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It’s been eight years since Teresa Giudice and her ex-husband, Joe Giudice, were convicted on several counts of fraud — The Real Housewives of New Jersey alum Caroline Manzo, 61, is setting the record straight about whether or not she was involved with getting the former couple in trouble with the federal government. While she said she did not get the ball moving on Teresa and Joe’s 2013 indictment, she revealed she was there when the original call was made to the government during her appearance at Page Six’s “Reali-Tea” Live event in New York City on Thursday, May 18. “I was there,” she confirmed. Her daughter, Lauren, then added, “But we’ll never say who it was.”
Caroline also said she doesn’t care if people think she’s the one who called the FBI on her former castmate because she knows the truth and doesn’t want to create more drama by tattling on the person behind Teresa’s imprisonment. “It’s not even about being a rat. There’s this thing called collateral damage,” she explained. “So, when you say something, who’s going to hurt? Who is this going to hurt by saying this truth?”
“You can believe whatever you like about me. I know I never did — I could never do that,” the Food, Love, and Chaos host added, “but if blaming me makes you feel better, OK, then your reality. It’s not going to change my day.”
Teresa, 50, admitted she believes Caroline was behind her and Joe getting in trouble with the federal government during The Real Housewives of New Jersey Season 7 reunion in 2016. “In my gut, either it was you or you and Caroline set me up,” Teresa said to her co-star, Jacqueline Laurita, at the time. “You guys were behind everything, calling the government. Everything.” That would be quite awkward if Jacqueline were behind it, as she and Teresa recently struck up a friendship years after they had a falling out.
During her appearance at the NYC event, Caroline also took it upon herself to comment on Teresa’a character. The mother of four has notoriously been involved in plenty of drama over the years, and recently, it was reported that The Real Housewives of New Jersey producers aren’t sure how to move forward with Season 14 due to the toxic feud between Teresa and her sister-in-law, Melissa Gorga. “I miss the days of Season 1 Teresa. I do … that’s what makes me so sad because we had belly laughs,” Caroline candidly recalled. “We were there for each other. We were on this journey.”
Unfortunately, Caroline said she believes Teresa let the fame change her. “Fame is a very very dangerous thing, and if you are not completely grounded in who you are, you believe the b*******,” Caroline stated.“The fame got to her head, and I will stand here to this day — to this moment — in the fact that I have always defended her.” She even went as far as Teresa a “monster” who will “step on anybody to get ahead.” Teresa has yet to publicly address Caroline’s remarks.
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