Teresa Giudice revealed the interesting story of how she became a full cast member on The Real Housewives of New Jersey.
The OG threw it back 13 years ago on her podcast Namaste B$tches and went back to the beginning of her journey to our TVs.
Teresa told her co-host, Melissa Pfeister that she “wasn’t trying to get on the show.” But her girlfriend, Dina Manzo used to go to a beauty salon called Chateau in Franklin Lakes.
She explained that some producers went into the salon and explained that they were looking for beautiful women that had a luxurious lifestyle, beautiful mansions, etc.
The salon owner ended up recommending sisters-in-law Dina and Jacqueline Laurita. The producers interviewed them and liked them.
Dina then explained to Teresa that the producers would come to her house and film her having a regular day.
At the time Teresa was married to Joe Giudice and had three young daughters. She revealed that they were adding on to their house, and it was a construction site when the producers came.
The RHONJ producers loved Teresa Giudice
The producers loved Teresa and immediately offered her a contract.
In the meantime, Dina told Jacqueline that Danielle Staub could be a good fit for the show. However, Dina wanted to wait and see if they would get along with her.
But Jacqueline went ahead and told the producers about Danielle. They signed her on.
Teresa told Melissa, in the episode titled In the Beginning… of Housewives, “Danielle literally put it all out there and they loved it.”
Dina ended up feuding with Danielle on the show and the two had a falling out.
And no RHONJ fan will forget the moment that made Teresa famous. She physically flipped a table on Danielle in an iconic and TV gold moment.
She recreated the moment in her first dance routine on Dancing with the Stars.
Teresa Giudice didn’t want to sign her RHONJ contract
Teresa revealed that even though she was friends with Dina and Jacqueline, she didn’t feel comfortable with doing the show.
She thought it was a show about New Jersey moms. But she didn’t understand the premise, so she didn’t want to do it.
The Standing Strong author revealed that ironically, another woman who was supposed to join them on the show didn’t do it. Her husband told her that if she joined, he would end up in prison.
At one point on the podcast, Teresa said that they interviewed Caroline Manzo, Dina’s sister, and she signed her contract. Caroline and Dina were sisters married to two brothers.
Teresa revealed that Jacqueline, Dina, and Caroline all signed their contracts immediately.
However, she was still hesitant. She said, “I didn’t know what I was getting myself into. I was like, what is this?”
She turned to her then-husband, Joe, for advice and he told her, “If you want to do it, you do it. But I want no part of it.”
Teresa Giudice signed her RHONJ contract without a lawyer
Teresa said that Jacqueline finally wore her down and convinced her to join.
She revealed to a shocked Melissa, “It took me about 11 months to sign my contract.”
She laughed as she said, “The producers chased me. I guess they really knew what they wanted.”
She revealed that the producers called her all the time. But she was worried about the effect of the show on her children and her reputation.
Teresa, who was really close to Jacqueline at the time, had lunch with her one day. Jacqueline told her, “Come on, let’s do this. We’re gonna have a lot of fun together.”
Jacqueline had the contract and handed it to Teresa, and said, “Come on, sign on the dotted line.”
The Turning the Tables: From Housewife to Inmate and Back Again author said she didn’t even have a lawyer present. She signed the contract with Jacqueline.
They went to a FedEx drop box and Jacqueline dropped the envelope containing the contract in there, saying, “Here it goes!”
Teresa added, “C’est la vie! And here I am.”
She is the last standing OG on the show.
Teresa and Dina are still close, but Teresa and Jacqueline had a falling out on the show in Season 7.
Jacqueline pressed her to talk about her legal issues on the show and Teresa didn’t appreciate it. However, Teresa recently revealed that she is open to reconciliation.
The Real Housewives of New Jersey is on hiatus.