2010. After he was convicted, Joe's license was suspended for 12 months and he was sentenced to 20 days of community service. As he employed the same defense attorney in both trials, U.S. District Judge Esther Salas moved the date of the tax case, involving both Teresa and Joe, from October 8, 2013 to February 24, 2014.

On March 4, 2014, Teresa and Joe entered a guilty plea to 41 counts of fraud, following a deal struck with federal prosecutors. The couple was accused of engaging in bank, mail, wire and bankruptcy fraud, which allegedly saw them net over $5 million over a 10-year period. On October 2, 2014, Teresa was sentenced to 15 months in a federal prison; Joe was sentenced to 41 months, followed by potential deportation to Italy. Together, the couple must also pay $414,000 in restitution. Teresa and Joe were allowed to stagger their sentences so one parent could stay with their children. She began her sentence first, on January 5, 2015. She surrendered herself to the Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury, Connecticut (seven hours ahead of schedule). At Danbury, Teresa was known as Inmate No. 65703-050 and was scheduled for a two months' early release on February 16, 2016. Giudice was ultimate released on December 23, 2015.

In July 2015, Giudice's primary residence in Towaco was in the primary stages of foreclosure, while the couple's summer home in Beach Haven West, in Stafford Township, New Jersey, was foreclosed; the latter was auctioned in a sheriff's sale on August 18, 2015, and received no bids. The residence was bought back by the Giudice's mortgage holder for $100. In November 2015, Giudice's primary residence was no longer in foreclosure.

In December 2014, Giudice filed a $5 million lawsuit against her bankruptcy lawyer, James Kridel, for failing to meet with her before filing bankruptcy documents. In March 2017, the lawsuit was announced to be moving forward.

In June 2018, it was announced Giudice's bankruptcy case from 2009 had been dismissed. Giudice will pay restitution to the New Jersey state department of treasury and the IRS.

In March 2019, Joe Giudice completed his sentence and was transferred to an ICE facility to wait on a pending case about whether he shall be deported or not to his native country, Italy, as he never became a United States citizen despite living in the United States since he was one year old. In October 2019, Giudice returned to Italy to await a decision on the case. In April 2020, Giudice's third appeal was denied.

## Family

**Husbands and Partners**

* Joe Giudice (Ex-husband; 1999-2020)
* Louie Ruelas (Boyfriend; 2020-present)

**Children**

* Gia Giudice
* Gabriella Giudice
* Milania Giudice
* Audriana Giudice

**Parents**

* Giacinto Gorga
* Antonia Gorga

**Siblings**

* Joe Gorga

**Nieces and Nephews**

* Antonia Gorga
* Gino Gorga
* Joey Gorga

**Cousins**

* Kathy Wakile
* Rosie Pierri

## Bibliography

* Skinny Italian: Eat It and Enjoy It? Live La Bella Vita and Look Great, Too! - (April 16, 2010)
* Fabulicious!: Teresa's Italian Family Cookbook - (May 3, 2011)
* Fabulicious!: Fast & Fit: Teresa's Low-Fat, Super-Easy Italian Recipes - (May 8, 2012)
* Fabulicious!: On the Grill: Teres'a Smoking Hot Backyard Recipes - (May 7, 2013)
* Turning the Tables: From Housewife to Inmate and Back Again - (February 9, 2016)
* Standing Strong - (October 3, 2017)