The Real Housewives of New Jersey fans thought Teresa Giudice would flip a table when she learned in the season 14 finale that Jackie Goldschneider had secretly been in communication with husband Luis Ruelas’ ex-girlfriend.
Instead, the mother of four stayed zen, telling her costars that she was “fine with it” and blaming whistleblower Margaret Josephs for bringing negative things about Ruelas to the media.
It was a bombshell moment that left fans confused. But as Giudice, 52, explained in an interview with BravoTV.com, she had long-suspected Ruelas’ ex had been speaking to her RHONJ rivals.
“I already knew what they were gonna say and I didn’t even flinch,” Giudice said. “I knew they were all hanging out with them. I knew they were all talking to them. Jackie had them at her house, because Margaret’s not going to be that dumb and have them at her house. … Margaret let Jackie do it because at the time, Jackie was Margaret’s puppet.”
She went on to note that she understood Goldschneider’s motivation for the meeting. At the time, the two were at odds after Giudice repeated a rumor that Goldschneider’s husband was cheating on her (something he has denied).
“I’m totally fine with Jackie doing that because I hurt her. I hurt her by putting out what I said about Evan,” Giudice said. “See? I’m a big girl. If I punch you, I get it, you’re gonna punch me back.”
“I could’ve gotten ugly, [but] that’s just not the person I am,” she added. “And I said that to her: Whatever she did in the past, I don’t care. I get why she did what she did. I get it. I just don’t roll like her.”
Giudice said that much on the RHONJ season 14 finale too, which aired on Sunday, Aug. 4. “I’m not surprised that Jackie talked to this person,” she said. “I get why she did it, because she thinks I was trying to hurt her with the Evan rumor. Which, I swear on my kids I was not trying to hurt her.”
‘RHONJ’ ‘s Jackie Goldschneider Says She’s ‘Really Proud’ of How She Handled Cheating Rumors
Evan Goldschneider and Jackie Goldschneider. Charles Sykes/Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty
For her part, Goldschneider was apologetic. “I was scared to tell you because I didn’t want to f— this up,” she told Giudice, explaining why she had lied about this in the past. “But I’m glad that you know, because I was always nervous that you would find out.”
In confessional, she justified her actions.
“It was February of 2021. That season opened with me and Teresa and the whole world was weighing in on whether or not my husband was cheating on me. Teresa and Jennifer were calling people trying to get information on my husband; trying to get pictures of women,” the Weight of Beautiful author said. “And here comes this women saying, ‘Hey, I got something to put in your pocket,’ so if Teresa was to say to me, ‘Well your husband did this,’ I could say, ‘Well your husband did this.’ That’s the game we were playing.”
“Who can blame me for doing it?” Goldschneider added, to BravoTV.com.
Dolores’ Last Supper is revealing more than anyone expected. #RHONJ pic.twitter.com/Y3BMK0KQ0J
— Bravo (@BravoTV) August 5, 2024
After the episode, Goldschneider said she talked on the phone with Giudice and Ruelas. “They were really unbothered by it,” she said. “[But] I felt bad. Regardless of what she had done to me in the past, I still felt bad.”
And as for Giudice, her beef with Josephs remains despite the Soirée founder “swearing on my son’s life” in the RHONJ season 14 finale that she had “nothing to do with” leaking negative things about Ruelas to the press.
Those things, Giudice has said, came directly from Ruelas’ ex, with whom he has been in an ongoing legal battle for the past four years. The two are barred from discussing one another publicly by name, but Giudice claimed on the show that an October court ruling proved Josephs was acting as a conduit.
“This will make your head spin,” said Giudice in a RHONJ episode that aired on July 28. “Luis is not allowed to speak about her. She’s not allowed to speak about him. So she gets out her information through Margaret.”
Margaret Josephs at BravoCon 2022. Charles Sykes/Bravo via Getty Images
The revelation didn’t shock Giudice’s costars, who noted that Giudice has long suspected Josephs of doing this. Even Josephs admitted to speaking with the ex, but insisted Goldschneider was the one behind the smear campaign against Ruelas.
“I didn’t put anything in the media,” Goldschneider said, denying the allegation. “I don’t know how to put anything in the media.”
Giudice appears to believe her. Despite the drama, she and Goldschneider are still close. “True friendship shines brightest through forgiveness and love 💕,” Giudice wrote on Instagram in July, captioning a picture of the two of them.
“Onward and upward,” Goldschneider captioned, sharing the photo on her Stories.
The Real Housewives of New Jersey wraps season 14 on Sunday, Aug. 11 at 8 p.m. ET on Bravo. Previous episodes can be streamed on Peacock.