Teresa Giudice talked more candidly than ever before today about the very unusual and unfortunate situation affecting her family.
Appearing as a guest on Good Morning America, the Real Housewives of New Jersey mainstay discussed her husband’s deportation at length.
(It really is true: Joe Giudice will be deported back to Italy after he’s released from prison in 2019 because he committed a felony and he never became a U.S. citizen, despite moving here for good as a child.)
Teresa described the sentencing, which a judge handed down last month, as “heartbreaking” during her spot on GMA.
She then elaborated as follows:
“Very sad. The girls are really upset. You know, it’s hard for them … Adults can handle anything. It’s hard for children to go through this. They’re asking themselves, ‘Why is this happening to me?’
“Like, ‘I want my daddy to come home."”
Teresa and Joe are parents to a quartet of daughters:
Gia, 17, Gabriella, 14, Milania, 12, and Audriana, 9.
Both Gia and Milania have made public pleas for the deportation ruling to be overturned, with the former writing on Instagram:
“My father is no threat to society. He is one of the most warm hearted people I know.
“My father did his time. And learned from his mistakes. Isn’t being in there supposed to make you realize your mistakes so you can become a better person?”
Teresa, meanwhile, says she’s been getting support herself from Gia, saying on Good Morning America:
“I tell her every day she’s like the rock of her sisters. She’s helping me, you know, explain things to them – because my third daughter is having a really hard time with this.”
In 2014, Teresa and Joe each pleaded guilty to 41 counts of fraud, including mail, wire and bankruptcy fraud.
Moreover, Joe admitted that he did not pay approximately $ 200,000 in taxes.
It totally sucks that four young girls will be living far apart from their father, but it’s hard to have too much sympathy for rich people who break the law and try to game the system.
Teresa served 11 months behind bars in 2015; Joe’s 41-month sentence started the following year.
Then, on October 10, a judge found the restaurateur “deportable and ineligible for any kind of relief,” ordering him to leave the United States when his sentence concludes in March.
Giudice has said she will remain by Joe’s side even when he leaves the country, but various insiders have said otherwise.
They predict a divorce.
“I never thought I would be in this position,” Teresa said on GMA, adding:
“We’ve been through a lot. I’ve gone through ups and downs, like being angry – but listen, I have to stay strong.
“I have four beautiful daughters that, you know, they need their mommy.”
What’s the plan moving forward?
Where will Teresa go from here?
“Just take it one day at a time,” she concluded this morning. “That’s it.”
