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Real Housewives of New Jersey (RHONJ) star Teresa Giudice might be an OG housewife, considering she was on for 12 seasons, but she recently revealed that she hadn't watched a single episode until this year.
With the season 13 premiere airing in February, Teresa spoke to PEOPLE about her thoughts on watching the episodes and seeing all the drama that transpired between her and the Gorga family.
Tensions between Teresa and her brother and sister-in-law have been really high since the Gorga family decided to skip the former's wedding with her now-husband, Luis Ruelas.
This was a culmination of what happened during the filming of RHONJ season 13 and an already-teased dramatic finale of the same. Their interactions during BravoCon 2022 were also very telling of the fractured family dynamic.
In her interview with PEOPLE, Teresa confessed to watching the show only to see what Joe and Melissa were talking about. She further said that watching what the Gorga family had to say about her:
"Was like a knife right through my heart."
RHONJ star Teresa Giudice talks about watching the Bravo show
In the same interview, Teresa Giudice maintained that she hadn't watched the show until this year when she decided to look back and see what Joe and Melissa Gorga had said about her throughout the course of the previous installment.
She also talked about how she hadn't watched the show before, and this was evident after everything Andy Cohen and her fellow housewives had to say at the reunion.
"I'm watching the show for the first time because I never watched it before. And if you pay attention, when I was at the reunions, Andy Cohen would ask me questions and I wouldn't know what he was talking about. Everybody knew I was not watching the show."
The mom-of-four also confessed to watching the show because of several Instagram posts doing the rounds. Teresa explained that she wanted to attain more clarity on her relationship with the Gorgas and hence began a belated binge. Expressing her feelings after watching RHONJ, she said:
"I've been seeing all this on Instagram, these accounts that are posting past episodes. And I'm watching and I'm like, 'My brother said that? My sister-in-law said that?' So then I started watching and I'm like, 'Now, I got my answer."
The OG housewife continued:
"But I couldn't watch it [initially] because it was so hard for me to relive it. And good thing I didn't watch it back then, because now I'm seeing what my brother and my sister-in-law was saying about me back then, oh my God. It was like a knife right through my heart. I think I would've reacted differently if I would've watched the show."
Teresa and brother Joe Gorga's relationship has been rocky since the time the former was involved in legal issues with ex-husband Joe Giudice. While the issues faded with time, other complications began to occur between Teresa, Joe, and Melissa, which were documented in the previous RHONJ installment (season 12).
Both families had several arguments throughout the course of the season, which continued while filming the next season, which, as per Teresa:
"Is going to blow your minds away."
The reality stars have already teased a dramatic finale that led Gorgas to skip Teresa's wedding to Luis Ruelas.
Teresa, for her part, also mentioned that Melissa wouldn't be a bridesmaid at the RHONJ season 12 reunion. She also called her brother Joe a "b**ch boy," which led to the latter walking off the set and wanting to quit the show. The families' interactions during BravoCon 2022 left little room for any reconciliation.
RHONJ star Teresa opens up about her perspective on the family drama
In the interview, Teresa shared her thoughts on the family drama and stood by her decision to cut ties with the Gorgas. She explained that she never signed up to be on a TV show with her family.
The RHONJ star was excited for her role in the series until she was suddenly "bombarded and ambushed" by her family, leaving her dream shattered.
Teresa said:
"I would've never sucker-punched them like that, because I don't roll like that. If they were on a show, I would've never went on there and hurt them the way they hurt me. That's not my style. That's not the person I am. If anything, I would've got my own thing, because I'm always that. I always like to be different."
The RHONJ star also explained that she understood why she didn't want to watch the Bravo show. She wished to "keep the peace" for her parents, family, and friends. However, Teresa said that watching the season provided her with the closure she needed to become a "mama bear" to protect her family.
The housewife explained that she now wants to stay away from toxicity:
"I come from a small family and we were really close. And then for something like this to happen, it was really hard for me to deal with. I always tried to keep the peace and that's why I kept my mouth shut for a lot of years. But now... I'm going to do what's good for my family, good for me, good for my children. And I just want peace. And that's why any toxicity, [I have to] keep it out."
RHONJ season 13 released its official trailer earlier this month, which teased a lot of drama between the housewives. Teresa Giudice, Jennifer Aydin, Margaret Josephs, Melissa Gorga, Dolores Catania, and Jackie Goldschneider will all make their return.
The new season will also see two newcomers, Danielle Cabral and Rachel Fuda, join the existing cast members.
