Joe Giudice was not happy about what ex-wife Teresa Giudice was paid for the first season of the Real Housewives of New Jersey.
On an episode of Gia Giudice‘s Casual Chaos podcast, the Next Gen NYC personality asked her dad about his time on reality TV.
Logistics:
“Did you guys ever have a conversation with us about being on TV? I don’t really remember.” Joe replied, “I don’t think so.” It was “a big blur” after they signed the contract.
“I think the first year, we had that big party in my great room,” Joe continued. “I think that show cost me $150,000 the first year.”
Gia, Real Housewife spawn, was able to detail how things work from growing up on camera. New cast members “don’t get paid that much money filming a first-season show.” The salary “grows as the seasons go on.”
Joe, for his part, offered deets on Teresa’s salary her freshman season. “We got paid nothing the first season,” he claimed. “I’ll even say, it was like $25,000. I mean, it was ridiculous, but whatever.”
Pay to play:
According to Gia, “When you’re throwing parties and stuff like that, especially for the first season, you’re putting in more money than you’re actually getting out of it.”
“So then you grow and make your way and make your name. But for the first season, this wasn’t anything out of the norm.”
Gia explained that her parents “loved” throwing a good party — so doing it for RHONJ was never an issue.
“I didn’t care,” Juicy Joe confirmed. “I mean, every weekend, I had people at my house.”
Re: Joe calling his “b*tch wife” a See You Next Tuesday …
There was one thing that happened on RHONJ that Joe did care about. Joe told Gia that there are “a few episodes” he regrets.
“I called your mother something. I know it wasn’t very nice,” he said. “That was just out of pure, you know, drinking wine, and enough was enough.”
Joe was referring to the RHONJ season 4 cast trip to Napa, where he called Teresa his “bitch wife” and a “c*nt” while taking a phone call.
“We were stuck there for like a week, I think, in this house, just drinking wine every day. Sometimes it just gets so chaotic with everybody around because all they want you to do is just start drama and do this and do that. They don’t want you to just hang out and have a normal time.”
He said that was the “only” part of the show when he didn’t feel like himself. “I don’t even use that word. I hate that word,” Joe said. “Why it came out of my mouth, I have no idea.”
