The Real Housewives of New Jersey’s Teresa Giudice might still be locked up, but her family is still the subject of Bravo’s newest spin-off, Real Housewives of New Jersey: Teresa Checks In.
Certainly, the Giudice family – who found fame and jail time through greed – are happy about the publicity.
But not everyone is supportive of the new spin-off the features Teresa’s family, including her three children.
Fellow NJ housewife Amber Marchese and her husband Jim Marchese opened up to Radar Online about the Giudice’s decision to feature the family on television while Teresa is in jail.
She claims the Giudices are “exchanging their kids’ mental health for a paycheck!” And we have to agree.
Teresa’s children – Gia, 14, Milania, 9, Gabriella, 8, and Audriana, 3 – were the focal point on the show that Jim called “dark endorsement of criminal behavior and exploitation of children.”
Of course, it wouldn’t be drama without a volleying of insults. Teresa isn’t there to fight back or flip tables, so Andy Cohen stepped in to augment the drama.
Cohen reminded Amber and Jim that they, too, put their children on television.
But Amber claims the situations are entirely different.
“I usually remain silent regarding all Real Housewives of New Jersey shenanigans, especially Andy and Bravo’s judgments of what makes ‘RHONJ‘ great, however he publicly criticized my decision to include my children on the show,” Amber stated.
She added, “They crossed a line and so now, they get my iron fist response!”
Amber reminded Andy Cohen that her children were only filmed during family gatherings:
“Jim and I, as parents only had our children participate in family events, such as ginger bread house making, a fall harvest party, and a cute kid’s commercial for our family business.”
“We never had them in ‘adult situations’ or speaking about ‘adult issues.’” Like prison?” she snapped back.
“We have all had difficult times in our lives: Melissa and Joe [Gorga] moved into a rental for a while; Jackie and Chris [Laurita] spend thousands on care for their son; and Jim and I have had our challenges,” Amber empathized.
But she reminded Cohen, “We are not having our children eat of off ‘Gucci plates,’ nor are we living in a home that the mortgage is unpaid.”
Not only did Amber slam the Giudice’s lavish and fraudulent lifestyle, she claimed Teresa and husband Joe Giudice aren’t invested in the interest of their own children.
“One of the things about Melissa, Jackie and I remains constant: we focus on our children and their best interests,” she said.
“The same cannot be said for Teresa and Joe G. They are literally exchanging their children’s mental health for a pay check!”
Not only did she bash Teresa calling her a sh*tty mother, she also called her a sh*tty friend: “Melissa and I have been friends for about 15 years and Jacqueline and I for a year and a half or so. I have first hand witnessed how Teresa has treated her friends and family.”
She continued, “Teresa used me, pretending to be my friend, but all the while she was setting me up to take the brunt of the Victoria Ghotti scandal!”
“It was no accident that Teresa picked me to go with her to hear that disgusting rumor about the twins, and it also was not a coincident that Tre was not in Florida when it came out.”
Amber took a beating on her first season of the show. But now she is ready to stand up for herself.
“I have remained silent on this subject for so long because karma seemed to be taking a life on its own for all of the awful things she has done to people,” Amber said.
“She is sitting in jail. But the truth of the matter is, she went to great lengths to humiliate the twins and their families; she has been cruel to Melissa, and she has been cruel to Jacqueline. That is the absolute reality of this all.”
“I always say, you cannot always tell who the anchor truly is in a family or group of friends, until they are gone,” she concluded.
“It is no coincidence, there has been no drama in the last eight months [of Teresa’s prison stint] and all of us are still friends!”
It’s also probably not a coincidence that this drama is emerging in the final months before filming for Season 7 begins.
The Real Housewives of New Jersey is slated to begin filming after Teresa is released from prison next month. And the cameras can’t roll without the drama.