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Teresa Giudice and Dina Manzo used to be the best of friends. But these days, the ladies don’t see one another as often as they once did.
While appearing on Carlos King‘s podcast on Tuesday, the 52-year-old Real Housewives of New Jersey cast member explained her current status with Dina, 52, as she addressed her absence at her August 2022 wedding to Luis Ruelas, 50, spoke of criticism against her spouse, and looked back at her time on Bravo.
“[Dina] just doesn’t feel comfortable coming back to Jersey,” Teresa explained on the July 2 episode of Reality With The King.
As RHONJ fans will recall, Dina’s ex-husband, Thomas “Tommy” Manzo, 59, was accused of hiring a hitman to attack her current husband, Dave Cantin, in 2015. And during a separate incident, she and Dave were assaulted in their home.
“It’s scary for her cause of what happened and I totally respect that so that’s it… [But] we’re good,” Teresa insisted. “She just wants to keep her distance. She doesn’t want people to know when she comes to Jersey… Like her and [Audriana Giudice] text, we text.”
“And I totally respect it. I understand,” she continued. “At first I was upset that she didn’t come to the wedding but… it’s really damaging what happened to her, now I totally understand. You know, if I was her, I wouldn’t want to come back to Jersey ’cause it’s scary.”
While there were rumors suggesting that Dave and Luis had a falling out ahead of Teresa’s nuptials that led him and Dina to skip the event, Teresa denied the report, saying, “She didn’t want to be filmed and it’s okay. And I was totally fine with it.”
As for claims that Luis isn’t right for her and that he’s potentially using her, Teresa suggested that fans will see more of the truth about her husband as season 14 continues.
“You need to watch the rest of the season to see how it plays out. And my husband took his company public the day before I met him, on the Nasdaq. So right there says it all. That says it all,” she declared. “My husband should have made me sign a prenup ’cause he didn’t make me sign a prenup. He obviously has more money than I do. We bought a $5 million home. He bought a home and put it in both of our names. He just showed me the type of man that he is, and not that I have to prove that to anybody, and I don’t. He treats my daughters like they’re his own.”
“I’ve never seen a man. Like, it’s hard to find a Luis Ruelas. It really is,” she added.
Meanwhile, as she looked back on her potential RHONJ regrets, Teresa admitted that she doesn’t always enjoy being featured on the series.
“I go back and forth with it. It is very toxic right now, but I guess this is part of my journey so you never say no regrets. I had to go through all this,” she reasoned. “[But] I’m still not enjoy… I guess there’s parts that I do enjoy, but I’m not enjoy, I’m not like loving it cause it’s too toxic.”
Teresa went on to tease her upcoming role on House of Villains, suggesting that viewers will see more of who she really is on the E! series.
“I’m going to be on House of Villains. You know what, that was a fun show. And at first, I didn’t want to do House of Villains,” she shared. “I’m like House of Villains? Carlos, am I a villain? [But] I can’t wait for you to see the House of Villains. I think you’re really going to see the real Teresa on House of Villains.”
The Real Housewives of New Jersey season 14 airs Sundays at 8/7c on Bravo.
