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Teresa Giudice claims her fiancé, Luis Ruelas, was more bothered by the drama and speculation he faced on the 12th season of The Real Housewives of New Jersey than he let on.
Following the airing of the finale episode on Tuesday, which featured Luis storming off amid an argument between Teresa and Margaret Josephs, who brought up swirling rumors about Luis’ past throughout the season, Teresa shared his reaction and shaded her castmates for attempting to pop their love bubble.
“Yeah, I mean, this is something he did not sign up for,” Teresa confessed on the RHONJ: After Show on April 26. “He starts dating me, Teresa Giudice, that’s on TV, and then things come out of the woodwork. It’s so sad that this unfortunately had to happen. And I’m sad that this had to happen because here we are so happy, in our love bubble, and then here’s people trying to pop our love bubble, which is very sad.”
Melissa Gorga also believes Luis has been more impacted by the show than he’d admit.
“I think it bothers him more than he lets on,” she shared. “I think he’s great with people. And I think he doesn’t want to make a big deal about it. But I’m sure it stresses him out a lot.”
“I believe it bothers Luis, I’m sure it does,” Joe Gorga agreed. “Who wants your name put on social media and all this nonsense be put out? But he’s taking the right approach. He’s basically letting it roll off his shoulder, trying to not get involved, because if he did, he’d look that much worse.”
While a number of RHONJ cast members questioned what was being reported about Luis, including how he’s allegedly treated past girlfriends, Jackie Goldschneider said she has empathy for him.
“Every time I’ve been with Luis, he’s been nothing but nice so I feel bad sometimes. I really do,” she noted. “Even if there’s some truth to some of it, it still must be really uncomfortable and I empathize with that.”
But Joe Benigno, Marge’s husband, didn’t have such compassion, saying, “If you’re afraid of your background, maybe this isn’t good for you.”
Also on the After Show, Teresa said that as she and Luis began to film the season, she told him, “Stick with me,” noting that the show was “[her] thing.”
“He came into my world, unfortunately, dating someone that’s in the public eye, and he didn’t want any of this. It’s not like he was looking for this. He didn’t say, ‘I’m going to fall in love with Teresa Giudice.’ It just happened. And I was just doing everything I can to protect him because it’s not fair,” Teresa explained.
The three-part Real Housewives of New Jersey season 12 reunion begins on Tuesday, May 3, at 8/7c on Bravo.
