Teresa Giudice Says She Believes Joe Giudice Cheated: 'I Owe It to Myself to Open My Eyes'
Teresa Giudice is addressing the longstanding cheating rumors that have followed her estranged husband, Joe Giudice.
In a sneak preview for Wednesday’s episode of The Real Housewives of New Jersey posted to BravoTV.com, the reality star reveals to her costars that she now believes Joe fooled around behind her back during their 20-year marriage, despite his insistence that he did not.
As proof, Teresa points to supposed evidence of an alleged affair she discovered 16 years earlier.
“He had a separate cell phone with one girl. I found it!” Teresa says. “It was his ex-girlfriend’s sister. He said she was going through her divorce, he was helping her trying to sell her house.”
Teresa, 47, says at the time, she considered leaving Joe, 49, but felt tied to him considering her circumstances.
‘Like, I quit my job, Gia was 3, and I was like, ‘What am I going to do?’ ” Teresa says. “I should have left then because he denied it to me, I believed him.”
(The exes share daughters Gia, 19, Gabriella, 16, Milania, 15, and Audriana, 11.)
Teresa says she was “the perfect, perfect f—ing wife,” and that Joe wasn’t as good as a husband because “there was rumors out there” of his infidelity.
The two have since split, PEOPLE breaking news of their separation exclusively back in December.
“I’m just saying, sometimes you’re blind,” Teresa adds. “It took a long time, and it’s still really hard for me to admit, but I owe it to myself to open my eyes to it.”
RELATED: Teresa Giudice Says Husband Joe Giudice Told Her ‘I Feel Nothing for You’ Before Split
Teresa’s admission comes weeks after she revealed that before they wed, she signed a prenuptial agreement with Joe — which would be void should either of them commit adultery.
It’s unclear how that prenup would affect their eventual divorce. PEOPLE is out to the Giudice family lawyer for comment.
Cheating rumors have followed both Giudices for years. Joe was famously seen on a previous episode of RHONJ referring to Teresa as “my bitch wife” while supposedly talking to another woman over the phone. And just last February, Teresa was photographed holding hands with a man 20 years her junior.
Both have denied those relationships were romantic. But during a face-to-face on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen in October — their first interview together since he went to prison in March 2016 — each accused the other of being unfaithful.
“You were photographed with women also,” Teresa told Joe.
“That’s why it made it okay for you?” he responded, sarcastically.
RELATED: Teresa Giudice Says Joe Giudice Told Her That Her ‘Baggage’ Means No Man Would Want Her
RELATED: RHONJ‘s Teresa Giudice Explains How the Choice to Spilt from Joe Giudice Was Made
Rumors aside, things appear to be cordial now between Teresa and Joe, who were childhood sweethearts and have been married since 1999. They are living separate lives — she in New Jersey and he in Italy, while he awaits the ruling of his final deportation appeal — but are on good terms and are constantly in touch.
“He texts me all the time, ‘I love you, I adore you, you’re the best mother,’ ” Teresa told PEOPLE Now on Feb. 5. “Listen, I’ll always have a special place for him in my heart. … We want the best for each other. I want him to be happy, he wants me to be happy. And that’s it. We’re going to be the best parents we could to our four daughters.”
She went on to say that she hopes the two find happiness with other people, and would even want to meet whatever woman Joe ends up with.
“I told him, ‘When you’re with someone, I’ll even come hang out with you with her with our daughters,’ ” Teresa said. “‘Cause I want to make it good. She better be good! I want to make it good for my daughters, because if I’m good with it, they’ll be good with it.”
As for dating in the future, Teresa said she hasn’t started that yet, but she’s looking for a kinder guy who will be more affectionate toward her.
“Joe used to never tell me I was beautiful,” she said. “We were together for a long time, he was a great husband, and I obviously loved his way then. But afterwards, you see what you really want.”
The Real Housewives of New Jersey airs Wednesday (8 p.m. ET) on Bravo.
