Teresa Giudice admitted that she staged her prison release photo to make some extra cash.
“The only time [I made a deal with paparazzi was] when I got out of jail,” the “Real Housewives of New Jersey” star said on the “Hollywood Raw Podcast” this past week.
“They wanted the first photo and I did it,” she explained. “I was like, ‘If they’re going to get it anyway, I might as well make money off of it.'”
While behind bars, Giudice managed to strike a deal with People magazine for the exclusive photos, which were taken upon her prison exit at 5 a.m. on Dec. 23, 2015.
The Bravolebrity struggled to recall how the paps got in touch with her at the time since it’s “been a while now,” but she speculated that it was through her lawyer or rep at the time.
Giudice did not reveal how much she made off the pictures.
The reality star served 11 months at the Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury, Conn., in 2015.
In 2014, Teresa, 51, and her then-husband, Joe Giudice, pleaded guilty to bank, mail, wire, bankruptcy and tax fraud.
The mother of four — who also gushed over her “beautiful” prison conditions — was initially sentenced to 15 months in federal prison.
Meanwhile, Joe, also 51, spent 41 months at the Federal Correctional Institution in Fort Dix, N.J., and an additional seven months in an ICE detention center before being deported to his native Italy in 2019.
Teresa and Joe, who were married for 20 years, finalized their divorce in 2020. She has since moved on with Luis “Louie” Ruelas, whom she wed in August 2022.
Speaking on her past relationship, the TV personality told podcast hosts Dax Holt and Adam Glyn that it “took a long time” for her to “forgive” Joe because her parents died not long after she was released.
“I came home, I lost my mom eight months later. And then my dad moved in with us and he was so upset,” she recalled.
“He cried for a year straight after my mother passed away, and then I had my dad with us for three years, and then he passed away.”
Teresa added that she and Joe “don’t talk that much” today, but she will communicate with him when she “[needs] him.”
