The Real Housewives of New Jersey made Teresa Giudice famous, but it didn’t make her rich, at least at first. 

Joe Giudice calls ‘Real Housewives’ pay ‘ridiculous’ 

Teresa’s ex-husband Joe Giudice recently opened up about the family’s early days on Bravo during an appearance on his daughter Gia Giudice’s Casual Chaos podcast. 

“I think that show cost me $150,000 that first year,” Joe said, referring to the pressure the Real Housewives cast felt to showcase a certain kind of lifestyle on the show. 

“You don’t get, obviously, paid that much money filming a first season show,” Gia chimed in to explain. “Your pay grows as the seasons go on.”

“We got paid nothing the first season,” Joe agreed. “I’ll even say, it was like, $25,000, you know. It was ridiculous. But whatever.”

Joe didn’t have any issue showing off his and his wife’s flashy lifestyle on TV. But that decision to put themselves in the spotlight later came back to haunt them, Joe said. 

“I regret all this stuff happening on television with the fraud and all this other stuff,” he told Gia. “I don’t think they would have even bothered me if I wasn’t on television.” 

“But at the time, my attorney called me up and said I was a target … you’re under investigation and you’re a target,” Joe, who eventually pleaded guilty to fraud and was later deported, recalled. Teresa also served time in prison.

“I didn’t believe him, but it was true,” he said. “Then in 2012 we got indicted and that’s when all the crap began.”  

Teddi Mellencamp says all new Housewives are paid the same 

Joe and Gia’s revelations about Real Housewives pay echo recent comments from The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills alum Teddi Mellencamp. During an appearance on the August 12 episode of The Jamie Kern Lima show, she said she wasn’t “allowed” to reveal how much she earned from her time on the Bravo show. But she did says that everyone earns the same during their first season on their show. 

“I can say that all first-season Housewives are paid the same,” she shared. “So the people that say, ‘Oh, I got offered $10 million to be on season 1 of The Real Housewives of …’ I’m like, ‘No you didn’t. You didn’t. No one did. Season 1 housewives are all paid the same.’”

The RHOBH star said that the prospect of earning a bigger paycheck encouraged some cast members to stir up drama or air their dirty laundry on the show in an effort to stay in the spotlight.

“All of us can say that there’s a small addiction to making money,” she said. “So, the longer that you’re on the Housewives, the more money you’re going to make. And you know that.” 

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