Joe Giudice responds to ex-wife Teresa Giudice's engagement announcement
Joe Giudice is responding to news that his ex-wife Teresa Giudice has gotten engaged to her boyfriend Luis “Louie” Ruelas, and it's mostly all well-wishes from what we can see.
In an interview with Celebuzz that he promoted as his official statement to the announcement, the 49-year-old reality star said, "I’m happy for Teresa and Louie, I give them my blessings.”
He added, “I think they moved a bit quick into this romance but I’m glad she found her true love and wish them all the best.”
In 1999, the Giudices were married and had four children together: Gia, 20, Gabriella, 17, Milania, 15, and Audriana, 12. The family rose to fame on the Bravo series "The Real Housewives of New Jersey" starting season one in 2009.
In 2014, the couple pled guilty to multiple offenses, including conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bankruptcy fraud. Teresa would later do 11-months at a Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury, Connecticut, while Joe spent 41 months behind bars at an Allenwood Low Federal Correctional Institution in Pennsylvania,. After his release, he was transferred to ICE custody on March 14, 2019.
In November of that year, the couple called it quits after 20 years of marriage — and fans saw it all go down on the season 10 finale of "The Real Housewives of New Jersey" that later aired in February 2020. The couple made the decision to split when Teresa and her four daughters visited Joe in Italy, where he had been living since his release from ICE custody. Their divorce was later finalized in September 2020.
A few months later in December 2020, Teresa went Instagram official with her new boyfriend. "The BEST thing that came out of 2020," she captioned the photo.
Joe met the new beau of his ex-wife earlier this year when they visited him in the Bahamas.
"I truly appreciate & hope i will continue to be present in my best friend life," he captioned a photo from their reunion. "A great person, mom, and confident individual. @teresagiudice @louiearuelas great meeting you and your boy🍷"
On an episode of "Watch What Happens Live" in March 2021, Teresa opened up about the budding relationship between the two men prior to that trip to the Bahamas.
"They've talked over the phone, and Louie wanted to go to the Bahamas and meet him, which I thought that was, like, the most amazing thing ever, because he said he just wanted to talk to him and let him know that he's not trying to take his place or anything," she said. But he just wanted him to meet him 'cause I have daughters, and I just thought that was the most amazing thing ever. They talked on the phone."
