Real Housewives Of New Jersey fans are again disturbed by something Luis “Louie” Ruelas, husband of Teresa Giudice, claimed to have said to his wife’s daughters.
You might be asking: Wait, aren’t RHONJ watchers bothered because he said that he hoped Margaret Josephs’ son would “suffer,” and then over a weak apology Ruelas issued later on Instagram?
Yes, yes, they are.
But Louie grossed fans out further when discussing the Giudice girls and “thongs,” creating an entirely new and unrelated controversy.
In this instance, viewer outrage followed remarks Luis made about Teresa’s four daughters by ex-husband Joe Giudice — Gia, Milania, Gabriella, and Audriana.
Luis was a guest this week on his wife Teresa’s Turning The Tables podcast, and what he said about his advice to the Giudice girls made RHONJ fans’ skin crawl:
Andy Cohen wants to pause Leah McSweeney’s lawsuit until they decide on his motion to dismiss it.
Louie Said He Told The Giudice Girls To ‘Wear Thongs’
Via Instar
‘Do It … Do It Now!’
As mentioned above, Luis is arguably in perpetual hot water with Real Housewives Of New Jersey fans for one reason or another.
Most recently, Louie’s fervent, on-camera wish for Margaret’s son to “suffer” disgusted not only the audience — even Andy Cohen openly castigated Ruelas after the scene aired.
RHONJ’s Season 14 finale, “When All Is Said And Done,” aired on August 4, which is relevant in the context of one theory about Teresa’s decision to bring him on for Turning The Tables two days later.
A celeb news account (@krissyballs) clipped the segment in question into an Instagram Reel with commentary, speculating that Teresa and Luis coordinated the timing of Turning The Tables to mitigate the backlash they anticipated would occur after the finale.
In other words, Teresa and Louie might have suspected the RHONJ finale would not be flattering to them, and the Instagram user suggests that this podcast was planned as a form of “damage control”:
There’s quite a bit to unpack here, not the least of which was a portion of the caption:
“Between this and the ‘individual dates’?”
Before we get into Louie’s “thong” comments, there’s the mention of “individual dates,” which references yet another controversy, one which stemmed from a producer saying Ruelas takes the Giudice girls on “date nights” with Teresa’s blessing.
It’s not necessarily uncommon (although perhaps now outdated) for parents to describe one-on-one time with children as a “date night,” but it’s far less common for stepparents for very obvious reasons — and it’s not the only out-of-pocket thing he’s said about Teresa’s daughters.
Then there’s the clip above, and what Louie said on Turning The Tables this week about the Giudice girls, who he said are the “most proper girls” he has “ever met.”
As Teresa effusively nodded in agreement for the duration of his comments, Louie explained the “thong” advice he gave to her daughters during a family trip to Greece:
“Try it, try it all … You know, nothing bad, or anything like that … Go to the club and dance! Wear a thong!
“Wear a short skirt! … Show your legs off a little bit … [crosstalk] it’s like, experience it now, take risks …
“Like, we went to Greece last year. You know what we told your daughters? Wear … wear a thong. Do it now. Do it now, ’cause I didn’t do it when I was young. Do it now. Experience it now.
“And when they came out in thongs, you’re like , [unintelligible] ‘You guys look f****** amazing.'”
The manner in which Louie recounted advising the Giudice girls to wear thongs and short skirts was a bit confusing to follow.
In particular, Teresa reacted at points as if it was the first she’d heard of it, and Louie perplexingly asked: “You know what we told your daughters?”
An August 7 Reddit post about Louie and concerns about “Teresa’s safety” addressed her husband’s behavior in general, but one commenter raised the “thongs” thing as a red flag:
” … I am more concerned about [Luis Ruelas’] perverted advice to his stepdaughters. Wear thongs and show off your legs??
“I don’t know any respectable father that would tell his daughters that. Now Teresa can take a hike if she approves of this. Joe Guidice, too. See something. Say something.”
Shocked Instagram commenters voiced similar feelings, and one remarked:
“That has to be the most inappropriate thing I’ve ever heard a man much less a step father say about 4 young girls that is so gross and very uncomfortable to watch…
” … coming from someone who has a stepfather and I very much look at him like a father he would’ve never uttered these words to me or about me…Louie should stop while he’s ahead[.]”
On August 9, @krissyballs updated to indicate Luis’ “thong” comments had been edited out of Teresa’s Turning The Tables.