The Untold Truth Of The Giudice Girls

Fans of The Real Housewives of New Jersey have watched the Giudice girls grow up. When the show first premiered, Teresa and Joe Giudice's youngest daughter, Audriana, wasn't even a year old. We got used to listening to Teresa whine, "Milania!" in her patented Jersey accent as their then-toddler crawled through their cavernous mansion. It was a much more innocent time, when all the brood had to worry about was a weave pull or a table flip. Since then, that mansion has been listed for sale, faced foreclosure, and witnessed more than a few petty spats, but it's not just the home that's been through the ringer.

At the time of this writing, the Giudices' eldest daughter, Gia, is almost 20, Gabriella and Milania are high school aged, and Audriana is old enough to be in middle school. The girls have spent a huge swath of their childhood dealing with the repercussions of their parents' fraud convictions. Teresa served 11 and a half months behind bars for charges that included conspiracy to commit wire and bankruptcy fraud. When she was released in 2016, Joe started his 41-month sentence for mail, wire, and bankruptcy fraud and was later deported to Italy in the months following his release.

Throughout this ordeal, the Giudice girls have had to show immeasurable strength. They've each developed different ways to cope with the turmoil within their household and have evolved into passionate, resilient young women along the way. Here's the untold truth of the Giudice girls.

The Real Housewives of New Jersey viewers have seen the Giudices' legal troubles play out over more recent seasons. According to The Daily Dish, in October 2018, a judge ordered Joe Giudice to be deported back to Italy after serving his 41-month prison sentence for mail, wire, and bankruptcy fraud. A year later, he was shipped back to Italy after serving months in an ICE detention center, according to NJ.com. 

Though Joe's appeal was rejected, his daughters refuse to give up hope. According to Page Six, Gia launched a Change.org petition called "STOP the Deportation of Joe Giudice" in April 2019, the same month her father's appeal was denied. The petition, which has amassed more than 105,000 signatures as of this writing, urges President Donald Trump to pardon the father of four. In it, Gia writes that Joe has been living in the United States since he was an infant and already did his time. "He knows nothing of Italian culture, laws, societal norms, he has no immediate family and will not be able to secure work in this foreign land," she explained. "My father is not a danger to society, he is a warm loving man."

During Season 10 of the series (via The Daily Dish), Teresa admitted that it could be a year and half before Joe's ruling is finalized, so there's not much to do but wait.

Teresa Giudice became a Bravo mainstay because she knows how to craft some pretty captivating drama, and it looks like her eldest daughter, Gia, is learning from the best of them. Though it hasn't escalated to a table flip or a baptism brawl (and hopefully never will), the-then 19-year-old Rutgers student found herself in a RHONJ love triangle in 2019 — sort of. Oh, to be young.

According to People, Gia's prom date was none other than Frankie Catania, the son of fellow RHONJ cast mate Dolores Catania. The pair, who share about a three-year age gap, has apparently been tight since they were tots, but as all high schoolers know, who you bring to prom is serious business. Of course, fans suspected their friendship had blossomed into romance, and it certainly didn't help that Dolores told People, "I could have married them there."

Still, it seems like Frankie was relegated to the proverbial friend zone after the star shipped off to college (does the Turkey Dump count if you technically weren't dating?). According to Hollywood Life, Gia revealed her new boyfriend, Christian Carmichael, in a TikTok video, and Dolores seemed bummed. "You know, I was there when [Frankie learned about her boyfriend]," she told the outlet. "It's not the right time [for them right now]. Seeing my life, I've taught my kids that timing is everything."

Gia Giudice is planning to be a career woman. According to Page Six, the college student is "thriving" despite her father's deportation case. It certainly seems like it's motivated her enough to embark on the massive undertaking that is getting a law degree. Teresa Giudice told Page Six that while her eldest daughter "doesn't know which kind" of law she's going to practice, she's starting the journey at New Jersey's ever-popular Rutgers University.

"I'm happy for her," the proud mom told the tabloid. "You know, this is her new chapter in her life, and I'm living vicariously through her 'cause I wasn't allowed to go away. She FaceTimes me all the time. I love it. We're really close."

Gia's certainly been studying hard, but rumor has it that the underage student has been playing even harder. Per a report from All About the Tea, Gia was spotted at a tailgate with her mother, allegedly drinking what appeared to be a can of the alcoholic seltzer White Claw. Now, the "evidence" is a crazy fuzzy picture, so it could have been anything like a Red Bull or even a Trader Joe's cold brew — really anything that comes in a similar can. Then again, it wouldn't exactly be the first time an underage student snuck a drink at a college football game. Who knows?

Teresa Giudice's second oldest daughter, Gabriella, doesn't seem to be that far behind sister Gia when it comes to having major career goals. During the RHONJ Season 10 After Show (via The Daily Dish), the proud mom admitted that Gabriella has a laser-sharp focus on education and doesn't seem that fussed about the family business of reality TV. In fact, she chose school over attending the RHONJ after show, which was why Teresa brought Gia and Milania instead. As the holder of a perfect attendance award, it was just too much for Gabriella to risk.

"Gabriella, she has OCD. She does not want to miss school and she's very, [she] does everything by the books, which is, I love that," Teresa said. At the time of this writing, the teen is only a freshman in high school, so she's a little far off from taking the SATs and applying for college, but her mother has high hopes. Teresa revealed to Page Six that Gabriella is in all honors classes and should "be able to get into any school she wants."

Though Joe Giudice's legal troubles have been hard on all of his kids, Milania seemed to be struggling the most. In an interview with BravoCon in 2019, Teresa Giudice admitted that her then-15-year-old daughter's grades began to slip. Fortunately, the teenager has made a huge effort to pull herself out of that hole and adopted a new lifestyle that's healthier for both mind and body.

"My girls, they had to grow up quick because of everything that we had to go through. Milania has had the hardest time," Teresa revealed. "But she has turned around. She saw a therapist last year, and she was having trouble in school. Now this year, she's doing really good in school."

During that time, Milania also learned how to channel her stress into something productive and adopted a fitness routine that included cardio in the morning and weights at night. Perhaps she was also partly inspired by her mother's amazing prison transformation. Teresa told Hollywood Life that she hired a nutritionist for Milania, and they've been hitting the gym together. The teen has since lost more than 40 pounds by sticking with her new, healthy lifestyle. She even inspired RHONJ star Jennifer Aydin to start her own weight loss journey.

Though Milania Giudice was barely old enough to graduate from the eighth grade, she still had the type of music career for which some people would kill. During Season 9 of RHONJ, the teen hit the studio with Fetty Wap's producer to create her single, "I Can't Wait to Grow Up." She was then surprised by the Garden State rap legend at her debut performance, which was, of course, televised. That's just the kind of treatment you get when your mama is a Real Housewife, but Milania's music career wasn't actually about the fame at all.

According to Page Six, Milania used her music to "cope with her father's absence," but she seems to be doing a whole lot better and it looks like she's since moved onto other hobbies. "I think she's taking a break with the whole song thing," Teresa told the tabloid in 2019. "She's like, 'Mommy, I think I'm going take a break now.' She's like, 'Maybe I'll revisit it when I'm 18.' I thought that was so cute."

Milania may be one of the few teenagers to retire from a professional career before it really got off the ground, but we're still holding out hope that she's retiring like Jay-Z retired. The world needs a "Garden State of Mind," and if Bruce Springsteen isn't biting, who better than the spawn of a Jersey housewife?

According to E! News, Joe Giudice started his prison sentence in 2016 — and he's been largely separated from his family ever since. That's a long time when you have children so young. At the time of his incarceration, his eldest daughter, Gia, was about 14 years old, and his youngest daughter, Audriana, was only six. During a heartbreaking episode of The Real Housewives of New Jersey, we watched the Giudice sisters come to a gutting realization: Audriana was so young when her father was put away that she barely remembers him.

In the 2019 episode (via The Daily Dish), Teresa and her four girls looked through old family photos. Gia asked her youngest sister if she remembered a lot of the time she spent with her father. Gabriella replied for her, "Probably not," and the camera panned to Audriana looking really sad. "It's very hard watching Audriana not remember any of these moments because I have so many memories that I could think of with my father, and she has very few," Gia told cameras, adding, "Since my father left, we always wished just to be a family again, just to live under the same roof again. It's been four years since we've been a family, and until my father is back, it's never gonna feel the same."

Fortunately, Audriana had a chance to build new memories when she was briefly reunited with her father in November 2019 during a family trip to Italy.

There are just some things you keep from your kids, and one of those is the awful tabloid gossip. Joe and Teresa Giudice have been plagued with cheating rumors pretty much from the second Joe began his prison sentence. The most enduring seems to allege that Teresa was hooking up with the pool boy while Joe was away, which is a rumor almost as lazy as an A-lister cheating with the nanny. Okay, so according to TMZ, the pool boy was actually a pool contractor, so he's of slightly elevated status, but we digress. Other rumors claim Joe was the one who cheated on Teresa throughout their marriage, to which she seemed to give some credence during Season 10 of RHONJ.

Regardless of what actually happened, there's no way the kids should be involved in any of this, but a reality TV family wouldn't make good TV if they didn't inappropriately involve the kids in adult matters. During the Season 10 finale (via The Daily Dish), Teresa claimed her kids didn't know about the rumors because they "don't look on the Internet," but Joe's brother, Pete Giudice, ended up spilling the beans to Gia for some inexplicable reason.

"Gia found out from my brother-in-law, which I f**king ripped him a new a**hole for it," Teresa said. "Like, if you have something to say, you call me. Me, me, me." Hopefully, the college student just shrugged it off. Everyone knows the tabloids are unkind.

Each of the Giudice sisters seem to have their own thing. Gia is in college studying to be a lawyer, Gabriella is a soccer star and honors student, and Milania is a former singer who's loving the world of fitness. Though Audriana is so young, she's definitely growing into her own passions, too.

RHONJ fans don't know a lot about Audriana. For someone whose mom is a reality star, she's certainly a bit shielded from the public eye. You have to remember that, at the time of this writing, she's still only about 11 years old. At that age, most of us were learning how to tie lanyards and complaining about wearing a retainer rather than appearing on Bravo and attending events like Fashion Week. Still, the arguably lowest key daughter in Teresa Giudice's brood does have an affinity for the stage.

Audriana is extremely passionate about dance, and according to Bravo's Style & Living, she performs with a dance team in competitions. In February 2020, Teresa Giudice posted an Instagram photo of her daughter all dolled up for the competition wearing sequins and some very grown-up red lipstick. Time certainly flies. It seems like Audriana's christening — which was the veritable foundation of the all-out brawl at the Gorgas' baptism — was just yesterday. Beyond that, Audriana has also used her dance skills for a creative portrait photo shoot that showcased her form.

Milania and Audriana Giudice may be children, but they're not wearing the Limited Too of yesteryear. There are no ill-fitting Aeropostale tops here. These girls have a passion for fashion. At just nine years old, Audriana posed on Instagram wearing Chanel slides like a budding fashion influencer. Milania seems to have similar influencer aspirations and sang, "I got dreams of being in Vogue magazine / Sitting front-row fashion shows with Philipp Plein," on her single, "I Can't Wait to Grow Up." It looks like the reality TV daughter did one better than her song suggests: she wasn't just sitting front row at a fashion show, she and Audriana were in the fashion show.

According to Bravo's Style & Living, which caught a glimpse of Teresa Giudice's Instagram stories, Audriana and Milania got a chance to participate in New York Fashion Week. Audriana walked in the Cosmopolitan NYFW show that took place in early February 2019. Milania wasn't a model, but she did get on the runway to perform her single with some backup dancers. Luckily, it did not go the way of Ariana Grande getting clocked by angel wings at the Victoria's Secret show. No models — or singers — were harmed in the process. Teresa was undoubtedly one proud mama, and even fellow RHONJ castmate Danielle Staub sat front row to show support.

According to a February 2020 interview with People, Teresa Giudice had "known for a long time" that she was going to separate from her husband of 20 years. This came after months of the star waffling on a decision and trying her best to take her marriage "day by day." Long distance is difficult, and that's before you consider the whole fraud thing and the secret second cell phone. The news of the split only surfaced in late 2019, but the couple hasn't made any plans for a divorce.

Though Teresa's children had undeniably dealt with a lot of changes within their family in the five years leading up to the breakup, they took the separation surprisingly well. During the RHONJ Season 10 After Show (via The Daily Dish), Teresa admitted that these Real Housewives kiddos "were fine with it." She added, "They didn't say anything. They had nothing to say. I guess if they were not happy about it, I would have heard about it. I didn't hear anything, so I like that ... It's been a long time."

This isn't the first time the couple faced problems. According to Entertainment Tonight, Teresa almost called off their wedding two decades prior when Joe made her sign a prenup. The curious thing about that prenup is that it reportedly has a no-cheating clause. Which one of them voided that contract? Perhaps sometimes people are just better off alone.