Margaret Josephs doesn’t believe Luis Ruelas is all that similar to Teresa Giudice‘s first husband, Joe Giudice.
While some have suggested that both men had control over Teresa, 52, prompting her blind loyalty to each of them, the 57- Real Housewives of New Jersey star signaled major differences, accusing Luis, 50, of programming his wife and suggesting he’s not a “real man” while also dishing on her Bravo salary and funeral flowers.
“I wasn’t around for the Joe Giudice days. But he has kind eyes. Maybe he’s not always the sharpest. He made mistakes and all of these things but with that being said, he’s not evil to the bone. There’s a big difference,” Margaret said of Luis and Joe, 52, on the August 29 episode of Taste of Taylor. “Joe Giudice, every time he FaceTimes, everything else, he loves his daughters, he made big mistakes, he’s paid for his mistakes. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him say the horrible things that Luis has said.”
According to Margaret, Luis and Joe are “very different.” In fact, she believes Luis is on a different level and has caused a number of fractured relationships in Teresa’s life, including her friendship with Dina Manzo, 52.
“When you’re going against every single person in your life, relationships have been fractured, all anybody said to her was just ‘Keep your eyes open.’ She’s not close with Dina anymore. I don’t know what happened there but when you’re losing relationships, you’re not close with your brother anymore, I did not do one thing to her. I just said, ‘Get ahead of things.’ I asked questions. I didn’t put anything out there,” she shared. “No one’s allowed to question her. No one’s allowed to say anything. She thinks no one wants her to be happy. Everybody only wished her happiness and wanted her to have a good life.”
“I think she hasn’t stayed humble and that’s really what happened. It’s okay to have one person and an ex in your life who’s crazy. Everybody’s not crazy. When it’s everybody else, it’s you. It can’t be everybody else,” Margaret added.
As RHONJ season 14 came to an end last month, Margaret revealed that Jackie Goldschneider, 47, had secretly met with Luis’ ex-girlfriends. However, Teresa didn’t react as she expected. Instead, she brushed off Jackie’s meddling, noting that they weren’t friends at the time.
“Teresa, it has to sink in, has to go through the cobwebs, has to go through everything. There’s a lot of fillers to get through,” Margaret explained, adding that Teresa, also “needs people on her side.”
“She wasn’t going to go against Jackie,” Teresa noted. “She’s like, ‘Well it makes sense. She was against me.’”
Two years into Teresa and Luis’ marriage, Margaret accused her castmate of being “programmed” by her spouse.
“Teresa has been programmed to hate me and it was me and she believed it all along it was me so she was like, ‘Margaret, Margaret, Margaret.’ She was programmed against me [by Luis] the whole time,” she stated.
She then reacted to Luis’ comment about wishing suffering on her son.
“Kids are off limits. Husbands are on the show with us. My kids, when people do things to my private citizens who are not on camera is a whole different thing. And [Luis] made that non-apology, calling me a liar,” Margaret recalled.
While Margaret surely had plenty to say about the matter, she instead pointed to statements made by Andy Cohen, 56, who shaded Luis for bringing the “darkest moment” to the show.
“The world saw his character. We’re not gonna repeat it. I think that says it all,” she concluded.
After revealing that she watches “every episode” of RHONJ, Margaret confirmed she is paid by the episode.
“Yes. The less episodes, the less money for the Marge,” she explained.
Then, when she was asked when she knew that her co-stars had reached a point of no return, she gave a nod to the cast divide, saying that they “all stayed very separate” as she threw some more shade at Luis.
“My husband’s an angel and he would never say anything bad about anybody’s children or speak ill to a woman. He’s a man. That’s a real man. No man would speak hostile to a woman,” she declared.
Also on the podcast, Margaret admitted that when it came to sending funeral flowers to Teresa and her attorney, James J. Leonard, Jr., amid Teresa’s meeting about her own communication with Luis’ exes, she had help from production.
“I knew they were having that burn meeting. I was like, ‘I’m gonna make this like a joke’ because it is a joke because they’re acting so serious … So that morning, I just called production, I said, ‘What time is the scene?’ They told me what it was and all I did was call a florist in her area — and they didn’t love her that much — so they rushed it over,” she shared. “I paid double. It was like $450. But they were great. Best florist ever.”
“I had to use her own words against her [in the note]. Love love love, the Marge. It felt good. It felt great. I was thinking, ‘What could I send over there?’ Because it really was the death of their dignity. I’m pretty shady. It’s petty. It’s housewife-ery. That’s what we need. We don’t need the dark, deep sh*t,” she added.
The Real Housewives of New Jersey is currently on hiatus ahead of season 15.