During filming for Season 14 of The Real Housewives of New Jersey, Margaret Josephs learned that her husband, Joe Benigno, had prostate cancer — and she’s now sharing an update on how he’s doing.
“He’s OK,” Margaret said on the August 29 episode of the podcast, Taste of Taylor.
The New Jersey resident then shared that her husband got “three opinions” about what the best course of action would be for his tumor. He ultimately chose not to get it taken out, and Margaret explained why.
“A lot of people are like, ‘Just get it out,’ [but] the treatment’s much worse. If you get it out, you do have other issues…” she said. “It is extremely curable but with a lot of side effects.”
Plus, since the tumor was discovered, Margaret said that it “has not changed at all” in size.
“It’s very stagnant, not changing…” she said about where Joe’s health stands today. “They said it might not grow for 10 years so they just check him every few months.”
Joe Benigno’s prostate cancer diagnosis
Margaret previously opened up about Joe’s prostate cancer diagnosis in an interview with BravoTV.com during filming for RHONJ Season 14.
As viewers saw on the show, Joe went to the doctor to do a urine test, and his results showed that he had “slightly abnormal” exosomal RNA levels. While it was unclear at the time whether Joe had prostate cancer because the levels were only a bit high, the doctor assured Margaret and Joe that if it was, in fact, cancer, they had caught it “early.” He then did an MRI, which is when he learned that he did have cancer.
”He actually does have prostate cancer, and they’re just doing active surveillance right now [and] not treating it,” Margaret told BravoTV.com at the time. “He and I are both very strong and he is a very strong man with it.”
Margaret and Joe during The Real Housewives of New Jersey Season 14. Photo: Jocelyn Prescod/Bravo
Margaret Josephs shares an update on her marriage to Joe Benigno
Though Joe has been dealing with the serious health matter, it’s only brought him “closer” to his wife.
“You know, everything just brings us closer, and we realize what we have in our [lives],” Margaret told BravoTV.com. “We’re both very committed to each other, committed to our family, committed to our [lives] together.”
She added that she feels “very, very blessed” to be married to Joe.
“I’m really lucky,” she said. “And I think we’ve had a lot of blows this year-and-a-half, I mean first Jan [Josephs] dies and then I find out my husband has cancer.”
Hear more from Margaret in the video at the top of this post.